In this ukiyo-e woodblock print by Kuniyoshi Utagawa a mysterious structure can be seen in the horizon whose silhouette is very similar to the Tokyo Sky Tree, which is currently under construction.
Woodblock print created by Kuniyoshi Utagawa in 1831.
Tokyo Sky Tree as it will look when its construction is finished at the end of this year. It will be 634 meters tall, being the second highest man-made structure in the world.
Several historians believe that the tower portrayed in the woodblock print by Kuniyoshi Utagawa didn’t really exist, it was a creative product of the artist imagination. It turns out that in that time it was forbidden to build any structure taller than Edo castle; moreover this woodblock print is the only proof of the “supposed existence” of that tower.
Did Kuniyoshi Utagawa predict the construction of Tokyo Sky Tree almost 200 years ago?
Source: Mainichi.
2 replies on “Tower similar to Tokyo Sky Tree in a 19th century woodblock print”
I don’t think the artist had predicted it, maybe Tokyo Sky Tree’s design was inspired in this woodblock. (I find it hard, but it’s more acceptable than a prediction ^^)
Well, Jefferson, it wouldn’t be the first time modern construction was inspired by art. Think of how many modern buildings are inspired by the Parthenon.