Umeda Architecture Snapshots

 

The high-rise buildings of Umeda in downtown Osaka may be quite familiar to many visitors, but because I live deep in the countryside and rarely visit cities the sights are quite unfamiliar Japan to me and very fascinating.

The cluster of seven temples that comprise the start of the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage are all located in central Osaka and after visiting the 7th, Settsu Kokubunji, in the afternoon of my second day walking, it was now time to head West towards Kobe where temple 8 lay.

I had a hotel room booked for the night in Nishinomiya so I had no time to explore or engage in any kind of photographic study of the architecture, just snapshots as I passed by.

This is the Umekita Ship Hall, a commercial property on the northside of JR Osaka Station. It was designed by Nikken Sekkei

The unique Umeda Sky Building, designed by Hiroshi Hara, seen from a distance.

A replica of a medieval Belgian church on the 8th floor of the Hotel Monterey Osaka.

The previous post in this series on the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was Settsu Kokubunji Temple.

Ehime Prefectural Museum of History & Culture

Located in Seiyo, about halfway between Uwajima and Ozu in a fairly remote part of the prefecture is the Ehime Prefecture Museum of History & Culture.

Composed of massive halls off of a big central corridor-hall, it does have some nice details and features.

It was designed by Nikken Sekkei whose most famous piece is probably Tokyo Skytree.

The exhibits themselves were interesting enough too.....

NEC Building, Momochi

The 11 storey NEC building in the Momochi district of Fukuoka is not a particularly outstanding piece of architecture, but its use of some subtle curves and its cantilever porch gives it a little style.

Like so many other buildings in this area of reclaimed land in Fukuoka it was built in 1996.

It was designed by Nikken Sekkei, and while they are not a particularly famous architectural company, they have done a lot of interesting buildings. Clicking on their name in the tags below this post will show you some of them.

Inside the Fukuoka Tower

The views looking up inside the Fukuoka Tower are pretty impressive, and I would have liked to spend some time taking photos, but unfortunately I only had a few seconds.

We were kept behind a rope until the elevator was emptied and then herded across the open space by a team of uniformed young ladies in white gloves. I was scolded for pausing for a few seconds to take these shots.

More details on the tower can be found here in an earlier post

Looking down can sometimes have its rewards too.....

The New Fukuoka Tower

The New Fukuoka Tower stands next to the beach in the Momochi District of Fukuoka City.

At 234 meters in height it is the tallest seaside tower in Japan, though the observation deck is only at 123 meters.

It has an unusual triangular cross-section and was built in 1989 by Nikken Sekkei.

Open from 9:30 am to 8 pm entrance is 800yen and the elevator whisks you to the observation deck in 70 seconds.

It is particularly popular in the evenings for the expansive views over Fukuoka and the surrounding area.

Shimonoseki Kaikyokan

Shimonoseki Kaikyokan is the big, new aquarium located right on the seafront in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

It was designed by the Nikken Sekkei Company who also designed our local aquarium, Aquas.

Whereas the design of Aquas was based on the shark form, Kaikyokan is supposedly based on the whale form.

The entrance foyer has a huge whale skeleton on display. (Nearby at the fish market you can by whale steaks)

Many of Japan's whaling fleet are based in Shimonoseki. Ooops... I mean of course Japan's "research" fleet.

By all accounts the aquarium has good displays, but at 1,800yen for entrance, the short time I had as I passed through Shimonoseki meant I didn't go in.

They do have a big display of Fugu.

Asia Pacific Import Mart

The Asia-Pacific Import Mart and West Japan General Exhibition Hall are located just north Of Kokura Station in Kitakyushu and is part of the redevelopment of the old indistrial/port area.

It's part of Kitakyushu's FAZ (Foreign access zone) an attempt, somewhat successful, to forge stronger links between North Kyushu and the mainland of Asia.

It was finished in 1998 and was designed by Nikken Sekkei.

The AIM is home to a variety of restaurants and shops featuring products from the Asia Pacific region.

Kobe Port Tower

Opened in 1963, the Kobe Port Tower soon became a symbol of the city of Kobe.

Designed by the Nikken Sekkei Company, the design is based on a Japanes drum, the Tsuzumi, and was the first tower built using a pipe lattice.

The tower is 108 metres high, and the observation platform is at 90 metres.

The tower is open every day of the year and entrance is 600 yen.

Inside Aquas

When I went inside Aquas Aquarium I didn't actually spend a lot of time looking at the fish! I wandered around looking at the light and space for shots to photograph.

The cafe area is glass and steel, so easy for a cliche shot!

The windows high up in the "fin" and ceiling were cool.

The building was designed by Nikken Sekkei Company, who I recently learned also designed the Fukuoka Tower.

I'm a sucker for circular windows, and Aquas has them in internal walls as well as external.

More post on Aquas

Aquas (outside)

The Aquas aquarium building is not much to look at as you speed by on Rte. 9, but a closer look reveals that it represents a shark

Opened in 2000, the building was designed by the Nikken Sekkei design company.

The dorsal fin?

The main body.

The mouth, "Jaws"!

and the tail.

Recently opened was a new Penguin House, a white concrete box to the side of the mouth. Maybe it represents a big piece of polystyrene trash that litters Japanese beaches. I once showed some photos of beaches in Cornwall to some neighbors, and the first question they asked was "where is the trash?". I've been repeatedly told that the mountains of trash on Japan Sea beaches comes from Korea, and some of it indeed does, but most of it has kanji, hiragana and katakana on it, meaning its from Japan.

More posts on Aquas