Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Guard Room

Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Guard Room: A Gatehouse of Three Square Meters

The Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Guard Room (久金属工業守衛室, Hisa Kinzoku Kōgyō Shueishitsu) is a one-story timber gatehouse at the east gate, the original main entrance, of a bottle-cap maker's head-office factory in Kitatsumori, Nishinari Ward, Osaka City, built around 1937 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021.

Roofed in sheet iron, it covers just 3.0 square meters, less than two tatami mats and the smallest of the nine registered structures on the site.

The east gate served as the factory's main entrance before the present gate on the south side took over, and the company notes that the guard room still stands just inside it. From here a gatekeeper watched people and goods coming and going and signed in visitors.

Why the Guard Room Was Registered

Like the other buildings on the site, the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Guard Room was registered for contributing to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs picks out its windows as the accent of the exterior.

The technical office of 1934 stands beside the same gate, so the entrance of the factory as it was soon after the move survives here as a set. A copper plate beside the gate still carries the company's 1934 name.

What to Look For: Curved Windows and a Tatami Counter

The roof is hipped and clad in sheet iron, and the walls are clapboard. The front window has both ends of its frame rounded into arcs, while the north window is a full semicircular arch. Two different curves set into a wall of horizontal boards give the tiny box a surprising amount of character.

Inside, the floor is laid with tatami, and a built-in counter with small drawers served as the reception desk. The outside is Western in manner, but the gatekeeper worked the Japanese way, shoes off and seated on the mats.

Seeing the Guard Room

The Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Guard Room is on the grounds of a working factory and is normally closed. It can be seen only if an open-house guided tour includes it.

If you get close, compare the arched front window with the semicircular window on the north side. On a building this small, the shape of the windows sets the tone of the whole elevation.

The two-story technical office next to it stands at the same gate, and seeing the two together makes the difference in scale between gatehouse and office plain.