Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office: The Face on the Street
The Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office (久金属工業事務所, Hisa Kinzoku Kōgyō Jimusho) is a two-story timber office building at a bottle-cap maker's head-office factory in Kitatsumori, Nishinari Ward, Osaka City, built in 1937 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021.
It has a tiled roof and a building area of 280 square meters, second only to the former first factory among the nine registered structures on the site. The roof is hipped at the east end and gabled at the west, and a storage wing joins it on the south.
According to the company, the building first housed a canteen and some production space. Today the ground floor holds offices and executive rooms, and the upper floor a reception room and a meeting room.
Why the Office Was Registered
The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office for the way it gives the factory a proper front and tidies the streetscape. The formal criterion is contribution to the historic landscape.
It stands just west of the main gate, the first building a visitor sees. Most of the buildings inside the compound are plain clapboard, but here the street faces were dressed in tile, so the office doubles as the company's signboard.
Osaka City listed the head office as an urban landscape resource in 2018. In fiscal 2019 a city streetscape grant paid for removing pipes and air-conditioning units from the walls, replacing the gutters and repainting the windows.
What to Look For: Cream Tile and Timber Windows
The north and east walls and part of the south wall are faced in cream-colored nichōgake tile, a long, narrow format about twice the size of a standard brick face. The company notes three courses of granite along the base. Sliding windows with small railings run in rows, and a canopy of French-pattern clay tiles shelters the street side.
The city's citation singles out the central arched window and the window glazing bars, which sharpen the symmetry of the front. The finely divided timber sashes are the part of the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office that most clearly says 1937.
Upstairs, the reception room keeps its large wooden windows, wainscoting and original floor and ceiling, with display cases of the company's products and papers. In the meeting room, still in use, the original light fittings and ceiling fans hang in a symmetrical pattern from a Shikkui plaster ceiling.
Visiting the Office
The Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office is a working office, and its interior is normally closed. The reception and meeting rooms can be seen only when a guided tour runs during an open-house event such as Open House Osaka. On the 2024 tours, parts of the interior were off-limits to cameras.
The street facade can be seen from outside the compound. Stand back far enough to take in the whole front and the rhythm of tile, windows and canopies becomes easy to read.
One caution on directions: the Agency's note calls the office's street side the north face, while its note on the main gate places the gate on the south edge of the site. This article repeats the Agency's wording without resolving the conflict.
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Q&A
- When was the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office built and registered?
- It was built in 1937 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on February 4, 2021.
- Can visitors go inside the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office?
- Not on ordinary days. In years when the company joins an open-house event such as Open House Osaka, guided tours may include the upstairs reception room. Photography is restricted in parts of the interior.
- What kind of tile covers the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office?
- Cream-colored nichogake tile covers the north and east walls and part of the south wall, above a base of three courses of granite.
- What is on the upper floor of the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office?
- A reception room with display cases of company products, and a meeting room whose plaster ceiling keeps its original lights and ceiling fans.
- How is the name Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office pronounced?
- Hisa kinzoku kōgyō jimusho. The first character, usually read kyū, is read hisa here because it is the founder's family name.
Basic Information
| Name | Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office |
|---|---|
| Location | 52 Kitatsumori 3-chome, Nishinari-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2021 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 280 m² |
| Owner | Hisa Corporation General Partnership |
| Public Access | Street facade visible from outside; interior normally closed |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office (Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013599
- Cultural Heritage Online: Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Office (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/579826
- Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Co., Ltd.: Historical structure
- https://www.hisakinzoku.co.jp/structure/
- City of Osaka: Streetscape improvement case study, Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo (Japanese)
- https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/toshiseibi/page/0000563596.html
- City of Osaka: Living Architecture Museum Osaka Selection, Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo head office (Japanese)
- https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/toshiseibi/page/0000649779.html
- Open House Osaka 2024: Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo (Japanese)
- https://ikenchiku.jp/ikefes2024/program/hisakin/
Last verified: 2026.09.23
