Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office: High Windows from a Workshop Past
The Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office (久金属工業品質管理室, Hisa Kinzoku Kōgyō Hinshitsu Kanrishitsu) is a one-story timber building at a bottle-cap maker's head-office factory in Kitatsumori, Nishinari Ward, Osaka City, built around 1937, repaired in 2019 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021.
It adjoins the former president's office on the south. It measures 9.1 meters by 5.4 meters, for a building area of 50 square meters.
Its roof is a jerkinhead gable and its walls are painted clapboard, a deliberate step down in finish from the tiled front next door.
Why the Quality Control Office Was Registered
The Agency for Cultural Affairs praises the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office for its neat, symmetrical exterior, small as it is. It was registered for contributing to the historic landscape.
The company points to the position of its high windows as evidence of the building's first use: a single open room with no ceiling, rising into the roof space, which suggests it was built as a small workshop.
The south wall of the former warehouse repeats the same clapboard and canopied windows. Of the plainer buildings inside the compound, this one shows that shared design most completely.
What to Look For: Clipped Gables and Bracketed Canopies
A jerkinhead, or half-hipped gable, is a gable roof with the peak of each end clipped back at an angle. Osaka Cultural Properties Navi calls it a modern-looking touch.
Sliding windows run along the front and the south side, each row sheltered by a small canopy on brackets. The company also notes triangular boards set as eave ornaments above the ranks of windows.
The roofing material is recorded inconsistently. The Agency's description says slate, while the structure field of the same database and Osaka Cultural Properties Navi say sheet iron.
Visiting the Quality Control Office
The Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office lies inside the factory grounds and is normally closed. It can be seen only when an open-house tour includes it.
If you have the chance, stand off at an angle to take in the gable end and the south side together. You will see the row of bracketed canopies and the clipped outline of the roof in one view. Inside, the height of the windows makes the workshop theory easy to picture.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Osaka
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office
- [ USJ Tickets Osaka Castle & Dotonbori Food Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office built and registered?
- It dates from around 1937, was repaired in 2019, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on February 4, 2021.
- How big is the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office?
- It is a one-story timber building measuring 9.1 by 5.4 meters, with a building area of 50 square meters.
- What was the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office originally?
- No record says for certain, but the company judges from its high windows that it was a single open workroom, in effect a small workshop.
- What kind of roof does the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office have?
- A jerkinhead gable, with the top of each gable end clipped back at an angle.
- Can visitors see the Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office?
- It is normally closed and can be seen only when included in an open-house tour.
Basic Information
| Name | Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control 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 50 m² (9.1 m by 5.4 m) |
| Owner | Hisa Corporation General Partnership |
| Public Access | Normally closed; occasionally opened during public open-house events |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Quality Control Office (Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013601
- Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo Co., Ltd.: Historical structure
- https://www.hisakinzoku.co.jp/structure/
- Osaka Cultural Properties Navi: Hisa Kinzoku Kogyo (Japanese)
- https://osaka-bunkazainavi.org/bunkazai/%E4%B9%85%E9%87%91%E5%B1%9E%E5%B7%A5%E6%A5%AD%E6%A0%AA%E5%BC%8F%E4%BC%9A%E7%A4%BE
Last verified: 2026.09.23
