Mengyo Kaikan (Cotton Industry Hall)

The Clubhouse of Osaka's Cotton Trade

The Mengyo Kaikan (Cotton Industry Hall) (綿業会館) is a club building of 1931 in Bingomachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on December 25, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a steel-framed reinforced-concrete building of six storeys and a basement, with a building area of 920.11 square metres; designation number 02441.

A Club for the Textile Trade in Senba

Mengyo Kaikan, the Cotton Industry Hall, stands near the centre of Senba, Osaka's main business district: a club building for the spinning and textile trade, begun in March 1930 and completed in December 1931 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency records its designer, of the Watanabe architectural office, and a collaborator by name.

It is a steel-framed concrete building of six storeys and a basement with a tower; the main club rooms are the members' dining room on the ground floor, the lounge, state room and conference rooms on the first floor, and the great hall on the sixth (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency notes that behind a plain Renaissance-style exterior each room takes up a different style, making it one of Japan's leading eclectic buildings and a high achievement in historical styles; with up-to-date services and a rational plan, it is also important as one of its designer's finest works.

What to Look For

Look at the lounge, state room and other rooms, each finished in a different historical style (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

According to the Japan Cotton Industry Club, paid tours run once a month on a Saturday other than the third (usually the fourth), in two sessions: 10:15 with lunch afterwards for 7,000 yen, or 14:00 for the tour only at 2,000 yen (tax included, 40 places each). Places are allotted by lottery from applications by web form or fax.