Shibakawa Building

Maya and Inca Motifs on an Osaka Corner

The Shibakawa Building (芝川ビルディング) is an Art Deco building of 1927 in Fushimimachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 18, 2006 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a reinforced concrete building of four storeys and a basement, with a building area of 349 square metres; registration number 27-0382.

A Building East of Midosuji

The Shibakawa Building is a reinforced concrete building of four storeys and a basement on the northwest corner of a block just east of Midosuji (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its base is of Tatsuyama stone and its upper walls of scratch tiles, with Spanish tiles on the third-floor eaves. Designed by two architects, it is an Art Deco building that borrows ornament from ancient Maya and Inca architecture.

Osaka City says the head of the Shibakawa family built it for the family's own use, and before the war it housed a bridal finishing school, the Shiransha Kasei Gakuen. The Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau gives its completion as July 1, 1927, and says the school sent out about 3,000 graduates between 1929 and its closure in 1943.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design, an Art Deco building that draws on Maya and Inca ornament.

What to Look For

Look for the Tatsuyama stone base, the scratch-tiled walls, the Spanish tiles on the third-floor eaves and the Maya and Inca style ornament (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

Osaka City says many tenants now make use of the building's character, including a café in the converted basement vault, and the rooftop terrace hosts events. The Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau says it is 1 minute's walk from exit 11 of Yodoyabashi Station on the Osaka Metro Midosuji Line; opening hours vary by shop.