United Church of Christ in Japan Osaka Church

United Church of Christ in Japan Osaka Church: Vories in Red Brick

The United Church of Christ in Japan Osaka Church (日本基督教団大阪教会) is a church completed in 1922 in Edobori, Nishi Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1996.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a building designed by William Merrell Vories in a mix of steel frame, brick and concrete, 3 storeys with a tower at the rear, a copper-sheet roof and a building area of 674 square metres. It belongs to the church.

The church says it was founded in 1874 by the American missionary M. L. Gordon and others as the Umemotocho Chapel in the former Kawaguchi foreign settlement of Osaka.

Why It Was Registered

The United Church of Christ in Japan Osaka Church is registration number 27-0005, one of the very first properties registered in 1996, under the criterion of being a model of design. The Agency describes its Romanesque-based design and notes that it is loved as one of the few red-brick buildings of the Taisho era.

According to the church, the building escaped destruction in the Osaka air raids of 1945. Half-wrecked by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, it was restored and strengthened and is still used for worship and church gatherings.

What to Look For

The Agency singles out the rose window in the front gable and the semicircular window above the entrance of the United Church of Christ in Japan Osaka Church. Stand across the street to see how the two windows stack on the red-brick facade.

If you come for a service, you can also see the sanctuary, where a pipe organ accompanies the hymns.

Visiting

The church says that, to be prepared for earthquakes, the sanctuary is not kept open and visits outside services cannot currently be arranged. Those who attend the Sunday service (from 10:30 a.m.), the Thursday noon service (12:15 to 12:45 p.m.) or the Friday evening service (7:30 to 8:00 p.m.) may look around freely afterwards.

The church asks visitors not to take photos or video before or during services; photography afterwards is fine for non-commercial purposes if people are not shown. It is about 5 minutes west of exit 8 of Higobashi Station on the Osaka Metro Yotsubashi Line. Parking is very limited, so use nearby paid car parks.