Shōwa

Completed in 1933 to a design by architect Takeo Yasui, the Osaka Gas Building stands as a masterpiece of early Showa-era modernist architecture on Midosuji Boulevard. Its iconic facade — black granite below and creamy white tiles above — has often been likened to a great ocean liner, and the building was designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003 as a fine example of transitional modern architecture. Still serving as the headquarters of Osaka Gas, it remains an emblem of historic Senba district.

The iconic Osaka Castle Tenshukaku is the third-generation donjon — rebuilt in 1931 entirely through citizens' donations after the Toyotomi-era and Tokugawa-era keeps were destroyed. As Japan's first modern castle reconstruction, combining steel-reinforced concrete with a faithful Momoyama-style exterior, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 1997 and designated an Osaka City Tangible Cultural Property in 2025. This guide introduces overseas visitors to its rich museum collection, panoramic 8th-floor observation deck, and the newly opened adjacent Toyotomi Stone Wall Museum.

Located just south of Osaka Castle Park in the Tamatsukuri district, Hale Chapel of Osaka Jogakuin was designed by the office of American architect-missionary William Merrell Vories and completed in 1951. A symbol of postwar reconstruction, the chapel combines a restrained modernist exterior with a soaring auditorium interior, qualities that earned it designation as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2017.

Opened in 1936 as Japan's third municipal art museum, the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts is a rare surviving example of a large-scale prewar museum building, registered in 2015 as a Tangible Cultural Property. Its elegant blend of Japanese and Western architectural motifs, world-class collection of approximately 8,700 works including National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, and a major March 2025 renovation as an 'open museum' make it a must-visit cultural destination in Tennoji Park.

Discover Osaka Celluloid Kaikan, a 1931 modernist building in Higashinari Ward designed by Isamu Nishida. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property tells the story of Japan's pre-war celluloid industry through its expressionist columns, Spanish-tile roof, and ground-floor exhibition room.

The Osaka Tenmangu Shrine Baikaden, a 1928 guest hall built for a Michizane festival, has a double-coved lattice ceiling in its east room and now hosts weddings.

A 1928 fuel dealer's shop and home in Himejima, Osaka: house, shop and store in one row behind stepped parapets, scratch-tile walls and a cornice. Registered 2004.

Built in 1941 by Osaka architect Ikedaya Hisakichi and registered in 2017, this hall at Ono Shrine in Sennan pairs plain boat brackets with an archaic gable truss.

A 1935 timber office of a spinning mill in Kaizuka, Osaka, registered in 2007 and now a free museum of the mill and its famous women's volleyball team.

The Kashita Shrine Shinsensho in Izumisano, Osaka, is a tiny 1928 nagare-zukuri shrine facing the main hall, also called the gon-honden, and registered in 2024.

The presbytery of the Toyonaka Catholic Church in Osaka, a two-storey timber house of 1939, shares the log-built eaves and quiet grounds of the church beside it.

Toyonaka Catholic Church in Osaka, designed by the Czech architect Jan Josef Švagr in 1939, is a timber church with a bell tower and interior in Japanese style.

Karasunomiya Shrine Middle Gate and Openwork Fence in Osaka (1931) frames the main hall: a copper-roofed gate with lattice doors and a 30 m slate-roofed fence.

The Karasunomiya Shrine Worship Hall in Osaka, registered in 2008, is a hall of 1931 its gable filled with carved dragons, unlike the plain main hall.

Karasunomiya Shrine Main Hall in Osaka is a 1931 shinmei-style sanctuary 2.8 m long, with free-standing ridge posts, straight eaves and finials. Registered 2008.

Rebuilt in 1954 after a wartime air raid, the Kanda Shrine Kagura Hall opens its west side for rites by removing a post. The youngest of 12. What to see.

Built in 1935, the Kanda Shrine Saikan fits a full formal alcove into eight mats and lights its anteroom with a round lattice window. What to see and how to visit.

Completed in 1931 for an Osaka steel merchant, this concrete house closes the view at Otebashi bridge. Its Tatsuyama stone facing matches the old Sumitomo Building.

Built in 1932 as a spinning firm's clubhouse to a design by Setsu Watanabe, Jisen Kaikan in Kishiwada, Osaka, is a Spanish revival hall registered in 1997.

A narrow three storey timber townhouse of 1928 in Osaka's Semba district, the Kitano Residence used tile, copper and udatsu firewalls against fire. Registered 2006.