Umeda Sky Building and Kuchu Teien Observatory (Osaka, Japan)

Umeda Sky Building and Kuchu Teien Observatory is one of the most notable structures in the skyline of Osaka, Japan. At 173 meters off the ground and with two 40-storey towers connected at their two uppermost stories, Umeda Sky Building is the nineteenth tallest building in Osaka Prefecture. What makes Umeda Sky Building a beauty to behold is the shape of its roof, which resembles a doughnut, and it affords visitors an unimpeded 360-view of Osaka and Awaji Island.

Umeda Sky Building is its own world. It houses offices, banks, beauty salon, garden and forest, Show Retro Shopping Street, Koji Kinutani Tenku Art Museum, café, and restaurants. Some of the highest points of Umeda Sky Building, literally and figuratively speaking, are the Gallery Shop on the 39^th floor, the Kuchu Teien Observatory and Café Sky 40 on the 40^th floor, and the Rooftop.

According to the exhibit in Umeda Sky Building, its architectural design began with “First Sketch”, a 1988 artwork by architect Hiroshi Hara. In the sktch, four-high rise buildings covered with mirror glass are depicted as if they are dissolving into the sky with the top part named “Mid-air Garden” apparently floating in the air.

Among mid-air gardens or hanging gardens, the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, are well-known. According to Hiroshi Hara, the “Hanging Garden Illusion” is shared in the deep consciousness of people, beyond time, beyond regions. It is a world yet to be seen that spreads beyond the point where architecture grows into the sky, and it also depicts the emotions of people seeking such a world.

Skyscrapers in the world stop at a competing height. Hiroshi Hara presented a question in such circumstances: “Where did the yearning for height lose elegance?” The key phrase of Umeda Sky Building is to actualize an “Eden spreading in the sky”, that is, a “Mid-air Garden”.

Lumi Deck is a space specially reserved for lovers at Umeda Sky Building. When the lights are lit and the stars twinkle in the sky, the Lumi Deck surrounds the couple in gentle light. Heart Locks, the promise of a loving twosome, can be attached at the “Fence of Vows”, which are installed around the Lumi Deck. 

Meanwhile, in the environmental plan of Shin Umeda City, landscape designer Motoo Yoshimura set up two viewing angles and axes to observe the scenery as a landscape, which would create “Harmony with Nature”. The Space Axis and The Life Axis. The Space Axis is a viewing angle to observe the space extending into the sky above Kuchu Teien. The Life Axis is a viewing angle to observe the scenery on land where the existence of life forms on earth including humans can be conceived. When looking up at Kuchu Teien from ground level, the two axes become connected, bringing about a diverse landscape, and a cosmological story comes into being in this town.

During the Edo Period (1603-1868) in Japan, the custom of Senjya-Fuda (thousand shrine tags) was established. The wooden tag, which bears the name of the worshipper, is posted on the gates of shrines and temples to commemorate a visit. It has become a popular custom in the middle of Edo Period since people believed that they would receive good fortunes while the Senjya-Fuda was posted on the shrine gate and the custom spread to the shrines and temples all over Japan. Today, Senjya-Fuda is considered as a lucky charm to protect the bearer from bad fortune.

For more information, please visit www.kuchu-teien.com.

How to get to Umeda Sky Building:

- 7 minute walk from Central North Exit of JR Osaka Station

- 9 minute walk from Exit 5 of Osaka Metro Midosuji Line Umeda Station

- 9 minute walk from Chayamachi Exit of Hankyu Railway Umeda Station

*Umeda Sky Building/Kuchu Teien Observatory Admission Fees:

Adults: 1,500 yen (US $13.70) Persons with Disabilities: 750 yen (US $6.85)

Children Aged 4-12: 700 yen (US $6.40) Persons with Disabilities: 350 yen (US $3.20)

*Exchange Rate: US $1.00 = 109.45

Umeda Sky Building Operating Hours:

930am to 1030pm (last admission 10pm)

This may change on special holidays.

Umeda Sky Building Address:

〒 531-0076 1-1-88 Oyodonaka, Kita-ku, Osaka

Umeda Sky Building Contact Number:

Telephone: 06-6440-3901

Fax: 06-6440-3876

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