Tsutenkaku, Osaka’s Once and Always Tribute to the Future
Towards a new world.
Rising majestically above the colourful Shinsekai neighbourhood, the Tsutenkaku tower is one of Osaka’s most recognisable landmarks.
Once hailed as the tallest structure in Asia, it was a symbol of progress and hope for the future at a time when Japan had flung itself headlong into modernisation after centuries of self-imposed isolation.
And while Tsutenkaku and its surroundings have seen better days, the tower remains a powerful, nostalgic reminder of a bygone era.
A new world
To tell the story of Tsutenkaku or “tower leading to the heavens”, one must tell the story of Shinsekai, the area it’s located in and to which its fortunes are inextricably tied.
Shinsekai’s origins date back to the Fifth National Industrial Exposition held in 1903. Owing to the success of the exhibition, over 5 million people were brought to the neighbourhood in just five months, and plans were made to develop the area along modern lines.
The city reclaimed the eastern half of the vacant exhibition lot, converting it into Tennoji Park in 1909. The western half was entrusted to a private developer to turn into a hip entertainment district — Shinsekai or “New World”.
The idea for Shinsekai was conceived at the very tail end of bunmei kaika. This period of rapid and wholesale Westernisation followed the arrival of US commodore Matthew C Perry’s black ships, which forced Japan to reopen in 1853 after centuries of isolation.
Embracing Western notions of leisure, Japanese leaders had begun to think about how to integrate play into the fabric of their cities to provide for the lifestyle and health of citizens.
With this in mind, Osaka Land Development Corp, led by Michio Dai, chair of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, proceeded to develop a Western-style district, borrowing heavily from US and French examples.
Come one, come all
Billed as “the largest entertainment venue in the East”, Shinsekai opened to much fanfare in 1912.
Sprawling over 11 hectares, Shinsekai comprised three zones, each with its own focus. The north zone featured a Paris-style radial street layout and speciality shops, while the central zone was home to a diverse range of playhouses, movie theatres and other entertainment establishments.
But it was Luna Park in the south — modelled after an amusement park of the same name in Coney Island, New York — that truly put Shinsekai on the map. Built by Kenichi Kawaura after his first Luna Park property in Tokyo suffered a fire, it featured mechanical rides, an amusement arcade, a music hall and a hot spring spa.
The centrepiece of Shinsekai was the Tsutenkaku tower. Inspired by Paris, the 64-metre tall tower featured an Eiffel Tower-like steel frame atop a base modelled after the Arc de Triomphe.
An aerial tramway — the first in Japan — connected Tsutenkaku to White Tower, the tallest structure in Luna Park. Tsutentaku was also where Billiken, a good luck symbol that had been imported from the US, was first enshrined in Osaka.
Thanks to its myriad offerings, Shinsekai quickly became a tourist hotspot. Its allure was such that, even after Luna Park closed down in 1925 in the face of stiff competition from mushrooming movie theatres and a new sumo ring, Shinsekai continued to thrive.
However, this would all change during World War II.
The second coming
In 1943, a fierce fire started at a nearby movie theatre and quickly spread. Soon, Tsutenkaku was engulfed and reduced to rubble. Rather than rebuild it, the tower was scrapped for metal to aid Japan’s war effort.
After the war, Shinsekai was quickly forgotten and the area became derelict. It was soon known as a black spot where day labourers, illegal immigrants and the homeless would congregate. Crime was rife.
This poor reputation persisted up until the 1950s, when local traders eager to recapture Shinsekai’s lost glory petitioned the government to rebuild Tsutenkaku.
The current 108-metre tower was completed on 28 October 1956 with funds from the community. At the time, the national height restriction for buildings was 31 metres, which meant that, on a clear day, visitors who ascended the tower could see as far as Awaji Island in the Seto Inland Sea.
Even with the new Tsutenkaku, however, the rehabilitation of Shinsekai did not go smoothly. In 1961, violent protests by day labourers broke out in the adjacent area of Kamagasaki — the first of many that lasted up until the 1990s.
Because of this sporadic unrest, and Shinsekai’s long-standing association with poverty and organised crime, it was not until the early 2010s that this once-thriving neighbourhood managed to shed its unsavoury reputation.
Movie theatres and pachinko parlours made way for kushiage (deep-fried skewers) establishments, izakaya and other eateries, breathing new life into the neighbourhood.
Futarikko, a 1996 NHK drama about twin sisters who ran a tofu shop with a view of the Tsutenkaku tower, also helped to soften Shinsekai’s image.
A new beginning
Today, Shinsekai is once again a popular tourist attraction. Every year, tens of millions of visitors throng the main shopping street and market to hunt for good deals and cheap eats like kushiage while taking in the area’s retro-futuristic charm.
The neighbourhood is also famous for its shogi or Japanese chess parlours. There’s even a memorial to Meiji era master Miyoshi Sakata in the form of a giant osho (king general) chess piece, located at the foot of Tsutenkaku.
In 2007, the tower was inscribed as a national tangible cultural asset by the government, securing its position in Japan’s pantheon of built works.
And despite Shinsekai’s still somewhat seedy character, the ever-changing district — along with Tsutenkaku — has once again become a destination for visitors to experience some of the best that Osaka has to offer.
First published in airasia Play on 22 Jul 2024.