Original Tsutenkaku. Alongside Osaka Castle, few landmarks represent Naniwa—Osaka—more strongly than Tsutenkaku. I have introduced the tower many times on this blog, but this time I want to change the angle a little and trace the history of the original tower.
▼ This is the Original Tsutenkaku.
Original Tsutenkaku — Built in 1912
The original Tsutenkaku was built in Meiji 45 (1912). It opened together with Shinsekai Luna Park, created on part of the site of the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition held in Meiji 36 (1903).
Its appearance was remarkably bold, almost as if the upper half of the Eiffel Tower had been placed on top of the Arc de Triomphe. According to the official Tsutenkaku archives, it stood 75 meters tall. As Japan’s tallest tower at the time, it amazed countless visitors.
▼ I see it now: the Eiffel Tower above the Arc de Triomphe. You can also see the red ropeway.
Original Tsutenkaku and Shinsekai Luna Park
The original Tsutenkaku and Luna Park were linked by a red ropeway, and together they became a major entertainment destination in Shinsekai, bustling with visitors.
▼ This is Shinsekai Luna Park.
The original Tsutenkaku thus became one of Osaka’s newest attractions, but after about thirty years its history reached a major turning point.
The End of the Original Tsutenkaku — 1943
In January of Shōwa 18 (1943), a fire at a movie theater located at the base of the tower spread to Tsutenkaku and caused extensive damage.
The fire-damaged original Tsutenkaku was dismantled, and its steel was contributed as wartime military material. About thirty years after its birth in 1912, the tower that had risen above the Shinsekai skyline disappeared.
Toward the Second Tsutenkaku
After the war, local calls to rebuild Tsutenkaku grew stronger. In Shōwa 31 (1956), thirteen years after the original disappeared, the second Tsutenkaku rose once again over Shinsekai.
▼ The second-generation Tsutenkaku—the tower we see today.
Today’s second-generation Tsutenkaku stands 108 meters tall. Many taller buildings now surround it, yet it remains a beloved symbol of Osaka.
From the original Tsutenkaku to the second generation, the tower’s form has changed, but it has continued watching over the city of Osaka and its people from this place. I also share my own memories of today’s Tsutenkaku and the surrounding neighborhood in “Tsutenkaku and Its Surroundings”.
I hope Tsutenkaku will continue standing over a peaceful Osaka for many years to come.
※ The old photographs of the original Tsutenkaku were ones that had been publicly displayed in Janjan Yokocho, a local shopping arcade.