Nakanoshima Library

photo by 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0

It dates from 1904 and still lends books: a Sumitomo paid for it out of his own pocket.

Corinthian columns on the façade and a dome over the central hall: outside it is a Greek temple, inside it is Baroque. And it is not a museum of itself – it is a working public library, so you go in through the door and up the stairs like anyone who comes to read.

The central block was completed in 1904 and the two wings in 1922. The whole of it, building and first book collection, was paid for by Sumitomo Kichizaemon Tomoito, the fifteenth head of the house; it was designed by Noguchi Magoichi with Hidaka Yutaka. In 1974 the central block and the two wings were designated Important Cultural Properties.

ℹ️ Open to the public as a library, with no ticket. ⚠️ Opening hours and closures are those of a library, not a museum, and need to be checked on the prefecture's calendar before you go. It is on Nakanoshima Island, next to the Central Public Hall.

🚉 Yodoyabashi · 4 min walk

Sources: library.pref.osaka.jp · osaka-info.jp

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