Red Brick Warehouse in Osaka Port

There are old warehouses made of red bricks in the Tempozan-Chikko area near Osaka Bay. It takes about 5 minutes on foot to the south from the Osaka Port station of the Chuo-Line of Osaka Municipal Subway.
The warehouses were built in 1923 by Sumitomo Warehouse as port warehouses. They are the few buildings which could survive airstrikes in World War II. The warehouses celebrate their 100th year this year. The reddish-brown brick warehouses have a nostalgic atmosphere and are also historically important.
Now, the warehouses are utilized as a museum of classic cars, called “GLION MUSEUM,” keeping their earlier appearance. The museum says: “We make here an atmosphere of back alleys in New York or London by utilizing the good old red brick warehouses that are valued as the heritage of modernization.” Many classic cars, which were collected from all over the world, are displayed in the museum.

Now, Let me introduce the red brick warehouses.

The buildings can be seen even from far away. There were many classic cars in front of the entrance. A stone-paved main road extends from the entrance, and two red brick warehouses stand on both sides of the road. When the warehouses were established, there was a railway on the road. The sea closed in on the building area at that time, and cargos unloaded from a ship were carried on a train on the railway on the main road. The warehouse on the north side, among the two warehouses, has a floor area of 4,500 square meters, and includes a café, a show room of cars, and a museum. The warehouse on the south side has a floor area of 2,800 square meters and includes a steak house, a free space, and a part of the museum.

Entering the building, you’ll see that classic cars are exhibited in a venue with a high ceiling. The warehouse used to be a two-storied building, and white lines remaining on the wall are holdovers of the floor of the 2nd floor. The wood bars on the wall are cushioning materials used for prevention of the wall from damage by pallets.
The operator says: “In order to secure the strength of the buildings, we reinforced it using many iron beams, but some traces of the past can be kept. For example, bricks with cracks are not exchanged but reinforced with concrete putty.”

As described above, because of the 100th year anniversary of the red brick warehouses, special events were held. For one of them, I was able to enter the showroom of cars, in which only customers can come, and see specific cars. I heard the name of the car but I thought I couldn’t actually see the car. . . I was thrilled a little.

At night, the buildings were illuminated and the atmosphere became more graceful, but there are no affected feelings. There were stands on the road, and not only visitors but also staff members sounded like they were having fun. The red brick walls, classic cars, and the combinations, which were illuminated, were all good!