#006 We are moving offices! ②
Osaka City Indifferent to Urban Greening
When looking for a new office, the first thing that came to my mind was a place where I could see the trees from the window, and if I wanted to, I could see the cherry blossoms in the spring.My current office faces Midosuji, and the ginkgo trees are beautiful in the fall and the illuminations in the winter. If our office was somewhere between the second and fourth floors, I think I would have been able to feel them up close. However, the office is on the 9th floor, so unfortunately you have to look down from the window to see it.
Osaka is not too big, not too small, just the right size, a variety of streetscapes with plenty of options for shopping and eating out, and people who are friendly and talkative. However, compared to the capital Tokyo, there is one point that is overwhelmingly inferior. It is urban greening.
In the center of Tokyo, there are many parks such as Yoyogi Park, Shinjuku Gyoen, Jingu Gaien, Hibiya Park, Shiba Park, etc., and roadside trees are abundant. However, in the center of Osaka City, there are Ogimachi Park, Utsubo Park, Tennoji Park, and other small parks for children, and the only trees lining the streets are Midosuji and Naniwa-suji ginkgo trees.
Central Park in Osaka?
Out of the limited options, I focused on Osaka's Central Park (embarrassing sound) Utsubo Park and Horie Park, which is close to my home. Both are urban oasis (again, embarrassing sound), bustling with cherry blossom viewers in the spring.
Reference: hommachi-blog.com
After leaving the office at 4:30 p.m., I rode my bicycle to see the buildings around Utsubo Park and the properties I found on the internet looking for tenants. Around Utsubo Park, there are many delicious restaurants for adults, and it is a town with a calm atmosphere. What I found when I ran all over the place was that there were fewer properties with a view of the park than I had expected, and most of them were simply old buildings, not retro. There were some buildings that made me want to sign a contract if there were vacancies, but unfortunately there were no properties that met my expectations, such as being fully occupied or being too spacious.
Daikanyama in Osaka?
The next place we visited was Horie, which is often introduced in the media as “Osaka's Daikanyama”. But I think this place is closer to Harajuku than Daikanyama. (Unfortunately there is no place like Daikanyama in Osaka)
This area centered around Horie Park is a town for young people where clothing stores, furniture stores, and stylish cafes gather. I get a lot of inspiration and feel like I can make use of it in product development.
There is a retro building that I am interested in here.
Reference: quickconsulting.jp ikazamay.com kumakulani.com picuki.com
There is a 24-hour fitness gym on the 2nd floor where you can sweat lightly during your lunch break. Although it does not face Horie Park, it is right next to it. The problem is that the room I was looking for online is on the 4th floor of a 4-story building, but there is no elevator, probably because it was built in 1957 and is old. The unit price per tsubo is cheaper, but...I went to see it anyway. The location and atmosphere of the building are perfect. The room listed on the internet has a high ceiling and a suitable size, and the seasoned floor is wonderful. I like it very much. I've come to think that the lack of elevators is no longer a negative, but a real pleasure of retro buildings. I immediately called the real estate agent and inquired.
But it was already contracted.
A treasure trove of retro buildings Osaka
The damage I was feeling was deep because I was delusional about the days after moving to the retro building in Horie. I was completely captivated by retro buildings, so I decided to search for properties focusing on them.
In fact, Osaka City is full of tasteful retro buildings.
My new journey to make a pilgrimage to Osaka Retro Building has begun.