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  • HIGHWAY THROUGH A BUILDING STORY

  • Quite often when you see something unbelievable on the internet

  • you don’t know whether or not it is fake or real

  • Behind me is Osaka’s Gate Tower Building

  • and believe meit’s real!

  • That’s right! Going through that building

  • is a highway.

  • Osaka is Japan’s second largest metropolitan area

  • located in the heart of the Kansai region.

  • Not far from Osaka station lies

  • one of the world’s most peculiar buildings.

  • From above, it’s easy to see why

  • but from building level, the GATE TOWER BUILDING is just ridiculous

  • There’s a story behind this building but

  • before I get into that,

  • I wanted to go inside the TKP Gate Tower Building

  • and find out what exactly’s on those middle floors.

  • I got permission from the building owner to give you a look around.

  • First I had to pin down which floors the highway was located

  • I quickly found out those floors simple don’t exist.

  • 1

  • 2

  • 3

  • 4

  • The elevator simply doesn’t stop on the highway level.

  • In the lobby, you can see it listed though.

  • Floors 5 6 and 7 are the Hanshin Expressway

  • But the 8th floor was a conference room

  • so I asked to take a look from up there

  • The elevator took me above the highway

  • Yup! You can watch the cars go straight though the building.

  • From an adjacent building, you can see that the expressway

  • curves below my postion on the 8th floor.

  • It never actually touches the building.

  • It passes thorough suspended on a bridge

  • surrounded by a tunnel to prevent noise and vibrations

  • to the surrounding floors.

  • On the 5th to 7th floors is a stairwell, elevator and some machinery

  • By the way, the highway is the legal tenant of floors 5 through 7

  • About 1500 meters away is Osaka’s famous UMEDA SKY BUILDING

  • with the highest escalators in the world

  • From there, you can get an amazing view of the city

  • and the GATE TOWER BUILDING

  • Youre probably wondering why the Hanshin Expressway

  • is passing through the building, right?

  • It’s basically a land rights dispute with a sort of happy ending

  • The property was owned by a business since the early Meiji era

  • but when the business declined, so did the buildings

  • The area was approved to be redeveloped in 1983

  • but the property holder refused to give up the land,

  • even though new building permits had been refused

  • They negotiated for 5 years

  • and this was the compromise

  • Now it’s part of Osaka’s fast growing skyline.

  • Seen it, been in it, and now it’s time to drive through it

  • In a 1996 LOTUS Seven.

  • We got on the Hanshin Expressway

  • one stop away from the Gate Tower Building and Umeda Exit

  • Let’s go!

  • It’s a 3km drive

  • This is Yasui-san

  • Yes!

  • This is his wonderful can and

  • he’s taking me on a trip

  • through the Gate Tower Building

  • Yes!

  • And he’s alsooh!

  • Oh! Look! Look!

  • That’s your company! Yes!

  • He’s the president of a delivery service that gets things

  • speedily to people whereever they are in Japan

  • Yes!

  • It didn’t take long to arrive.

  • Felt like we were driving inside a video game to complete a mission

  • Was there anything special about driving through a building like this?

  • When you do it in a LOTUS 7, you bet there is!

  • In reality, it’s just a tunnel for drivers to pass though,

  • but the visual of it all is just super cool

  • and now I can check it off my list of things to do ONLY in JAPAN

  • You can get good views of the building on the OSAKA KANJOU SEN

  • or Circular / Loop Line between Osaka and Fukushima Station

  • When you think about it, the shortest route from A to B is a straight line,

  • never mind that this ones curves a little

  • I’m just saying more highways should go through more buildings because

  • it’s just simple cooler that way

  • If youre in Osaka, take a look around

  • and see if you can find

  • the crazy building with a highway going through it and

  • See you next time!

  • Next time I meet up with ONLY in JAPAN regular Kevin Riley

  • and we hear to Nara

  • for a street food guide episode

  • If you liked it, hit that subscribe button

  • and watch another one of ONLY in JAPAN’s shows

  • Follow me on Instagram: onlyinjapantv

  • See you next time. Mata ne~

HIGHWAY THROUGH A BUILDING STORY

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