Umeda Sky Building, Osaka | Japan is Nippon

A strange-looking Osaka tower of two high-rises joined at the top. Its rooftop Kuchu Teien Observatory gives you open-sky, 360-degree views over the city.

The twin towers of the Umeda Sky Building linked at the top, seen from a distance — Photo: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The tube-shaped sky escalator leading up to the Floating Garden Observatory — Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two towers joined in mid-air

The Umeda Sky Building is a 40-storey skyscraper in Shin-Umeda City, north-west of Osaka Station. It was completed in 1993 and is said to be the world's first skyscraper of the connected type, with two towers joined at the very top. It was designed by the architect Hiroshi Hara, whose other works include the Kyoto Station building.

Its outer walls are covered with 17,000 panes of half-mirrored glass that reflect the colour of the sky and the clouds. The observatory at the top, linking the two towers, looks as if it is floating in the sky. In Britain it was chosen as one of the world's top 20 buildings, alongside the Taj Mahal and the Sagrada Familia.

The Kuchu Teien Observatory and the Sky Walk

At the top of the building is the Kuchu Teien Observatory (the name means 'floating garden'). The viewing height is 168.7 m. The entrance gate is on the 39th floor, and the indoor observation floor and café are on the 40th.

The biggest highlight is the Sky Walk on the roof. Unusually for a skyscraper observatory, it is outdoors with no roof overhead, so you can take in 360-degree views and the whole sky while feeling the wind. You can see across Umeda's high-rise district and the Yodo River all the way to the distant mountains.

You ride up to the observatory on the 'aerial escalator', which crosses the open air between the two towers. The ride itself is an experience you will only get at the Sky Building.

Takimi Koji and the gardens below

In the basement is Takimi Koji, a street of restaurants recreating a townscape of the Showa era (1926-1989). You can stroll its retro alleys and stop for a meal or a cup of tea. There is even a small shrine to Oinari-san, the god of business prosperity.

On the north side of the building are Hanano (Shin-Satoyama), which recreates the traditional Japanese countryside of fields and wooded hills, and the Chu-shizen no Mori (Semi-natural Forest), with its waterfall and streams. There are 44 stone statues scattered around the grounds, and hunting for them as you walk is part of the fun. A German-style Christmas market is held here every winter.

Getting there

It is about a 7-minute walk from JR Osaka Station. The building used to feel cut off from central Umeda by railway tracks and other obstacles, but Grand Green Osaka, which partly opened in 2024, now links it to the heart of Umeda.

The observatory has its own entrance. Note that you cannot reach it from the building's office lifts. Opening hours and prices can change on special opening days and inspection days, so check the official website.

Tips

You can buy date-specific web tickets in advance on the official website. Tickets are also sold on the day.
For photos of the outside of the building, the official website recommends the view from the south side of Shin-Umeda City.
On 8 November 2026 and 18 April 2027 the observatory is scheduled to have shorter opening hours for facility inspections. If you are going for the night view, check before you go.