Chapter 1 Beginnings
1923
1944
Section 1. Our Company’s Founding
2. Acquiring Property for a Building in Nakanoshima
Having grown into an enormous shipping company, O.S.K. Lines needed to relocate to the center of Osaka for further development. With that in mind, the company began searching for a site to build new offices around 1914. A number of sites were considered, and eventually, a site taking up a corner of Nakanoshima belonging to Naniwa Warehouse, located at 1 Soze-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka (present-day 3 Nakanoshima), was deemed suitable. On December 25, 1918, the site, measuring about 9,256 m2 in size, was purchased from Naniwa Warehouse.
The district of Nakanoshima is long in the east-west direction and narrow in the north-south direction, sandwiched between the Dojima and Tosabori Rivers. It was developed in the early Edo period by a wealthy merchant, Joan Yodoya. Yodoya was running a lumber business when Toyotomi Hideyoshi came into power. He constructed a military camp for Tokugawa Ieyasu’s side during the Siege of Osaka, and he later made a fortune when he was granted exclusive permission to collect and resell swords, spears, and other leftover items that had been discarded throughout the city. After his retirement, he used his vast wealth to develop Nakanoshima, including the neighborhood of Soze-cho.
-
Illustration showing bird’s-eye view of the area around Nakanoshima
Soze-cho is situated at the foot of Taminobashi Bridge on the Dojima River. It is said that Soze Hayakawa, a man connected with Chigusaya, an Edo period currency exchange business, first developed the location and settled there, hence its name. When O.S.K. Lines acquired the property, it was lined with warehouses, and although it was some distance from the center of Osaka, it was closer to the center than Tomijima was. Located among these warehouses were the Asahi Shimbun Company, Japan Post, a university hospital, and the Postal and Telecommunications Bureau, suggesting that the area had potential for future development.
The land acquired by O.S.K. Lines had belonged to Soze Hayakawa and had later become a storehouse for the Tottori Domain. After that, it had become the property of Naniwa Warehouse, a warehouse company affiliated with Suzuki Shoten, which had temporarily achieved fame as a world-class general trading company. Suzuki Shoten had been in decline since around 1918, so O.S.K. Lines was able to acquire the site from them for a cheap price.
O.S.K. Lines set up a temporary construction department within the company on February 23, 1920, and in March of that year, the company hired Morikawagumi to take boring samples and conduct a geological survey of the property. The results were favorable, so the plan to construct a new office building was officially put into action.
-
1923 1944 Beginnings
-
Section 2. Launching a Building Management Business
-
Section 4. Business Development in Wartime
-
1945 1957 Reconstruction
-
Section 2. Our Buildings Reopen
-
1958 1988 Development
-
Section 1. Expanding the Building Management Business
- 1. The End of the Requisition of the Hibiya Daibiru Buildings
- 2. Upgrading the Facilities of the Daibiru Buildings and Damage Caused by the 2nd Muroto Typhoon
- 3. The Completion of the North Wing of the Shin-Daibiru Building
- 4. The Completion of the Yaesu Daibiru Building
- 5. The Acquisition of the Midosuji Daibiru Building
- 6. The Completion of the Kojimachi Daibiru Building
- 7. The Completion of the Uchisaiwaicho Daibiru Building
- 8. The Completion of the Dojima Daibiru Building
- 9. The Completion of the Awajimachi Daibiru Building
- 10. The Completion of the Mita-Nitto Daibiru Building
-
Section 2. Expanding the Business Through M&A
-
-
1989 2003 Expansion (1989–2003)
-
Section 1. Creating New Urban Spaces
- 1. The Bubble Economy and Daibiru
- 2. The Hibiya Daibiru Rebuilding Project
- 3. The Completion of the Rebuild
- 4. The Start and Execution of Renovation Plans
- 5. The Completion of the Kita-Umeda Daibiru Building
- 6. The Completion of the Yodoyabashi Daibiru Building
- 7. The Completion of the Estate Tosabori Building
- 8. The Completion of the Umeda Daibiru Building
- 9. The Completion of Violette Takarazuka
- 10. The Shinjuku Daibiru Building and Shiba Daibiru Building Acquisitions
-
Section 2. The Development of a New Corporate Identity and a Name Change
-
Section 3. Disaster Preparedness and Risk Management
-
-
2004 2023 Transformation (2004–2023)
-
Section 1. Becoming a Consolidated Subsidiary of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Promoting Management Plans
- 1. Becoming a Consolidated Subsidiary of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
- 2. Concentrating Investment in the Tokyo Area
- 3. Expanding into Other Countries and Japanese Regions
- 4. Establishing Daibiru 3D-Project Phase I, a Medium-Term Management Plan
- 5. Establishing Our Management Philosophy and Mission Statement
- 6. Establishing Daibiru-3D Project Phase II, a New Medium-Term Management Plan
- 7. Ongoing Establishment of New Medium-Term Management Plans
-
Section 2. Expanding Our Business
- 1. The Akihabara Station Redevelopment Project and the Completion of the Akihabara Daibiru Building
- 2. The Acquisition of the Toranomon Daibiru Building
- 3. The 3 Nakanoshima Joint Development Project and the Completion of the Nakanoshima Daibiru Building
- 4. The Completion of the Tosabori Daibiru Building
- 5. The Acquisition of Aoyama Rise Square
- 6. The 3 Nakanoshima Joint Development Project and the Completion of the Daibiru-Honkan Building
- 7. Rebuilding the Shin-Daibiru Building
- 8. Renovation Work
- 9. Multiple Awards
- 10. Delving into Commercial Facilities
- 11. Acquiring a Partial Interest in the Seavans South Building
- 12. Expansion to Sapporo
- 13. Selling Seven Residential Properties
- 14. Starting the Rebuild of the Midosuji Daibiru Building
- 15. Starting the Rebuild of the Yaesu Daibiru Building
-
Section 3. Overseas Business Expansion
-
Section 4. Further Strengthening of the Corporate Structure and Group Reorganization
-
Section 5. Harmonious Coexistence with Society
- 1. Developing a Compliance System
- 2. Developing an Internal Control System
- 3. Risk Management Measures
- 4. Sustainability Initiatives
- 5. Social Contribution and Cultural Support Initiatives
- 6. Environmental Initiatives
- 7. Working Style Reform Initiatives
- 8. Launching the Brand Development Project
- 9. Launching the Head Office Renovation Project
-
Section 6. Toward Our 100th Anniversary and Beyond
- 1. Becoming a Full Subsidiary of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
- 2. Acquiring a Partial Interest in Otemachi First Square
- 3. Acquiring a Partial Interest in the Otemon Tower / ENEOS Building
- 4. Investment in an SPC for Logistics Facilities in the Nishinomiya Area
- 5. Project Participation in the United States
- 6. Project Development in Melbourne, Australia
- 7. Formulation of a New Medium- and Long-Term Management Plan
- 8. Implementing 100th Anniversary Projects
- 9. For Future Generations
-