Chapter 1 Beginnings

1923

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1944

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  3. Chapter 1: Beginnings
  4. Section 2. Launching a Building Management Business
  5. 3. The Daibiru-Honkan Building Opens

Section 2. Launching a Building Management Business

3. The Daibiru-Honkan Building Opens

Daibiru opened as an office building on October 1, 1925. At the time of opening, the company was in the midst of an economic downturn, unable to escape the effects of the post-World War I depression. Japan had not yet recovered from the devastation caused by the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1, 1923, two years prior, and emergency imports of reconstruction materials and food had worsened the country’s balance of payments. The massive reconstruction budget and the issuance of public bonds to finance it spurred on inflation, plunging the economy into turmoil.

The building’s opening took place under these difficult circumstances, but because Osaka Building was originally established to serve as offices for three companies—O.S.K. Lines, Ujigawa Electric Power, and Nippon Electric Power—the impact of the downturn was limited. Other tenants in addition to these three companies at the time of the building’s opening included Nippon Chisso Hiryo K.K. (now JNC), Osaka Iron Works (now Hitachi Zosen Corporation), and Osaka Ceramics. By the end of the fifth fiscal quarter (the period ending March 1926) when substantive operations got underway, 18,013 m2 of space equating to 84.1% of rentable floor area had been leased, generating 265,000 yen in rental income. Meanwhile, the company worked to reduce expenses, resulting in a profit of 107,000 yen and a 5% cash dividend for the company’s first dividend payment. For an enormous building with 21,420 m2 of effective floor space, you could say that it was off to a good start.

  • The taxi company’s parking garage next to the Daibiru-Honkan Building

Other tenants included financial institutions such as The Sumitomo Bank, Ltd. (now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), Osaka Savings Bank (now Resona Bank, Limited, previously Japan Saving Bank), and Sanjushi Bank (now MUFG Bank, Ltd., previously The Sanwa Bank, Limited), as well as Japan Post and the consulates of the United Kingdom and Germany (from 1930).

In September 1926, the Daibiru Club was established on the top floor of the building. The club provided a place where building residents could socialize in an elegant English medieval atmosphere, with amenities that included a social hall, a reading room, a special room, a recreation room, a dining room, a billiard hall, and a barbershop. At the West Annex, which opened at the same time, the first floor was initially used as a garage for a taxi company, and the second floor was used for the Daibiru West Restaurant. However, the restaurant closed in September 1937 because of poor performance—due in part to the company’s lack of experience in running a restaurant as a side business.

The appearance of Daibiru transformed the Nakanoshima landscape in the heart of Osaka. It played a pioneering role in giving that area major economic and social significance.

Section2. Launching a Building Management Business

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