OMM Building (Osaka Merchandise Mart)

A 22-story, 78-meter commercial complex completed in August 1969 at Temmabashi beside the Okawa River, originally conceived as Osaka's answer to the Chicago Merchandise Mart.

Use

Office tower

Area

Chuo City, Osaka

Completed

1969

Floors

22 above ground, 4 below

Height

78 m

Architect

Takenaka Corporation

The Merchandise Mart that Shaped Osaka’s Trade

The OMM Building, formally the Osaka Merchandise Mart, stands at 1-7-31 Otemae, Chuo Ward, Osaka, on the south bank of the Okawa River near Temmabashi. Completed in August 1969, the 22-story, four-basement structure rises 78 meters above the riverbank and was designed and built by Takenaka Corporation. The project was realized by Osaka Merchandise Mart Co., a semi-public corporation funded jointly by the City of Osaka, Keihan Electric Railway, and Takenaka Corporation, on the site of the former above-ground Keihan Temmabashi Station terminal.

The building was modeled conceptually on the Chicago Merchandise Mart, envisioning a vertical wholesale trade center where buyers and sellers of textiles, furniture, and general merchandise could conduct business under one roof. In the high-growth era of the 1960s, this was a bold urban vision: consolidating the fragmented wholesale trade of a major commercial city into a single, purpose-built tower. At the time of its completion, OMM was among the tallest buildings in western Japan, and its silhouette against the Okawa became a symbol of Osaka’s commercial ambition.

A Landmark That Adapted to Its Era

In 2015, Keihan Electric Railway acquired full ownership of the operating company, integrating the building into the Keihan group’s urban portfolio. The district around Temmabashi has evolved considerably since 1969, shifting from a wholesale trade hub to a mixed neighborhood of offices, apartments, and a popular riverside cherry-blossom walk along the Okawa. OMM today accommodates retail and dining tenants on its lower floors alongside offices and exhibition space on the upper levels, maintaining its role as a community anchor even as the trade landscape has changed.

Summary

Completed in August 1969, the OMM Building is a 22-story, 78-meter commercial tower at Temmabashi on the Okawa River in Osaka. Built by Takenaka Corporation on the site of a former Keihan railway terminal, it was conceived as Osaka’s wholesale trade center and ranked among the tallest buildings in western Japan at its opening. Half a century on, it remains an active part of central Osaka, a survivor from the high-growth era that continues to define the riverside skyline between Nakanoshima and Osaka Castle.