Shin-Hankyu Building, Commercial complex in Umeda, Osaka, Japan
The Shin-Hankyu Building was a 12-storey office block with two basement levels, completed on 23 January 1962 in front of Osaka Station in Umeda, Kita-ku. Its basement floors held the restaurant arcade Shin-Hankyu Hachibangai, while above-ground floors housed offices, the Kuraray Osaka head office and a large BookFirst bookstore. A rooftop beer garden called Nōen opened each summer from early May to mid-September. It was demolished in summer 2015.
The Shin-Hankyu Building was completed on 23 January 1962 in Umeda, Osaka, with two basement floors and twelve above-ground floors. Its basement shopping arcade, Shin-Hankyu Hachibangai, opened in 1962 and preceded Hankyu Sanbangai (1969), Hankyu 17bangai (1972) and Hankyu 32bangai (1977). The building closed in stages: the beer garden ended in summer 2013, Book First on 28 February 2014 and Hachibangai on 31 March 2014. Demolition began in autumn 2014 and the building disappeared in summer 2015 for redevelopment with the Osaka Shinki Building into Osaka Umeda Twin Towers South.
The basement floors were branded "Hana no Shin-Hankyu Hachibangai", a name taken from the building's 1962 address, Umeda 8-banchi in Kita-ku. It opened ahead of Hankyu Sanbangai (1969), Hankyu 17bangai (1972) and Hankyu 32bangai (1977), starting the Hankyu "bangai" series of dining and shopping floors.
The building no longer exists: demolition began in autumn 2014 and it was gone by summer 2015, so there is nothing to visit. Its site on the Osaka Station front in Umeda was redeveloped together with the Osaka Shin Building across the city road into the Osaka Umeda Twin Towers South. The former address, Umeda 8-banchi in Kita-ku, is recalled in the name of its basement food floor, Shin-Hankyu Hachibangai.
The basement food floors were named Shin-Hankyu Hachibangai because the building's address in 1962 was 8 Umeda, Kita-ku. This made it the first of Hankyu's "bangai" arcades, predating Hankyu Sanbangai (1969), 17bangai (1972) and 32bangai (1977). The arcade closed on 31 March 2014.
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