Give me a crimson brick warehouse stuffed with outdated bangers over a flashy new exhibition corridor any day of the week.

This could be simple sufficient for these residing within the Western world, however right here in Japan, discovering something made from brick isn’t simple. Discovering a crimson brick warehouse stuffed with historic automobiles? Let’s simply say, there aren’t many locations just like the Glion Museum.

The Glion assortment in Osaka is spectacular, and never simply due to the implausible constructing it’s housed in. Right here, you’ll discover an enormous assortment of pre- and post-war vehicles from throughout the globe.

I’m certainly not an authority on historic automobiles, however I’m positive each within the assortment is essential not directly. Should you do spot something uncommon or fascinating, please depart a remark.

There are, in fact, different historic warehouses peppered throughout Japan, principally within the Southern port cities. Essentially the most well-known is the Purple Brick Warehouse in Yokohama, which has two buildings measuring round 5,000 and 10,000 sq. meters. That warehouse’s spacious inside homes specialty retailers, galleries and exhibition areas. It additionally hosts the annual Exciting Porsche occasion and different basic automotive occasions in its piazza.

The Glion Museum is positioned contained in the Chikko Purple Brick Warehouse, the place it occupies half of the area. Within the different half you’ll discover a restaurant, steak home and wedding ceremony venue. Not a foul place to tie the knot.

Development of the Chikko Purple Brick Warehouse was accomplished in 1923, as a part of the Osaka Port improvement. It was constructed by Sumitomo Zaibutsu, certainly one of many personal development firms contracted by a financially unstable Osaka Metropolis in return for port utilization privileges. Japan was recovering from the Sino-Japanese battle on the time, after which booming after the First World Struggle, and these personal firms performed an integral half in boosting the nation’s financial energy.

Possession handed from Sumitomo Zaibutsu to Osaka Metropolis in 1999, and the Glion Museum opened in 2015. After sitting vacant for a few years, the warehouse had very almost been dismantled, however the determination was made to fortify it in opposition to seismic exercise and enable the general public to take pleasure in it. Some huge cat with a fountain pen made a wonderful determination that day.

A part of the gathering was donated from the property of a Kimio Doi, an area enterprise tycoon. Doi was an entrepreneur who pioneered advertising and marketing and gross sales distribution strategies in electronics, explicit cameras. In truth, on the time of his passing in 1990, Doi-san’s chain of digicam shops was the third largest in Japan after Yodobashi and Bic Digital camera. He by no means smoked, by no means gambled or drank; as a substitute Doi spent his fortune on historic vehicles and Alphonse Mucha artworks.

As for Glion, they’re a luxurious automotive supplier (Glion Showroom) and restaurant company, so I assume the museum is as a lot a promotional instrument as it’s about historic preservation.

Regardless of the motivation is for maintaining the museum operating, the takeaway right here is that we will sleep effectively realizing that these automobiles are secure and sound occupying some prime Japanese actual property.

Toby Thyer
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