For over a decade Tokyo Fox has focused on the modern architecture of Tokyo with a long-running ten-part series featuring over 100 interesting-looking buildings. During that time, I have also taken photos of some unique structures outside of the capital city but had no place to showcase them until now. This is Volume 10 which includes some more weird and wonderful buildings in Osaka, Hyogo and Tottori.

5. Maishima Sludge Center @ 2-2-7 Hokkoshiratsu, Konohana-ku, Osaka-shi – What other country would even think to decorate such factories relating to waste matter! It’s a cool design but so it should be when you discover how much was spent on it’s construction! This facility itself cost a whopping ¥80 billion ($729m)! More details here.

4. Namba HIPS @ 18-16 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi – This guitar shaped building, located close to Namba station, was built in 2007 and once featured a free fall ride. It is an entertainment centre with karaoke, pachinko, bars and a variety of restaurants inside

3. The Skull Museum @ 5-49 Hamadacho, Amagasaki, Hyogo-ken – Getting to see the inside of this skull museum, which opened in 2011, is actually quite limited as it is only open on Sundays. The front facade is fairly normal looking if you can consider a big skull atop a sign normal! However, if you walk round the back of this three-story building then you’ll be greeted by the sight of a face. The museum was built to display owner Keiji Kawamoto’s collection of around 8000 pieces which he’s been accumulating since 1986.

2. Hotel Areaone Sakaiminato Marina @ 3268 Niiyacho, Sakaiminato, Tottori-ken – With its square observatory, this run-down hotel has an interesting design and stands out as there really is not much else in this area which is very windy due to the sea breeze coming from across the road. More details here.

1. Sakaiminato Station @ Taishomachi, Sakaiminato, Tottori-ken – The station’s interesting appearance somewhat resembles a spaceport with its glistening aluminium cylindrical exterior design on the north side. The opposite side is quite original too. More details here.

Click on the following links to see previous Modern Architecture Outside of Tokyo posts…

1. Hokkaido & Tōhoku   2. Tōhoku & Tochigi   3. Saitama, Chiba & Ibaraki   4. Kanagawa & Yamanashi   5. Shizuoka   6. Nagoya   7. Aichi & Gifu   8. Kyoto   #9. Osaka

Click on the following links to see previous Tokyo Modern Architecture posts…

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