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The House of Sumitomo had its headquarters and refining operations in Osaka even before managing the Besshi Copper Mine opened in 1691. It acquired land facing Osaka Bay for a new business location in 1873, just after the rebirth of Japan as a modern state. The site was surrounded by cereal wholesalers, and product storage locations were scarce. Neighboring wholesalers who knew that Sumitomo had extra storage space at its new site asked if they might lease some of it, and that is how Sumitomo got its start in the warehousing business. The new Sumitomo warehousing business formally adopted the name Sumitomo Warehouse in 1899, by which time it already had a total of 42 locations in Osaka and Kobe, comprising 9,000 square meters of warehouse space and 13,000 square meters of premises. This marked the first page of the corporate history of Sumitomo Warehouse. |
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Chikko Warehouse Number 7
Chikko Warehouse No.7 (left), completed in November 1928, near the center of Osaka Nangan terminal. The five-story reinforced-concrete structure with 12,889 square meters of floor space made its massive appearance as a landmark at the whole terminal. A monorail transporter and bridge ran between the warehouse and its adjacent shed, making cargo moving operation more efficient within the compound. |
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