Highway through a Building Story ★ ONLY in JAPAN

Osaka’s Gate Tower Building is an amazing sight to see because ... well, how should I put this? A highway goes through the building. It literally does, and there is a story behind it. In this episode, John not only goes inside to see where the elevator takes him, he also drives through it -- in a Lotus Seven. We’ll also go up the Umeda Sky Building and catch some fantastic angles of the city, skyline and Gate Tower Building. THE STORY: Here it is from the building owner. It’s basically a land rights dispute with a sort of happy ending. The property was owned by a business (coal and wood company) since the early Meiji era but when business declined, so did the buildings in the 1970s. The area was approved to be redeveloped in 1983 but the property holder refused to give up the land, even though new building permits had been refused to him. The highway corporation and the property owner negotiated for 5 years and what you see today is their compromise. Highways usually buy th