3 Arrested for Allegedly Damaging Station Building Designated as Cultural Property in Osaka

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:30 JST, February 9, 2023

SAKAI, Osaka — The Osaka prefectural police have arrested three people, including a 16-year-old high school student, suspected of damaging an old train station building designated as a national tangible cultural property, it has been learned. The three have admitted to the charges.

The damaged structure is the former station building for Hamadera Koen Station on the Nankai Line. According to investigators, the three people are suspected of kicking and punching two pillars in front of the building, causing the damage. They filmed themselves in the act with a smartphone.

The pillars are now cracked, and some paint has peeled off. Nankai Electric Railway Co., which owns the building, said it will repair the damage.

The old station building was designed by famous architect Kingo Tatsuno, who also designed Tokyo Station. It was built in 1907 and designated as a national tangible cultural property in 1998. Until it closed in 2016, it was the oldest active station building on a private railway line in Japan. The building is currently being used as a cafe and gallery.