Takarazuka Catholic Church looks like a white whale swimming through a residential area. - Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun
TAKARAZUKA, (Japan): A giant white whale is swimming leisurely, its tail raised high, through a residential area in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, with the blue sky as the ocean and flowing clouds as white-capped waves.
This whale is a building, the Takarazuka Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Osaka-Takamatsu, designed by Togo Murano (1891-1984), who was one of Japan’s leading architects of the 20th century.
The church was completed in 1965.
The more I looked at it, the more I felt the wavy roof represents a white whale’s body, with the spire as its tail. Inside, the ceiling has a curved form.
The inner space underneath could be considered the whale’s stomach.
Some people also compare the building to an upside-down high heel or a very large fish.
The church seems almost to have sprung from the earth, rather than being built upon it.
“My grandfather always told me that the design was to keep the building and the earth from fighting each other,” said Satoko Takenaka, 62, a granddaughter of Murano, in front of the church.
Hisashi Murano, 54, a grandson of Murano, nodded as he stood next to her.
Modernist church
Based in Osaka, he worked on many famous modernist buildings. He moved to Takarazuka in 1940.
The church in Takarazuka is known by the local people as “the church of the white whale.”
“I heard the story [of a large fish] in the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament,” said Satoko, who was baptized in the church as a child.
In the book, Jonah, fleeing from God, is swallowed by a large fish. He prays for three days and nights in the fish’s stomach and is then vomited out.
“The ceiling of the cathedral is like the upper jaw of a whale or a giant fish. It’s a mysterious space,” Takenaka said. “When you come out of the space, you feel like you have been reborn.”
She says the experience is similar to events held at Buddhist temples in which people walk through the darkness regarded as the womb of the Buddha.
Father Ki Deok Park, the parish priest, said: “The cathedral seems to have something special. I feel it is different from others.”
‘A safe haven’
Murano was baptised at the age of 89.
“My grandfather always carried a brown bag in his pocket containing his rosary. The bag was ragged,” Satoko said.
“He gave his full, sincere attention to each work,” Hisashi said. “Perhaps it was partly because he was involved in many religious building projects.”
In church, people gather and care for each other. “By facing our weaknesses and praying, we can be closer to God’s will,” Father Park said during a sermon.
The church is currently undergoing renovation and is temporarily closed to outsiders. “The work will be finished by Christmas Eve, so come and pray,” the Father said.
The architect wrote in a note: “After drifting across the ocean, [the whale] has finally found safe haven.”
I felt like there is a prayer embracing everyone in the church.
How to get there
About a seven-minute walk from Takarazuka-minamiguchi Station on the Hankyu Line
Togo Murano
Murano was born in Saga Prefecture. He worked on the Nissay Theatre, the Shinkabukiza theater in Osaka and the Takarazuka City Hall, just to name a few.
He was awarded the Medal of Honour with Blue Ribbon in 1958 and the Order of Culture in 1967.
His Memorial Cathedral for World Peace in Hiroshima is a designated important cultural property. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
