Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library

The Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library features a heavy green copper dome that sits atop a temple-like stone exterior. This building functions as a center for research and rare documents, financed entirely by the Sumitomo family in nineteen oh four. Kichizaemon Sumitomo gave the land and the money for its construction, requesting that it serve the public as a library. It survived the firebombing raids of nineteen forty-five, while the surrounding district burned, because the thick stone walls acted as a firewall.