Just when I think I’m exhausting all of Osaka’s mysterious buildings, a new one looms on the horizon. Look, over there, what the hell is that?
We’re somewhere in the south-easternmost suburbs of the city, and I’ve cycled about 25 kilometers from home. It’s a scorching hot afternoon. The skin on my nose is red. Hey, there’s that thing again, behind the golf range!
It looks like the Eiffel Tower, or Berlin’s TV tower. It’s probably some kind of amusement park. I’m going to investigate.
I try to head towards it via some sort of university campus, but guards tell me I can’t go through. The same thing happens when I approach via some sort of hospital complex.
From some angles it looks like a muslim minaret.
I approach through suburbs. The tower towers over them incongruously. As towers do.
Could it be the headquarters of an eccentric corporation?
Later, when I google, I discover that this part of Osaka is the “holy land” for a mysterious church called the Church of Perfect Liberty. Founded in the 1920s by Tokuharu Miki, this religion promotes world peace, and the PL (Perfect Liberty) Tower was built in 1970 (using concrete sprayed onto wire mesh, a new technique at the time) as a memorial to all those killed in wars. It’s open to the public for a few days in January, and in July there’s a big firework display in memory of The Founder.
The church – established as a Shinto cult for convenience during the inter-war period, but basically Buddhist in outlook – doesn’t have a holy book per se, but it does have 21 precepts.
1 Life is art 2 Man’s life is a succession of self-expressions 3 Man is a manifestation of God 4 Man suffers if he fails to express himself 5 Man’s true self is lost when swayed by feelings and emotions 6 Man’s true self is revealed when his ego is effaced 7 All things exist in mutual relationship to one another 8 Live radiantly as the sun 9 All men are equal 10 Strive for creating mutual happiness 11 Have true faith in God 12 There is a way (function) peculiar to every “name” (existence) 13 There is a way for men, and there is another for women 14 All is for world peace 15 All is a mirror 16 All things progress and develop 17 Comprehend what is most essential 18 At every moment man stands at the crossroads of good and evil 19 Act when your intuition dictates 20 Live in a perfect unity of mind and matter 21 Live in Perfect Liberty
One page I consult says that this is one of “three mysterious towers in Osaka”, but fails to name the other two. The mystery remains.
