Osaka Umeda Catholic Church

I attended Sunday Mass at the Osaka Umeda Catholic Church when I was in the city last month.

The church is located right smack at a road junction, beside Hearton Hotel. In this photo, it looks like the mighty hotel is embracing the church:

At the entrance are two stone tablets inscribed with the name of the church:

The main entrance:

Step inside the main entrance and you'll find yourself in the lobby where the parish office is located as well as a bookshop:

The bookshop was closed when I was there.

Unlike other churches where Mass is usually held on the ground floor, Mass at the Osaka Umeda Catholic Church is celebrated on the Third Floor.

You may use the lift or the stairs to get to the Third Floor.

Climbing a flight of stairs would be a good workout before Mass.

This is where Mass is held:

The pews, altar, tabernacle and overall look and feel is modern and contemporary.

Masses are celebrated in Japanese, English, Spanish and Indonesian at the Osaka Umeda Catholic Church and here are the Mass times:

I attended the English language Mass at 9.00am.

Most of the congregation were Filipinos and other expats. I suppose the locals would attend their native Japanese language Mass.

Towards the end of Mass, the commentator welcomed all visitors and asked each one of us to stand up and introduce ourselves. Such a warm welcome indeed.

Getting to the Osaka Umeda Catholic Church
Ride the subway to Nakatsu station (Midosuji line) and take Exit 4.

Once you come out from Exit 4, immediately turn left and walk about 70m till you see a 7-Eleven at the corner on your right. Turn right at this corner and walk for about 80m. You'll see the Osaka Umeda Catholic Church on your left.

Tough luck if you need to ask for directions as a majority of locals wouldn't know where the church is. I went to the 7-Eleven to ask for directions and the staff didn't know where's the church which I later found out was a mere 80m down the road from their outlet!

Tip: If you find difficulties looking for the church, try asking for directions to Hearton Hotel instead and you're bound to find the church as both buildings are located side by side which you can see from the photo above. More locals would probably know where the hotel is compared to a Catholic church because Catholicism is not a major religion in Japan.

Happy worshiping!

Note: All information and Mass times are correct at posting time.