The Church of the light is Osaka, is one of the most famous designs of Japanese architect Tadao Ando and it was the highlight of our first day is Osaka.
Built in 1989, is it located 20km from the center of Osaka. It is a quite small building the chapel which is the original building is only a bit more than 100 sq meter.
When the parish approached Tadao Ando, the most important point was the lack of funding that was available for the building. That suits the minimalist approach of the architect who also chose to use some recycling planks for instance to built the bench.
The most iconic feature of the building is the wall of the chapel at the back of the altar wit its hollowed cross from which the light pours.
Bare concrete, narrow spaces, the emptiness is expected to make room for the spirituality.
The chapel also contains an organ (with rear view mirrors)
10 years later a second building, the Sunday school, was added on the side of the chapel with similar architectural elements.
From the practical side : you can visit the web site of the church : http://ibaraki-kasugaoka-church.jp/e-forvisitors.html
You will learn that the church is not open for visits every day and that you have to register online for the visits. (we did). The ladies there were so nice that I don’t think it is a problem if you forget to do it, but given the time to get there better be safe. The entrance is free but you are asked to make a small donation for the maintenance of the building
Accessing the church from Osaka you have to take the train to Ibaraki station (30 minutes) and then the bus the church. All in all it should take 45 minutes to an hour. At the station there are not many signs, you have to take but number two which starts on the left most bus stop outside of the station when you face outside. There is a taxi stand there, you better ask than wandering for 20 minute like me.
The are plenty of excellent resources on the web of the church itself.
Color shots Leica M262, BW Leica M6+Ultrafine Xtreme 400ISO lens – Summicron 28,35 and 50
Waex99 PhotoBlog 
[…] Beside its exceptional architecture and location in the hear of Paris, the bourse du commerce as it is today, also boasts two major attractions to my eye. A work by Tadao Ando, under the form of the concrete cylinder at the heart of the main exhibition hall. I have made a few posts about Tadao Ando in the past, you can for instance read about the church of light in Osaka here. […]
[…] drive from Aix, with Michelin starred chef restaurants an vineyard, an entrance building made by Tadao Ando and dozens of art works spread in the […]