Festival Hall

World-renowned concert hall on the island of Nakanoshima in Osaka, originally built in 1958 for the first Osaka International Festival. Designed by architect Togo Murano, the hall quickly gained international acclaim for its acoustics, praised by artists as letting sound shower down from the heavens. Over the decades it hosted legends including Karajan, Bernstein, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, Miles Davis (whose 1975 albums Agharta and Pangaea were recorded here), Pink Floyd and Queen. The original hall closed in December 2008 for reconstruction and reopened on 3 April 2013 within the 200-metre Nakanoshima Festival Tower, preserving the iconic 2,700-seat capacity, 30-metre wide stage and legendary acoustics. Home of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. Accessible via Watanabebashi Station (Keihan) and Higobashi Station (Osaka Metro).