Osaka Memorial Park (大阪メモリアルパーク)

Osaka Memorial Park is a private, non-denominational cemetery that opened in March 2003 in Daito. It covers 185,000 m2, with 20,000 plots planned. It stands on the western slope of Mount Ikoma (生駒山), long known as a sacred mountain, between the Osaka plain and the Nara basin.

Tadao Ando was entrusted with designing and supervising the park's landscape plan and its rest house. The project aims to make the cemetery a garden open to the community, where the flowers of each season accompany the dialogue between the dead and their families.

The landscape follows the ridge of Ikoma: the spaces follow one another with subtle differences in level, and curved stone walls, placed irregularly, vary the plan and give the paths their rhythm and shadows. The walks are accessible without obstacles, and lawns and flower beds spread over the slope, with views of the Osaka urban area and the bay.

The non-denominational cemetery offers conventional graves, burials beneath trees and graves with perpetual care.

Visits are booked, free of charge, with the park; it is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Wednesdays. Free shuttle buses link it to Ikoma and Nozaki stations.