is a city in Japan
, located at the mouth of the Yodo River
on Osaka Bay
, in the Kansai region
of the main island of Honshū
.
Osaka is a
City in Japan and also is designated city
under the Local Autonomy Law and
the capital city of Osaka Prefecture
. Osaka has historically been the commercial
capital of Japan, and is at the heart of Japan's second largest
metropolitan
area of
Keihanshin
(Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto), whose population is 18,643,915.
The ratio between daytime and night time population is 141%, the
highest in Japan, highlighting its status as an economic center.
Its
nighttime population is 2.6 million, the third in the country, but
in daytime the population surges to 3.7 million, second only after
Tokyo
. Osaka has traditionally been referred to as
the , or the Mecca
of gourmet
food.
History
Prehistory to the Kofun period
Some of the earliest signs of habitation in the area of Osaka were
found at the , with its shell mounds, including sea oysters and
buried human skeletons from the 5th–6th centuries BC.It is believed
that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a peninsular
land, with an inland sea in the east. During the
Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the
plains grew as rice farming became popular.
By the
Kofun period, Osaka developed into a
hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The
large numbers, and the increasing size, of tomb mounds found in the
plains of Osaka are seen as evidence of political-power
concentration, leading to the formation of a state.
Asuka and Nara period
In 645,
Emperor Kōtoku built his
palace, the
Naniwa
Nagara-Toyosaki Palace in Osaka, making this area the capital
(Naniwa-kyō). The place that became the modern city was by this
time called Naniwa.
This name, and derived forms, are still in
use for districts in central Osaka such as Naniwa
(浪速) and
Namba (難波). Although the capital
was moved to Asuka
(in Nara
Prefecture
today) in
655, Naniwa remained a vital connection, by land and sea, between
Yamato (modern day Nara
Prefecture), Korea
, and
China
.
In 744, Naniwa once again became the capital by order of
Emperor Shōmu.
Naniwa ceased to be
the capital in 745, when the Imperial Court moved back to Heijō-kyō
(now Nara). The
seaport function was gradually taken over by neighboring lands by
the end of Nara period, but it remained a lively center of river,
channel, and land transportation between
Heian-kyō (Kyoto today) and other destinations.
Heian to Edo period
In 1496,
the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sect set up their headquarters in the
heavily fortified Ishiyama Hongan-ji
on the site of the old Naniwa imperial palace.
Oda Nobunaga started a siege of the
temple in 1570.
After a decade, the monks finally
surrendered, and the temple was razed, and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed
Osaka
Castle
in its place.
Osaka was, for a long time, Japan's most important economic center,
with a large percentage of the population belonging to the merchant
class (see
Four divisions of
society). Over the course of the
Edo
period (1603–1867), Osaka grew into one of Japan's major cities
and returned to its ancient role as a lively and important port.
Its popular culture was closely related to
ukiyo-e depictions of life in
Edo. Developing in parallel with the urban culture of
Kyoto and Edo, Osaka likewise featured
bunraku and grand
kabuki
productions, pleasure quarters, and a lively artistic
community.
In 1837,
Ōshio
Heihachirō, a low-ranking samurai, led a peasant insurrection
in response to the city's unwillingness to support the many poor
and suffering families in the area. Approximately one-quarter of
the city was razed before shogunal officials put down the
rebellion, after which Ōshio killed himself.
Osaka was
opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Hyōgo
(modern
Kobe) on 1 January 1868, just before the advent
of the Boshin war and the Meiji restoration.
Modern Osaka
The
modern municipality was established in 1889 by government
ordinance, with an initial area of 15 km², overlapping
today's Chūō
and Nishi
wards. Later, the city went through three major expansions
to reach its current size of 222 km².
Derivation of name
Osaka literally means "large hill" or "large slope."It is unclear
when this name gained prominence over Naniwa, but the oldest usage
of the name dates back to a 1496 text. Osaka, now written 大阪, was
formerly written using a different second
kanji as 大坂. The old writing is still in very limited
use to emphasize history, but the second kanji 阪 is now universally
considered referring to Osaka city and prefecture only, to
distinguish it from homonyms in other Japanese prefectures.
Geography
The city
of Osaka has its west side open to Osaka Bay. It is otherwise completely surrounded by
more than ten smaller cities, all of them in Osaka
Prefecture, with one
exception: the city of Amagasaki,
belonging to Hyōgo Prefecture
, in the northwest. The city occupies a
larger area (about 13%) than any other city or village within Osaka
Prefecture. When the city was established in 1889, the city
occupied roughly what today are the wards of Chuo and Nishi, with
only size, and grew into today's over several expansions. The
biggest leap was in 1925, when was claimed through an expansion.
The
highest point in Osaka is in Tsurumi-ku
at Tokyo Peil, and the lowest point is in Nishiyodogawa-ku
at Tokyo Peil.
Climate
Cityscape
Neighborhoods
Central Osaka is often divided into two areas referred to as
Kita (キタ, lit.
north) and
Minami (ミナミ, lit.
south), at either end of the major thoroughfare
Midōsuji. Kita is roughly the area
surrounding the business and retail district of
Umeda.
Minami is home to the Namba, Shinsaibashi
, and Dōtonbori
shopping districts. The entertainment
district around
Dōtonbori Bridge with its
famous
giant mechanical
crab, Triangle Park, and
Amerikamura
("America Village") is in Minami. In Yodoyabashi and Honmachi,
between Kita and Minami, is the traditional business area where
courts and national/regional headquarters of major banks are
located. The newer business area is in the
Osaka Business Park located nearby Osaka
Castle.
Business districts have also formed around
the secondary rail termini, such as Tennoji Station
and Kyobashi Station
.
“The 808 bridges of Naniwa” was an expression in old Japan for awe
and wonder, an adage known across the land. “808” was a large
number which symbolized the idea of “uncountable”. Since Osaka is
crossed by a number of rivers and canals, many bridges were built
with specific names, and the areas surrounding the bridges were
often referred to by the names of the bridges, too. Some of the
waterways, such as the Nagahori canal, have been filled in, while
others still remain..
Wards
A map of Osaka's Wards
Osaka has 24
wards
(
ku):
Demographics
According to the census in 2005, there were 2,628,811 residents in
Osaka, an increase of 30,037 or 1.2% from 2000. There were
1,280,325 households with approximately 2.1 persons per household.
The population density was 11,836 persons per km².
The Great Kanto
Earthquake
caused a mass migration to Osaka between 1920 and
1930, and the city became Japan's largest city in 1930 with
2,453,573 people, outnumbering even Tokyo, which had a population
of 2,070,913. The population peaked at 3,252,340 in 1940,
and had a post-war peak of 3,156,222 in 1965, but continued to
decrease since, as the residents moved out to the suburbs.
There were 99,775 registered foreigners, the two largest groups
being Korean (71,015) and Chinese (11,848).
Ikuno
, with its
Tsuruhashi district, is the home to one of the largest population
of Korean residents in Japan, with 27,466 registered zainichi Koreans.
Dialect
The commonly spoken dialect of this area is
Osaka-ben. Of the many other particularities
that characterize
Osaka-ben, an example
is the use of the suffix
hen instead of
nai in
the negative of verbs.
Politics
Osaka City Hall
The
Osaka City Council is the
city's local government formed under the
Local Autonomy Law. The Council has
eighty-nine seats, allocated to the twenty-four wards proportional
to their population and re-elected by the citizens every four
years. The Council elects its President and Vice President.
Toshifumi Tagaya (
LDP) is the current and 104th
President since May 2008. The Mayor of the city is directly elected
by the citizens every four years as well, in accordance with the
Local Autonomy Law.
Kunio
Hiramatsu, a former Mainichi Broadcasting System
announcer is the 18th mayor of Osaka since
2007. He is supported by two Vice Mayors,
Akira Morishita and
Takashi Kashiwagi, who are appointed by
himself in accordance with the city bylaw.
Osaka also houses several agencies of the Japanese Government.
Below is a list of Governmental Offices housed in Osaka.
- Osaka Family Court
- Osaka High Court
- Osaka Immigration
- Osaka Labour Bureau
- Osaka Meteorological Observatory
- Osaka Public Prosecutors Office
- Osaka Regional Aerospace Bureau
- Osaka Regional Law Bureau
- Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau
- Osaka Summary Court
Economy
See also
Companies
headquartered in Osaka
The gross city product of Osaka in fiscal year 2004 was ¥21.3
trillion, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year.
The figure accounts
for about 55% of the total output in the Osaka
Prefecture and 26.5% in
the Kinki region. In 2004, commerce, services, and
manufacturing have been the three major industries, accounting for
30%, 26%, and 11% of the total, respectively. The per capita income
in the city was about ¥3.3 million, 10% higher than that of the
Osaka Prefecture.
MasterCard Worldwide
reported that Osaka ranks 19th among the world's leading cities and
plays an important role in the global economy.
The
GDP in the greater Osaka area (Osaka and
Kobe) is $341 billion.
Osaka, along with
Paris
and London
, has one of
the most productive hinterlands in the
world. The figure has stayed fairly constant for the past 15
years, when the GDP compared with other cities worldwide was that
much larger.
Historically, Osaka was the center of commerce in Japan, especially
in the middle and pre-modern ages.
Nomura Securities, the first brokerage
firm in Japan, was founded in the city in 1925, and Osaka still
houses a leading futures exchange.
Many major companies have since moved
their main offices to Tokyo.
However, several major companies—such as
Panasonic,
Sharp,
and
Sanyo—are still headquartered in Osaka.
Recently, the city began a program, headed by mayor Junichi Seki,
to attract domestic and foreign investment.
The
Osaka Securities
Exchange, specializing in derivatives such as
Nikkei 225 futures, is based in Osaka. The merger
with
JASDAQ will help the Osaka Securities
Exchange become the largest exchange in Japan for start-up
companies.
According
to a U.S. study, Osaka is the second most
expensive city for expatriate employees in the world and in
Japan behind Tokyo. It
jumped up nine places from 11th place in 2008. Osaka was the 8th
most expensive city in 2007.
Transportation
Air
Osaka is served by two airports outside the city.
Kansai
International Airport
(IATA: KIX) handles all scheduled international
passenger flights, some domestic flights, and most cargo
flights. It is on an artificial island that sits off-shore in
Osaka Bay and is administratively part of the nearby town of
Tajiri
. The
airport is linked by a
bus and
train service into the center of the city and major
suburbs.
Osaka
International Airport
(IATA:ITM), on the border of the cities of Itami and Toyonaka, houses most of the domestic
services, some international cargo flights, and international VIP
charters from and to the metropolitan region.
Sea
The port of Osaka serves as a shipping hub for the Kansai region
along with the port of Kobe.
Ferry
Osaka's international ferry connections are far greater than
Tokyo's, mostly due to geography.
There are international ferries that
leave Osaka for Shanghai, Korea, and until
recently Taiwan
.
Osaka's
domestic ferry services include regular service to ports such as
Shimonoseki, Kagoshima, and Okinawa
.
Shipping
Port of Osaka
Shipping plays the crucial role for the freight coming in and out
of the area nationally and internationally, and Greater Osaka areas
exports and imported raw materials span the globe, with no one port
dominating. Though the port of Kobe was in the 1970s the busiest in
the world by containers handled, it no longer ranks among the top
twenty worldwide. Kansai area is home to 5 existing
LNG terminals.
Rail
Greater Osaka has a very extensive network of railway lines,
comparable to that of Greater Tokyo.
Main rail terminals
in the city include, Umeda, Namba, Tennoji
, Kyobashi, and Yodoyabashi.
High speed rail
JR Central and
JR
West operate
high-speed trains
on the
Tōkaidō-
Sanyō Shinkansen line.
Shin-Ōsaka
Station
is the Shinkansen
terminal in Osaka. This station is connected to Ōsaka
Station
at Umeda by the JR Kyoto Line and the subway Midōsuji Line. All Shinkansen trains including Nozomi stop at Shin-Ōsaka Station and
provide access to other major cities in Japan, such as Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo to the east,
and Kobe, Okayama,
Hiroshima, Kitakyushu and Fukuoka to the west. In spring 2011, JR
West and JR Kyushu will introduce new
Shinkansen services, Sakura, linking
Osaka with Kumamoto, Kagoshima, and other cities in central and south
Kyushu
.
The
Chuo Shinkansen using JR-Maglev
system will be extended to Shin-Ōsaka so that
passengers can transfer to the existing Tōkaidō-Sanyō Shinkansen
line.
Commuter rail
JR Osaka Loop Line
Both
JR West and private
lines connect Osaka and its suburbs. The commuter rail network of
JR West is called the
Urban Network.
Major
stations on the JR Osaka Loop Line
include Osaka
, Tennōji
, Tsuruhashi
, and Kyōbashi
. JR West competes with such private rail
operators as
Keihan Electric
Railway,
Hankyu Railway,
Hanshin Railway,
Kintetsu Corporation, and
Nankai Electric Railway.
The
Keihan and Hankyu lines connect to Kyoto; the Hanshin and Hankyu lines connect to Kobe; the Kintetsu lines connect to Nara, Yoshino
, Ise and Nagoya; and the Nankai
lines connect to Osaka's southern suburbs and Kansai
International Airport as well as Wakayama and
Mt.
Koya. Many lines in Greater Osaka accept either
ICOCA or
PiTaPa
contactless
smart cards for
payment.
Municipal subway
The
Osaka Municipal Subway
system is a part of Osaka's extensive rapid transit system. The
Metro system alone ranks 8th in the world by annual passenger
ridership, serving over 912 million people annually (a quarter of
Greater Osaka Rail System's 4 billion annual riders), despite being
only 8 of more than 70 lines in the metro area (
see
map).
Bus
Regular bus services are provided by
Osaka Municipal
Transportation Bureau (the City Bus), as well as by group
companies of Hankyu, Hanshin and Kintetsu. The City runs a dense
network covering much parts of the city. The fare for the regular
buses is a flat rate of 200 Yen, or 100 Yen for the smaller "Red
Bus" looplines operated within segmented areas of the city. The
other bus companies provide their services in supplement to their
railway networks.
Culture and lifestyle
Shopping and culinary
Osaka has a large number of wholesalers and retail shops: 25,228
and 34,707 respectively in 2004, according to the city statistics.
A lot of them are concentrated in the wards of Chuō (10,468 shops)
and Kita (6,335 shops). Types of shops varies from malls to
conventional
shōtengai shopping
arcades, built both above- and underground.
Shōtengai are seen
across Japan, and Osaka has the longest one in the country.: The
Tenjinbashi-suji arcade stretches from the road approaching the
Temmangu
shrine
and continues for 2.6 km going north to
south. The type of stores along the arcade includes
commodities, clothing, and catering outlets.
Other shopping areas are
Den Den Town,
the electronic and manga/anime district, which is comparable to
Akihabara; and the
Umeda district, which has
the Hankyu Sanbangai shopping mall and
Yodobashi Camera, a huge electrical
appliance store that offers a vast range of fashion stores,
restaurants, and a Shonen Jump store.
Osaka is known for its food, as supported by the saying "Dress (in
kimonos) till you drop in
Kyoto, eat till you
drop in Osaka" (京の着倒れ、大阪の食い倒れ). Regional cuisine includes
okonomiyaki (pan-fried batter
cake),
takoyaki (
octopus dumplings),
udon (a noodle dish), as well as the
traditional
battera (バッテラ)
sushi.
Other shopping districts include:
- American Village – fashion for young
people
- Dōtonbori – part of Namba district and considered heart of
the city
- Namba – main shopping, sightseeing, and
restaurant area
- Shinsaibashi – luxury goods and department stores
- Umeda – theaters, boutiques, and
department stores near the train station
Entertainment and performing arts
- Osaka is home to the National Bunraku Theatre[8427], where traditional puppet plays, bunraku, are performed.
- At Osaka Shouchiku-za, close
to Namba station, kabuki can be enjoyed as well as manzai. Nearby is the Shin-kabuki-za, where enka concerts and Japanese dramas are performed.
- Yoshimoto, a Japanese
entertainment conglomarate operates two halls in the city for
manzai and other comedy shows: the Namba Grand Kagetsu and the Kyōbashi Kagetsu halls.
- The Hanjō-tei opened in 2006,
dedicated to rakugo. The theatre is in the
Temmangū
area.
- Umeda Arts Theater opened in
2005 after relocating from its former 46-year-old Umeda Koma
Theater. The theater has a main hall with 1,905 seats and a smaller
theater-drama hall with 898 seats. Umeda Arts Theatre stages
various type of performances including musicals, music concerts,
dramas, rakugo, and others.
- The Symphony Hall, built in
1982, is the first hall in Japan designed specially for classical
music concerts. The Hall was opened with a concert by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra,
which is based in the city. Orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic have played here
during their world tours as well.
- Osaka-jō Hall
is a multi-purpose arena in Osaka-jō park with a capacity for up to
16,000 people. The hall has hosted numerous events and
concerts including both Japanese and international artists.
- Near City Hall in Nakanoshima, is Osaka Central Public Hall, a
Neo-Renaissance-style building first
opened in 1918. Re-opened in 2002 after major restoration, it
serves as a multi-purpose rental facility for citizen events.
- The Osaka Shiki Theater is
one of the nine private halls opearted nationwide by the Shiki Theatre, staging straight plays
and musicals.
- Festival Hall was a hall
hosting various performances including noh,
kyogen, kabuki, ballets as well as classic
concerts. The Bolshoi Ballet and the Philharmonia are among the many that were
welcomed on stage in the past. The hall has closed at the end of
2008, planned to re-open in 2013 in a new facility.
Annual festivals
Tenji Matsuri
One of the most famous festivals held in Osaka, the Tenjin-matsuri
is held on July 24 and 25. Other festivals in Osaka include the
Aizen-matsuri, Shōryō-e and Tōka-Ebisu. Furthermore, Osaka annually
hosts the Osaka European Film Festival.
Museum and galleries
See also: Museums in Osaka
Osaka Maritime Museum
The
National
Museum of Art
(NMAO) is a subterranean Japanese art museum,
housing mainly collections from the post-war era.
Osaka
Science Museum
is in a five storied building next to the National
Museum of Art, with a planetarium and an omnimax theatre. The
Museum of Oriental
Ceramics holds more than 2,000 pieces of ceramics, from China,
Korea, Japan and Vietnam, featuring displays of some of their
Korean
celadon under natural light.
Osaka Municipal Museum of Art
is inside Tennōji
park
, housing over 8,000 pieces of Japanese and Chinese
paintings and sculptures. The Osaka Maritime Museum
, opened in 2000, is accessible only through an
underwater tunnel into its dome. The Osaka Museum of History, opened in
2001, is located in a 13-story modern building providing a view of
Osaka
Castle. Its exhibits cover the history of Osaka
from pre-history to the present day.
Osaka Museum of Natural
History houses a collection related to natural history and
life.
Sports
Osaka
hosts four professional sport teams: one of them is the Orix Buffaloes, a Nippon Professional Baseball
team, playing its home games at Kyocera Dome Osaka
. Another baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers, although based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, plays a part of its home games in Kyocera Dome Osaka
as well, when their homeground Kōshien
Stadium
is occupied with the annual National High School
Baseball Championship games during summer season.
A
J.League soccer team, Cerezo Osaka, plays its home games at Nagai Stadium
. The team plays in the 2nd division league
since the 2007 season, after finishing second to last in the
previous year. The city is home to
Osaka
Evessa, a basketball team that plays in the
bj league. Evessa has won the first three
championships of the league since its establishment.
Kintetsu Liners, a
rugby union team, play in the
Top League. After winning promotion in 2008-09,
they will again remain in the competition for the 2009-10 season.
Their
base is the Hanazono Rugby Stadium
.
The
Sangatsubasho (三月場所 sangatsu basho, literally March ring),
one of the six regular tournaments of professional Sumo is held annually in Osaka at the Osaka
Prefectural Gymnasium
.
Another major annual sporting event that takes place is Osaka is
Osaka International Ladies Marathon.
Held
usually at the end of January every year, the 42.195 km race
starts from Nagai Stadium, runs through Nakanoshima
, Midōsuji and Osaka castle park, and returns to the stadium. Another
yearly event held at Nagai Stadium is the Osaka Gran Prix Athletics
games operated by the
International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in May. The Osaka
GP is the only IAAF games annually held in Japan.
Media
NHK Osaka
Osaka serves as one of the media hubs for Japan, housing
headquarters of many media-related companies. Abundant television
production takes place in the city andevery nationwide TV network
(with the exception of TXN network) registers its sub-key station
in Osaka. All five nationwide newspaper majors also house their
regional headquarters, and most local newspapers nationwide have
branches in Osaka. Yet, one should know that major film productions
are uncommon in the city.
Most major films are produced in nearby
Kyoto or Tokyo.
Newspapers
All the five nationwide newspaper majors of Japan, the
Asahi Shimbun, the
Mainichi Shimbun, the
Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the
Sankei Shimbun and the
Yomiuri Shimbun, have their regional
headquarters in Osaka and issue their regional editions.
Furthermore, Osaka houses Osaka Nichi-nichi Shimbun, its newspaper
press. Other newspaper related companies located in Osaka include
include, the regional headquarters of FujiSankei Business i.;Houchi
Shimbunsha;
Nikkan Sports;
Sports Nippon, and offices of
Kyodo News;
Jiji Press;
Reuters;
Bloomberg
L.P..
Television and radio
The five
TV networks are represented by the Asahi
Broadcasting Corporation
(ANN), the
Kansai
Telecasting Corporation
(FNN), the
Mainichi
Broadcasting System (JNN), the
Television Osaka (TXN) and the Yomiuri Telecasting
Corporation
(NNN),
headquartered in Osaka. NHK
has also
its regional station based in the city. AM Radio services
are provided by NHK as well as the ABC Radio (Asahi Broadcasting
Corporation), MBS Radio (Mainichi Broadcasting System) and Radio
Osaka (
Osaka Broadcasting
Corporation) and headquartered in the city. FM services are
available from NHK,
FM Osaka,
FM802 and
FM Cocolo, the last
providing programs in multiple languages including English.
As of February 2009, the city is fully covered by terrestrial
digital TV broadcasts
Publishing companies
Osaka is home to many publishing companies including: Examina,
Izumi Shoin, Kaihou Shuppansha, Keihanshin Elmagazine, Seibundo
Shuppan, Sougensha, and Toho Shuppan.
Places of interest
Tourist attractions include:
21st century Osaka
21st century Osaka
Kansai, the name being used for Osaka is transforming itself with
high rise skyscrapers that define the 21st century Japan in social
and economic standards
Amusement parks
- Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
(海遊館) – an aquarium
located in Osaka Bay, containing 35,000 aquatic animals in 14
tanks, the largest of which holds 5,400 tons of water and houses a
variety of sea animals including whale
sharks. This tank is the world's second-largest
aquarium tank, behind the Georgia Aquarium
, whose largest tank holds approximately 29,000 tons
of water.
- Tempozan
Harbor Village Ferris wheel
, located next to the aquarium
- Tennōji Zoo
- Universal Studios Japan
- Umeda
Joypolis
Sega
- Shin-Umeda city – an innovative structure that has the floating
garden observatory 170 m from the ground, which offers a
360-degree panoramic view of Osaka, popular for photographs, a
structure that also houses an underground mall with restaurants and
is styled in the early Showa period in the 1920s.
Parks
Temples, shrines, and other historical sites
Entertainment
Education
Public elementary and junior high schools in Osaka are operated by
the city of Osaka. Its supervisory organization on educational
matters is Osaka City Board of Education. Likewise, public high
schools are operated by
Osaka Prefectural Board of
Education.
Osaka
city once had a large number of universities high schools, but because of growing
campuses and the need for larger area, many chose to move to the
suburbs, including Osaka University
.
Libraries
Natives
Sister cities
Osaka has eight sister cities and relationships of various sorts
with several others:
| Date |
|
Sister
City |
| 1957 |
|
San Francisco , United States |
| 1969 |
|
São Paulo , Brazil |
| 1973 |
|
Chicago , United
States |
| 1974 |
|
Shanghai, China |
| 1974 |
|
Melbourne , Australia |
| 1979 |
|
Saint Petersburg , Russia |
| 1981 |
|
Milan , Italy |
| 1989 |
|
Hamburg , Germany |
|
| Date |
|
Friendship and Cooperation City |
| 1998 |
|
Buenos Aires , Argentina |
| 1998 |
|
Budapest , Hungary |
| 2008 |
|
Busan , South Korea |
|
Business Partner Cities :
- Auckland
, New
Zealand
- Bangkok
, Thailand
- Ho Chi Minh City
, Vietnam
- Hong
Kong
, China
- Jakarta
, Indonesia
- Kuala Lumpur
, Malaysia
- Manila
, Philippines
- Melbourne, Australia
- Mumbai
, India
- Seoul
, South
Korea
- Shanghai, China
- Singapore
, Singapore
- Tianjin
, China
See also
References
- Table 92, Final Report of The 2000 Population
Census
- Totalling the Special wards of Tokyo, which is not
a single incorporated city, for statistical purposes. See the
Tokyo article for more
information on the definition and makeup of Tokyo.
- Navigate to the equivalent Japanese page (大阪市の歴史 タイムトリップ20,000年
(History of Osaka, A timetrip back 20,000 years))[1] for additional information.
- The name was also historically written 浪華 or 浪花, with the same
pronunciation. These are uncommon today but still used
sometimes.
- Osaka city
- A
Guide to the Ukiyo-e Tokyo national museum[2]
- The Cambridge History of Japan
p.304
- Osaka city
-
http://www.city.osaka.jp/keikakuchousei/toukei/G000/Gyh19/Gb00/Gb00.html
- More About Osaka, Osaka City Government
- Osaka City Council homepage
-
http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/insights/pdfs/2008/MCWW_WCoC-Report_2008.pdf
-
http://www.pwc.com/uk/eng/ins-sol/publ/ukoutlook/pwc_ukeo-section3-march07.pdf
- http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20061228TDY16003.htm
- [3]
- http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr#Top_50
- the City Bus network
- [4]
-
http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowhtml/Collection/English/000232.html
- [5]
- The five largest newspapers by number of circulation in Japan
in alphabetical order.
- See the Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting web
page for the coverage map.
- Japan in the 21st century: environment, economy,
and society
-
http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/english/more_about_osaka/administrative.html
- http://www.iiclo.or.jp/english/english.htm
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, France
, Chile
The 2007 IAAF World
Championships in Athletics were held at Nagai Stadium
– The oldest buddhist temple in Japan, established
in 593 AD by Prince
Shōtoku
One of the oldest Shinto shrines, built in 211
AD.
red-light
district
(関西大学)
(大阪市立大学)
(大阪経済大学)
