Osaka

This article is about the city of Osaka, for other meanings see Osaka (disambiguation).

Osaka (['o:saka] Audio-Datei / Hörbeispielaudio? /i; jap. 大阪市, Ōsaka-shi) - formerly also more commonly Ohsaka, Oosaka or Ôsaka - is a metropolitan city in Japan. It is the prefectural capital of Osaka in the heart of the Kinki or Kansai region of western Japan. The city is the economic center of the region.

With a population of 2.7 million, Osaka is the third largest city in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohama, and the second largest major city by ordinance. With a population of approximately 17.5 million in the Keihanshin metropolitan area (around Osaka, Kyōto and Kōbe), Osaka ranks 14th on the list of the world's largest metropolitan areas and is the counterpart within Japan to the Kantō area around Tokyo.

The city is the traditional commercial center of Japan and today one of the most important industrial centers and one of the most important ports of Japan. The old city center of Osaka around Shinsaibashi is located in the south, the northern center has more business character.

According to the 2009 Forbes list of the World's Most Expensive Cities To Live, living in Osaka is the second most expensive in the world after Tokyo.

The people of Osaka speak a Japanese dialect called Ōsaka-ben. Osaka is also known as the "Kitchen of Japan" and for its comedic entertainment (Manzai).

Geography

Osaka is located in the west of the main Japanese island of Honshū at the mouth of the Yodo River, on Osaka Bay. The urban area of Osaka represents just under 12% of the area of the prefecture.

City breakdown

The districts (-ku) of the city (-shi) of Osaka

Code
with check digit

Name

Area (in km2)

Population

Population density (Ew./km2)

 

Rōmaji

Kanji

1 January 2021

1 March 2021

01.10.20153

 

27102-1

Miyakojima-ku

都島区

6,08

107.615

104.727

17.224,8

 

27103-9

Fukushima-ku

福島区

4,67

79.695

72.484

15.521,2

 

27104-7

Konohana-ku

此花区

19,28

64.713

66.656

3.462,7

 

27106-3

Nishi-ku

西区

5,21

105.006

92.430

17.740,9

 

27107-1

Minato-ku

港区

7,86

80.206

82.035

10.437,0

 

27108-0

Taishō-ku

大正区

9,43

62.015

65.141

6.907,9

 

27109-8

Tennōji-ku

天王寺区

4,84

82.478

75.729

15.646,5

 

27111-0

Naniwa-ku

浪速区

4,39

76.141

69.766

15.892,0

 

27113-6

Nishi-Yodogawa-ku

西淀川区

14,21

96.137

95.490

6.715,2

 

27114-4

Higashi-Yodogawa-ku

東淀川区

13,27

176.738

175.530

13.227,6

 

27115-2

Higashinari-ku

東成区

4,54

84.182

80.563

17.745,2

 

27116-1

Ikuno-ku

生野区

8,37

129.138

130.167

15.551,6

 

27117-9

Asahi-ku

旭区

6,32

90.678

91.608

14.494,9

 

27118-7

Jōtō-ku

城東区

8,38

167.907

164.697

19.653,6

 

27119-5

Abeno-ku

阿倍野区

5,98

111.011

107.626

17.997,7

 

27120-9

Sumiyoshi-ku

住吉区

9,4

152.932

154.239

16.408,4

 

27121-7

Higashi-Sumiyoshi-ku

東住吉区

9,75

127.196

126.299

12.953,7

 

27122-5

Nishinari-ku

西成区

7,37

108.190

111.883

15.180,9

 

27123-3

Yodogawa-ku

淀川区

12,64

183.583

176.201

13.940,0

 

27124-1

Tsurumi-ku

鶴見区

8,17

111.790

111.557

13.654,5

 

27125-0

Suminoe-ku

住之江区

20,68

119.161

122.988

5.944,3

 

27126-8

Hirano-ku

平野区

15,28

190.977

196.633

12.868,7

 

27127-6

Kita-ku

北区

10,34

139.518

123.667

11.960,1

 

27128-4

Chūō-ku

中央区

8,87

104.855

93.069

10.492,6

 

27100-4

Ōsaka-shi

大阪市

225,32

2.751.862

2.691.185

11.944,9

 

  • On February 13, 1989, Ku Kita (27101-2) and Ōyodo (27112-8, 大淀区) were united to form the new Kita-ku.
  • On the same day, the East (27105-5, 東区 Higashi-ku) and South (27110-1, 南区 Minami-ku) districts also merged to form the new Central (Chūō-ku) district.

Über dieses Bild

Population development of the city

Data on the day of the census (1 October)

Year

Population

Gender ratio
Men per 100 women

Area
(in km2)

Population density (Ew./km2)

 

total

Male

female

 

1920

1.252.983

673.648

579.335

116,3

58,45

21436,8

 

1925

2.114.804

1.126.256

988.548

113,6

181,68

11640,3

 

1930

2.453.573

1.303.862

1.149.711

113,4

185,13

13253,2

 

1935

2.989.874

1.594.176

1.395.698

114,2

187,33

15960,5

 

1940

3.252.340

1.691.176

1.561.164

108,3

187,44

17351,4

 

1945

1.102.959

553.697

549.262

100,8

187,44

5884,3

 

1947

1.559.310

781.177

778.133

100,4

187,44

8319,0

 

1950

1.956.136

975.547

980.589

99,5

185,17

10564,0

 

1955

2.547.316

1.281.416

1.265.900

101,2

202,31

12591,2

 

1960

3.011.563

1.542.833

1.468.730

105.0

202,18

14895,5

 

1965

3.156.222

1.598.376

1.557.846

102,6

203,04

15544,8

 

1970

2.980.487

1.490.779

1.489.708

100,1

205,60

14496,5

 

1975

2.778.987

1.378.287

1.400.700

98,4

208,11

13353,5

 

1980

2.648.180

1.304.599

1.343.581

97,1

210,95

12553,6

 

1985

2.636.249

1.295.771

1.340.478

96,7

213,08

12372,1

 

1990

2.623.801

1.292.747

1.331.054

97,1

220,37

11906,3

 

1995

2.602.421

1.278.212

1.324.209

96,5

220,66

11793,8

 

2000

2.598.774

1.273.121

1.325.653

96,0

221,30

11743,2

 

2005

2.628.811

1.280.325

1.348.486

94,9

222,11

11835,6

 

2010

2.665.314

1.293.798

1.371.516

94,3

222,47

11980,6

 

2015

2.691.185

1.302.562

1.388.623

93,8

225,21

11949,7

 

Satellite photo of Osaka BayZoom
Satellite photo of Osaka Bay

History

The city of Osaka was originally called Naniwa. The city was the capital of Japan as Naniwa no miyako or Naniwa-kyō (難波京, Eng. "Imperial Residence City of Naniwa") from 645 to 655 under the Kōtoku-tennō and lastly in 744 under Shōmu-tennō. However, Naniwa was probably also the seat of earlier Tennō, e.g. the Nihonshoki mentions that the Ōjin-tennō (r. 270-310) moved into the Ōsumi Palace (大隅宮, Ōsumi no miya) in Naniwa.

There have been important land and sea links between Yamato (now Nara Prefecture), Korea and China since earliest times. The former Settsu Province now forms the northern part of Osaka Prefecture with part of what is now Hyōgo Prefecture.

The Jōdo-Shinshū Buddhist religious community established its headquarters in Ishiyama (now part of Osaka) in 1496 in the heavily fortified temple of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. Oda Nobunaga began a siege of the temple in 1576 that lasted four years. The monks surrendered in 1580, the temple was completely destroyed and Toyotomi Hideyoshi built his own castle, Ōsaka Castle, on the site.

Osaka was called Ōzaka (大坂) from the Middle Ages until pre-modern times. At the beginning of the Meiji period, the city was renamed by the government to its present name Osaka. Nowadays, Osaka is the third largest Japanese city after Tokyo and Yokohama, and the most important in terms of goods economy, as the main markets for the exchange of goods are located there.

Since the Meiji Restoration, the Osaka City Prefecture (-fu) has existed as the successor to the Shōgunat administration for the city (Ōsaka-machi-bugyō), initially consisting only of the city of Osaka, but soon expanded to include areas in Settsu Province, and later Izumi, Kawachi, and Yamato provinces. The precursors of the modern city of Osaka, the four city counties/districts (-ku) of Higashi (east), Nishi (west), Kita (north), and Minami (south) were carved out of the counties (-gun) of Higashinari and Nishinari in 1878/79. When the municipal codes were modernized in 1888/89, they became the modern Ōsaka-shi, which, however, like Tokyo and Kyōto, remained without an independent municipal government until 1898 after the exemption from the municipal code (shisei tokurei) enacted at the same time, and as an immediati city was governed directly by the prefectural governor. By 1955, Higashinari and Nishinari counties had been fully incorporated into the city of Osaka, along with parts of other counties, in several stages, including a major expansion in 1925. In the 1920s, the population thus exceeded that of the city of Tokyo, and Osaka was for a time the largest city in Japan until, again in 1932, Tokyo more than doubled its population through extensive incorporations ("Greater Tokyo"). From 1922, the city of Osaka was one of the six major cities with slightly more self-government or reduced powers of intervention by the Imperial Ministry of the Interior/prefectural governor. During the occupation period, self-government was reformed as in all municipalities and prefectures, and a municipal police force (Ōsaka-shi Keishi-chō) also existed until 1954. As a "special city" (tokubetsu-shi), Ōsaka-shi was supposed to become a prefecture-independent major city, but this was never implemented; instead, it became one of the first five major cities by ordinance (seirei shitei toshi) with expanded self-government in 1956. Since a reorganization in 1989, the current 24 municipal districts exist.

During World War II, the city was bombed several times with napalm bombs by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between March 1945 and August 1945. The attacks destroyed about 35% of the city area and caused 12,620 deaths and 23,037 injuries. The raids burned 40 km2 of the city and left 1,134,552 people homeless (see Air Raids on Osaka).

In 2019, the G20 summit was held in Osaka. The topics discussed included the economy within the group of states.

Questions and Answers

Q: What is Osaka?


A: Osaka is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture in Japan.

Q: What bodies of water does Osaka face?


A: Osaka faces Osaka Bay and the Seto Inland Sea.

Q: Where is Osaka located?


A: Osaka is in the Kansai region of Japan.

Q: What is the significance of Osaka in the Kansai region?


A: Osaka is the economic and cultural center of the Kansai region.

Q: What is the population ranking of Osaka in Japan?


A: Since 1980, Osaka has been the second largest city in Japan.

Q: How is Osaka separated administratively?


A: Osaka is designated by government ordinance in Japan and separated into 24 wards.

Q: What are the neighboring prefectures of Osaka?


A: Osaka is surrounded by Hyōgo Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, and Wakayama Prefecture.

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