Osaka
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Image:OsakaCastleM0783.jpg Image:Location OsakaJapan.jpg
Osaka (Japanese: 大阪市, Ōsaka-shi, listen (help·info)) is the capital of Osaka Prefecture and the third-largest city in Japan, with a population of 2.7 million. It is located in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshu, at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay.
Osaka is the historical commercial capital of Japan and is still one of Japan's major industrial centers and ports, the heart of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area, which has a population of 17,510,000. The city's daytime (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) population is second in Japan after Tokyo.
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History
Osaka city was originally named Naniwa. Emperor Kōtoku made this area his capital, and named it Naniwa-no-miya (the Naniwa capital). It has always been a vital connection, by land and sea, between Yamato (modern day Nara Prefecture), Korea, and China. Settsu, a former province of Japan, consisted of the northern part of modern Osaka prefecture and the seaside part of Hyogo Prefecture.
In 1496 the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect set up their headquarters, the heavily fortified Ishiyama Honganji temple, in Ishiyama, today a part of Osaka. In 1576, Oda Nobunaga started a siege of the temple that went on to last for four years. The monks finally surrendered in 1580, the temple was razed and Toyotomi Hideyoshi took the place for his own castle, Osaka Castle.
Osaka was called Ōzaka (大坂) from the middle ages until the premodern period. In the beginning of Meiji Era the government renamed the city to Ōsaka, which remains its name today. In those days Osaka was the second largest city of Japan and economically the most important, because most of the important markets, rice, exchange and so on were there.
The modern city was designated on September 1, 1956 by government ordinance.
Attractions
Image:Osakaaquarium.jpg Central Osaka is divided into two sections: Kita (北) (north) and Minami (南) (south). The retail district of Umeda (梅田) is located in Kita, while the entertainment area around Dotonbori Bridge with its famous giant motorised crab, Triangle Park and Amerikamura ("America Village") is in Minami. Minami is also home to the Shinsaibashi (心斎橋) and Ebisubashi shopping districts. The central business district, including the courts and major banks, is primarily located in Yodoyabashi and Hommachi (本町), between Kita and Minami. Business districts have also formed around the city's secondary rail termini, such as Tennoji Station (天王寺駅) and Kyobashi Station.
Osaka is known for bunraku (traditional puppet theatre) and kabuki theatre, and for manzai, a more contemporary form of stand-up comedy. Tourist attractions include:
- Osaka Castle
- Kaiyukan (海遊館) - an aquarium located in Osaka Bay, containing 35,000 aquatic animals in 14 tanks, the largest of which is the world's largest aquarium tank, holding 5,400 tons of water and housing a variety of sea animals including whale sharks,
- the Shinsekai district and Tsutenkaku Tower,
- numerous amusement parks including Universal Studios Japan, Expoland, and Festival Gate, and,
- for the sanitary-minded, the "Toilets of the World" exhibit in the International Finance Center in Osaka Business Park (OBP), located just north of Osaka Castle park.
- Osaka City Museum
- Nakanoshima Park
- Osaka Municipal Oriental Porcelain Museum
- Osaka Municipal Science Museum
- Osaka Public Nakanoshima Library
- Osaka Central Public Hall
- American Village
- Shin-Kabuki-za
- Namba Grand Kagetsu
- Osaka Prefectural Museum of Kamigata Comedy and Performing Arts
- Ten'noji Park
- Ten'noji Zoo
- National Museum of Art, Osaka
- Shiten'no Temple
- Sumiyoshi Park
- Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine
- Asia Pacific Trade Center
- Osaka WTC Building
- Hiromitsu Ishida's birthplace
Transport
Image:Osakastation.jpg Kansai International Airport is the main airport: it is a rectangular artificial island which sits off-shore in Osaka Bay and services Osaka and its surrounding satellite cities of Nara, Kobe and Kyoto. Kansai is the geographical term for the area of western Honshu surrounding Osaka. The airport is linked by a bus and train service into the centre of the city and major suburbs.
Osaka International Airport in Itami and Toyonaka still houses most of the domestic service from the metropolitan region: its proximity to the Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto city centers outweighs its noise restrictions.
Besides the subway system there is a network of both JR and private lines connecting the suburbs of the city, and Osaka to its neighbours. Keihan and Hankyu line connect to Kyoto, Hanshin and Hankyu line connect to Kobe, the Kintetsu line connects to Nara and Nagoya, and the Nankai line to Wakayama.
Wards
Osaka has 24 wards (ku), one more than Tokyo:
- Abeno-ku
- Asahi-ku
- Chuo-ku
- Fukushima-ku
- Higashinari-ku
- Higashisumiyoshi-ku
- Higashiyodogawa-ku
- Hirano-ku
- Ikuno-ku
- Joto-ku
- Kita-ku
- Konohana-ku
- Minato-ku
- Miyakojima-ku
- Naniwa-ku
- Nishi-ku
- Nishinari-ku
- Nishiyodogawa-ku
- Suminoe-ku
- Sumiyoshi-ku
- Taisho-ku
- Tennoji-ku
- Tsurumi-ku
- Yodogawa-ku
Demographics
As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 2,640,097 and the density of 11,894 persons per square kilometre. The total area is 221.30 km².
The people of Osaka speak a dialect of standard Japanese called Osaka-ben, characterised, most prominently amongst other particularities, by the use of the suffix hen instead of nai in the negative of verbs.
About 118,000 foreign residents are registered in the city. Its 91,500 Korean residents are mainly concentrated around Ikuno Ward, where a famous Korean town, Tsuruhashi, is located.
Economy
Image:OsakaFromOsakaCastleM0742.jpg Historically, Osaka was the center of Japanese commerce, especially in the middle and premodern ages. Today, many major companies have moved their main offices to Tokyo, especially from the end of 1990s, but several major companies are still based in Osaka. Below are some of the companies based in Osaka.
Major companies based in Osaka
- Capcom
- Daimaru
- Hankyu Railway
- Hanshin Electric Railway
- ITOCHU
- Kintetsu Corporation
- Kansai Electric Power Company
- Keyence
- Matsushita (Panasonic)
- Nankai Electric Railway
- Nissin
- Nova
- Osaka Gas
- Resona Holdings, Inc.
- Roland
- Sharp
- Suntory
- Takashimaya
- West Japan Railway Company (JR West)
Education
Public elementary and junior high schools in Osaka are operated by the Osaka City Board of Education [1].
The public high schools are operated by the Osaka Prefectural Board of Edcuation.
Culture
As Osaka has always been the centre of commerce, people from Osaka have a reputation of being very good businessmen. On top of this they are popularly considered to be some of the most outgoing Japanese people. Their dialect, "Osaka-ben", has become the standard for stand-up comedians and actors often train in the dialect so they can be seen as even funnier on the stage.
Food from Osaka is said to be Japan's best. Osaka regional cuisine includes okonomiyaki (a type of pancake), takoyaki (octopus dumplings), udon (a noodle dish), as well as regional sushi and other traditional Japanese foods. It is said that to succeed in the Osaka food service business, the food must taste above-average, have larger servings than normal, be inexpensive and fast.
Being a big, business-based city, Osakans are thought of as always being in a rush. People consider a waiting period of more than 5 minutes too long in most cases. They apparently also walk the fastest in Japan - at an average speed of 1.6 metres per second (surpassing even Tokyoites who also walk fast at 1.56 metres per second).
One difference between the West Japan including Osaka and the East Japan is that it is customary in West Japan to stand on the right side of the escalator and allow people to pass on the left.
Sister Cities
Sister Cities of Osaka include:
- Image:Flag of the United States.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} San Francisco, United States
- Image:Flag of Brazil.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} São Paulo, Brazil
- Image:Flag of the United States.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} Chicago, United States
- Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} Shanghai, China
- Image:Flag of Australia.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} Melbourne, Australia
- Image:Flag of Russia.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Image:Flag of Italy.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} Milan, Italy
- Image:Flag of Germany.svg}|name={{{name|}}}}}}}} Hamburg, Germany
In fiction
- The Ridley Scott film Black Rain is set in Osaka.
- In Tsubasa Chronicle, the "Hanshin-kuni" is a take off of Osaka
- Mitsune Konno from Love Hina is from Osaka.
- In the 2005 version of War of the Worlds, Ogilvy mentions to Ray Ferrier that some people in Osaka managed to defeat the invaders.
- Osaka is the nickname for the spacy, distant, Osaka native high schooler, "Ayumu Kasuga", from the manga/anime, Azumanga Daioh.
- The anime/manga "Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi" is set in the Abeno-ku ward of Osaka.
- The manga/anime "Ai Shite Knight" is set in Osaka.
- The video game Capcom VS SNK 2's final stage is set in Osaka.
- The Chairman's factory in "Memoirs of a Geisha" is in Osaka.
External links
- [[wikitravel:{{{1|Osaka}}}|Travel guide to {{{1|Osaka}}}]] from Wikitravel
- Official City of Osaka homepage
- Osaka Tourist Guide
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| Cities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chihaya Akasaka | Daito | Fujiidera | Habikino | Hannan | Higashiosaka | Hirakata | Ibaraki | Ikeda | Izumi | Izumiotsu | Izumisano | Kadoma | Kaizuka | Kashiwara | Katano | Kawachinagano | Kishiwada | Matsubara | Minoh | Moriguchi | Neyagawa | Osaka (capital) | Osakasayama | Sakai | Sennan | Settsu | Shijonawate | Suita | Takaishi | Takatsuki | Tondabayashi | Toyonaka | Yao | |||
| Districts | |||
| Minamikawachi | Mishima | Senboku | Sennan | Toyono | |||
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| edit | Prefectures of Japan | Image:Flag of Japan.svg |
|---|---|---|
| Aichi | Akita | Aomori | Chiba | Ehime | Fukui | Fukuoka | Fukushima | Gifu | Gunma | Hiroshima | Hokkaido | Hyogo | Ibaraki | Ishikawa | Iwate | Kagawa | Kagoshima | Kanagawa | Kochi | Kumamoto | Kyoto | Mie | Miyagi | Miyazaki | Nagano | Nagasaki | Nara | Niigata | Oita | Okayama | Okinawa | Osaka | Saga | Saitama | Shiga | Shimane | Shizuoka | Tochigi | Tokushima | Tokyo | Tottori | Toyama | Wakayama | Yamagata | Yamaguchi | Yamanashi | ||
| Regions of Japan | ||
| Hokkaido | Tohoku | Kantō | Chubu (Hokuriku - Koshinetsu - Tokai) | Kansai | Chugoku | Shikoku | Kyushu | Ryukyu | ||
| Major Cities (Cities designated by government ordinance) | ||
| 23 wards of Tokyo | Chiba | Fukuoka | Hiroshima | Kawasaki | Kitakyushu | Kobe | Kyoto | Nagoya | Osaka | Saitama | Sapporo | Sendai | Shizuoka | Yokohama | ||
- This article is for the city of Osaka. For information about the anime/manga character named Osaka, see Azumanga Daioh.af:Osaka
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