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Where in Japan is Osaka?
The city of Osaka is the third largest city in Japan with a population of 2.6 million. The city is located in the estuary of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay in the west of the main island of Honshu. The cities of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto form the Kansai metropolitan Area. With about 17.5 million inhabitants, it is one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world.
In the 7th century, Osaka was known by the then name Naniwa. It served as the residence of former Japanese emperors. Already at that time Naniwa was an important trading city with many land connections within Yamato, as well as sea connections to China and Korea.
At the beginning of the Meiji period in the 19th century, the city received its current name. Osaka developed into one of the most important cities in Japan and is now a major industrial and commercial city with an international seaport. Osaka is also the administrative headquarters of Osaka Prefecture and forms an important transport hub of the country with the Kansai International Airport as well as the sea and rail connections.
Osaka is centrally located in the Kansai region on the main island of Honshu. The city is the capital of the eponymous Osaka Prefecture.
History
In the 7th century, present-day Osaka was still known as Naniwa. At that time, the city served as a residence, and therefore the capital, under the rule of the emperors of that time. Even then, Osaka was considered one of the most important trading cities with important land and sea connections.
In the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi chose Osaka as the location for his castle, and the city might have become Japan’s political capital if Tokugawa Ieyasu had not ended the Toyotomi line after Hideyoshi’s death and moved his government to distant Edo (Tokyo).
In the 19th century, the then Naniwa received its current name Osaka at the beginning of the Meiji period. Today, the city with its international seaport is still the economic center of the Kansai region and, in terms of the number of inhabitants, the third largest city in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohame.
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