Ōsaka was traditionally considered Japan's economic hub. By the Kofun period (300–538) it had developed into an important regional port, and in the 7th and 8th centuries, it served briefly as the imperial capital. Osaka continued to flourish during the Edo period (1603–1867) and became known as a center of Japanese culture. Following the Meiji Restoration, Osaka greatly expanded in size and underwent rapid industrialization. In 1889, Osaka was officially established as a municipality. The construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, and by the 1900s, Osaka was the industrial hub in the Meiji and Taishō periods. Osaka made noted contributions to redevelopment, urban planning and zoning standards in the postwar period, and the city developed rapidly as one of the major financial centers in the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area.
Ōsaka means "large hill" or "large slope". It is unclear when this name gained prominence over Naniwa, but the oldest written evidence for the name dates back to 1496.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
During the Jōmon period (7,000 BCE), present-day Osaka was mostly submerged, and the Template:Nihongo formed a 12 km long and 2.5 km wide peninsula separating Kawachi Bay from the Seto Inland Sea.<ref name="Uemachidaichi"/><ref name="plain"/> It is considered one of the first places where inhabitants of Japan settled, both for the favorable geological conditions, rich in fresh water and lush vegetation, and because its position was defensible against military attack.<ref name="Uemachidaichi">Template:Cite web</ref>
The earliest evidence of settlements in the Osaka area are the Template:Nihongo4 which is located in the central Chuo-ku district.<ref name="Uemachidaichi"/> Buried human skeletons and a kaizuka (a mound containing remains), were found as well as shell mounds, oysters, and other interesting archeological discoveries from the Jomon period.<ref name="Uemachidaichi"/> In addition to the remains of consumed food, there were arrow heads, stone tools, fishing hooks and crockery with remains from rice processing. It is estimated that the ruins contain 2,000-year-old debris between the Jomon and Yayoi period. The findings of the archeological sites are exhibited in an adjacent building.<ref name="osakahist"/><ref name="Uemachidaichi"/>
In the years between the end of the Jōmon period and the beginning of the Yayoi period, the sediments that were deposited north of the Uemachi peninsula / plateau transformed Kawachi Bay into a lagoon.<ref name="plain">Template:Cite journal</ref> During the Yayoi period (300 BCE-250 CE), permanent habitation on the plains grew as rice farming became popular.<ref name="osakahist">Template:Cite web Navigate to the equivalent Japanese page (Template:Nihongo2 [History of Osaka, A timetrip back 20,000 years])[1]Template:Webarchive for additional information.</ref>
At the beginning of the third century CE the grand shrine of Sumiyoshi-taisha was inaugurated near the harbor, commissioned by consort Empress Jingū. This Shinto shrine structure survived historical events,<ref>templi www.treccani.it</ref> which inaugurated a new style in the construction of Shinto shrines, called Sumiyoshi-zukuri.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The maritime panorama enjoyed from the shrine gardens inspired several artists, and nowadays the representations of that type of landscape are called Sumiyoshi drawings.
Towards the end of the Yayoi period the Uemachi plateau-peninsula expanded further, transforming the Kawachi Lagoon into a lake (河内湖) connected to the mouth of the Yodo River, which had widened to the south.<ref name="plain"/>
By the Kofun period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The port of Naniwa-tsu was established and became the most important in Japan.<ref name="sumiyoshi"/> Trade with other areas of the country and the Asian continent intensified.<ref name="sumiyoshi"/> The large numbers of increasingly larger keyhole-shaped Kofun mounds found in the plains of Osaka are evidence of political-power concentration, leading to the formation of a state.<ref name="osakahist"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The findings in the neighboring plains, including the mausoleum of Emperor Nintoku was discovered nearby in Sakai testify to the status of imperial city that Osaka had reached. Four of these mounds can be seen in Osaka, in which important members of the nobility are buried. They are located in the southern districts of the city and date back to the 5th century.<ref name="sumiyoshi">Template:Cite web</ref> A group of megalithic tombs called Mozu Tombs are located in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Important works of the Kofun period is the excavation that diverted the course of the Yamato River, whose floods caused extensive damage, and the construction of important roads in the direction of Sakai and Nara.<ref name="osakahist"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Maritime traffic connected to the port of Naniwa-tsu increased in such a way that huge warehouses were built to stow material arriving and departing.<ref name="osakahist"/>
The Kojiki records that during 390–430 CE, there was an imperial palace located at Osumi, in what is present day Higashiyodogawa ward, but it may have been a secondary imperial residence rather than a capital.<ref>Template:Nihongo2、 NAID 110007523974。P.31</ref>
Naniwa was declared the capital again in 744 by order of Emperor Shōmu, and remained so until 745, when the Imperial Court moved back to Heijō-kyō (now Nara). By the end of the Nara period, Naniwa's seaport roles had been gradually taken over by neighboring areas, but it remained a lively center of river, channel, and land transportation between Heian-kyō (Kyoto today) and other destinations. Sumiyoshi Taisha Grand Shrine was founded by Tamomi no Sukune in 211 CE.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Shitennō-ji was first built in 593 CE and is the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1496, Jōdo ShinshūBuddhists established their headquarters in the heavily fortified Ishiyama Hongan-ji, located directly on the site of the old Naniwa Imperial Palace. Oda Nobunaga began a decade-long siege campaign on the temple in 1570 which ultimately resulted in the surrender of the monks and subsequent razing of the temple. Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed Osaka Castle in its place in 1583.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Osaka Castle played a pivotal role in the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615).
Osaka was long considered Japan's primary economic center,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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. Daimyōs (feudal lords) received most of their income in the form of rice. Merchants in Osaka thus began to organize storehouses where they would store a daimyōTemplate:'s rice in exchange for a fee, trading it for either coin or a form of receipt; essentially a precursor to paper money. Many if not all of these rice brokers also made loans, and would actually become quite wealthy and powerful. Osaka merchants coalesced their shops around Dōjima, where the Rice Exchange was established in 1697 and where the world's first futures market would come to exist to sell rice that was not yet harvested.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The popular culture of Osaka<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was closely related to ukiyo-e depictions of life in Edo. By 1780, Osaka had cultivated a vibrant arts culture, as typified by its famous Kabuki and Bunraku theaters.<ref>C. Andrew Gerstle, Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage 1780–1830 (2005)</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Osaka was opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Hyogo Town (modern Kobe) on January 1, 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Kawaguchi foreign settlement, now the Kawaguchi subdistrict, is a legacy of the foreign presence in Osaka.
Osaka residents were stereotyped in Edo literature from at least the 18th century. Jippensha Ikku in 1802 depicted Osakans as stingy almost beyond belief. In 1809, the derogatory term "Kamigata zeeroku" was used by Edo residents to characterize inhabitants of the Osaka region in terms of calculation, shrewdness, lack of civic spirit, and the vulgarity of Osaka dialect. Edo writers aspired to samurai culture, and saw themselves as poor but generous, chaste, and public spirited. Edo writers by contrast saw "zeeroku" as obsequious apprentices, stingy, greedy, gluttonous, and lewd. To some degree, Osaka residents are still stigmatized by Tokyo observers in the same way today, especially in terms of gluttony, evidenced in the phrase, Template:Nihongo4.<ref>Richard Torrance, "Literacy and Literature in Osaka, 1890–1940", The Journal of Japanese Studies 31#1 (Winter 2005), pp. 27–60</ref>
With the enormous changes that characterized the country after the Meiji Restoration (1868), and the relocation of the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, Osaka entered a period of decline. From being the capital of the economy and finance, it became a predominantly industrial center.<ref name="osaka-info.jp"/> The modern municipality was established<ref name="osaka-info.jp">Template:Cite web</ref> in 1889 by government ordinance, with an initial area of Template:Convert, overlapping today's Chuo and Nishi wards. Later, the city went through three major expansions to reach its current size of Template:Convert. Osaka was the industrial center most clearly defined in the development of capitalism in Japan. It became known as the "Manchester and Melbourne of the Orient".<ref name="osaka-info.jp"/> In 1925, it was the largest and most populous city in Japan and sixth in the world.<ref name="osaka-info.jp"/>
The rapid industrialization attracted many Asian immigrants (Indians, Chinese, and Koreans), who set up a life apart for themselves.<ref>Chisato Hotta, "The Construction of the Korean Community in Osaka between 1920 and 1945: A Cross-Cultural Perspective." PhD dissertation U. of Chicago 2005. 498 pp. DAI 2005 65(12): 4680-A. DA3158708 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses</ref> The political system was pluralistic, with a strong emphasis on promoting industrialization and modernization.<ref>Blair A. Ruble, Second Metropolis: Pragmatic Pluralism in Gilded Age Chicago, Silver Age Moscow, and Meiji Osaka. (2001)</ref> Literacy was high and the educational system expanded rapidly, producing a middle class with a taste for literature and a willingness to support the arts.<ref>Richard Torrance, "Literacy and Literature in Osaka, 1890–1940," Journal of Japanese Studies 31#1 (Winter 2005), p.27-60 in Project MUSE</ref> In 1927, General Motors operated a factory called Osaka Assembly until 1941, manufacturing Chevrolet, Cadillac, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick vehicles, operated and staffed by Japanese workers and managers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the nearby city of Ikeda in Osaka Prefecture is the headquarters of Daihatsu, one of Japan's oldest automobile manufacturers.
Like its European and American counterparts, Osaka displayed slums, unemployment, and poverty. In Japan it was here that municipal government first introduced a comprehensive system of poverty relief, copied in part from British models. Osaka policymakers stressed the importance of family formation and mutual assistance as the best way to combat poverty. This minimized the cost of welfare programs.<ref>Kingo Tamai, "Images of the Poor in an Official Survey of Osaka, 1923–1926." Continuity and Change 2000 15(1): 99–116. Template:ISSN Fulltext: Cambridge UP</ref>
In the decades following World War II, Osaka's reconstruction efforts and the industriousness of its residents brought the city even greater prosperity than before the war. Its population surpassed three million in the 1960s, initiating large-scale suburbanization within the prefecture, and eventually doubled to six million by the 1990s. With factories rebuilt and trade revived, Osaka rapidly developed into a major multicultural and financial center from the 1950s through the 1980s. Osaka Prefecture was chosen as the venue for the prestigious Expo '70, the first world's fair ever held in an Asian country. Since then, numerous international events have been held in Osaka, including the 1995 APEC Summit.
The modern municipality, which when it was established in 1889 occupied an area of just 15 km2 including the districts of Chūō and Nishi, following three successive expansions has reached an area of 222 km2. It was one of the first cities in Japan to obtain designated city status in 1956.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The plan to reorganize Osaka and its province into a metropolis like Tokyo met with stiff opposition in some municipalities, particularly the highly populated Sakai. HeTemplate:Who then fell back on a project that included the suppression of the 24 wards of Osaka, thus dividing the city into 5 new special districts with a status similar to that of the 23 Special wards of Tokyo. It was introduced by former mayor Tōru Hashimoto, leader of the reform party Osaka Restoration Association which he founded. The referendum of May 17, 2015 called in Osaka for the approval of this project saw the narrow victory of no, and consequently Hashimoto announced his withdrawal from politics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A second referendum for a merger into 4 semi-autonomous wards was narrowly voted down by 692,996 (50.6%).<ref name="metropolis-2020"/>
According to the Forbes list of The World's Most Expensive Places To Live 2009, Osaka was the second most expensive in the world after Tokyo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 2020 it slipped to 5th rank of most expensive cities.<ref name="forbes-2020"/>
The city's west side is open to Osaka Bay, and is otherwise completely surrounded by more than ten satellite 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, it occupied roughly the area known today as the Chuo and Nishi wards, only Template:Convert that would eventually grow into today's Template:Convert via incremental expansions, the largest of which was a single Template:Convert expansion in 1925. Osaka's highest point, located in Tsurumi-ku, is Template:Convert above Tokyo Peil, while the lowest point, in Nishiyodogawa-ku, is Template:Convert below Tokyo Peil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Osaka is situated at a latitude of 34.67° (near the 35th parallel north), a latitude farther south than Rome (41.90°), Madrid (40.41°), San Francisco (37.77°) and Seoul (37.53°).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Osaka is located in the humid subtropical climate zone (KöppenCfa), with four distinct seasons. Its winters are generally mild, with January being the coldest month having an average high of Template:Convert. The city rarely sees snowfall during the winter. Spring in Osaka starts off mild, but ends up being hot and humid. It also tends to be Osaka's wettest season, with the Template:Nihongo4—the rainy season—occurring between early June and late July. The average starting and ending dates of the rainy season are June 7 and July 21 respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Summers are very hot and humid. In August, the hottest month, the average daily high temperature reaches Template:Convert, while average nighttime low temperatures typically hover around Template:Convert. Fall in Osaka sees a cooling trend, with the early part of the season resembling summer while the latter part of fall resembles winter. Precipitation is abundant, with winter being the driest season, while monthly rainfall peaks in June with the "tsuyu" rainy season, which typically ends in mid to late July. From late July through the end of August, summer's heat and humidity peak, and rainfall decreases somewhat. Osaka experiences a second rainy period in September and early October, when tropical weather systems, including typhoons, coming from the south or southwest are possible.
Osaka's sprawling cityscape has been described as "only surpassed by Tokyo as a showcase of the Japanese urban phenomenon".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Kita is home to the Umeda district and its immediate surrounding neighborhoods, a major business and retail hub that plays host to Osaka Station City and a large subterranean network of shopping arcades.<ref name="japan-guide.com" /> Kita and nearby Nakanoshima contain a prominent portion of the city's skyscrapers and are often featured in photographs of Osaka's skyline.
Minami, though meaning "south", is essentially in Template:Nihongo4 and geographically central within the city.<ref name="japan-guide.com1" /> Well known districts here include Namba and Shinsaibashi shopping areas, the Dōtonbori canal entertainment area, Nipponbashi Den Den Town, as well as arts and fashion culture-oriented areas such as Amerikamura and Horie. The 300-meter tall Abeno Harukas was the tallest skyscraper in the country from 2014 until 2023.<ref name="Tallest high-rise nears completion" />
The business districts between Kita and Minami such as Template:Ill and Template:Ill, called Template:Nihongo4, house the regional headquarters of many large-scale banks and corporations. The Midōsuji boulevard runs through Semba and connects Kita and Minami.
Osaka contains numerous urban canals and bridges, many of which serve as the namesake for their surrounding neighborhoods.<ref name="Eiichi Watanabe-2004">Template:Cite book</ref> The phrase "808 bridges of Naniwa" was an expression in old Japan used to indicate impressiveness and the "uncountable". Osaka numbered roughly 200 bridges by the Edo period<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 1,629 bridges by 1925. As many of the city's canals were gradually filled in, the number dropped to 872, of which 760 are currently managed by Osaka City.<ref name="Eiichi Watanabe-2004" />
Population numbers have been recorded in Osaka since as early as 1873, in the early Meiji era.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to the census in 2005, there were 2,628,811 residents in Osaka, an increase of 30,037 or 1.2% from 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There were 1,280,325 households with approximately 2.1 persons per household. The population density was 11,836 persons per km2. The Great Kantō 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 has declined since, as the residents moved out to the suburbs.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
There were 144,123 registered foreigners, the two largest groups being Korean (60,110) and Chinese (39,551).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ikuno, with its Tsuruhashi district, is the home to one of the largest population of Korean residents in Japan, with 20,397 registered Zainichi Koreans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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The commonly spoken dialect of this area is Osaka-ben, a typical sub-dialect of Kansai-ben. Of the many other particularities that characterize Osaka-ben, examples include using the copula ya instead of da, and the suffix -hen instead of -nai in negative verb forms.
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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. Tōru Hashimoto, former governor of Osaka Prefecture is the 19th mayor of Osaka since 2011. The mayor is supported by two vice mayors, currently Akira Morishita and Takashi Kashiwagi, who are appointed by him in accordance with the city bylaw.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Osaka also houses several agencies of the Japanese government. Below is a list of governmental offices housed in Osaka.
In July 2012, a joint multi-party bill was submitted to the Diet that would allow for implementation of the Osaka Metropolis plan as pursued by the mayor of Osaka city, the governor of Osaka and their party. If implemented, Osaka City, neighboring Sakai City and possibly other surrounding municipalities would dissolve and be reorganized as four special wards of Osaka prefecture – similar to former Tokyo City's successor wards within Tokyo prefecture. Special wards are municipal-level administrative units that leave some otherwise municipal administrative responsibilities and revenues to the prefectural administration.<ref>The Japan Times, July 31, 2012: Bill to transform Osaka government jointly submitted to Diet</ref>
In October 2018, the city of Osaka officially ended<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> its sister city relationship with San Francisco in the United States after the latter permitted a monument memorializing "comfort women" to remain on a city-owned property, circulating in the process a 10-page, 3,800-word letter in English addressed to San Francisco mayor London Breed.<ref>Template:Cite letter</ref>
On November 1, 2020, a second referendum to merge Osaka's 24 wards into 4 semi-autonomous wards was narrowly voted down. There were 692,996 (50.6%) votes against and 675,829 (49.4%) votes supported it.<ref name="metropolis-2020">Template:Cite web</ref> Osaka mayor and Osaka Ishin co-leader Ichiro Matsui said he would resign when his term ended in 2023.<ref name="metropolis-2020"/>
On February 27, 2012, three Kansai cities, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe, jointly asked Kansai Electric Power Company to break its dependence on nuclear power. In a letter to KEPCO they also requested to disclose information on the demand and supply of electricity, and for lower and stable prices. The three cities were stockholders of the plant: Osaka owned 9% of the shares, while Kobe had 3% and Kyoto 0.45%. Toru Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka, announced a proposal to minimize the dependence on nuclear power for the shareholders meeting in June 2012.<ref>The Mainichi Shimbun (February 27, 2012)3 major Kansai cities aim to break dependence on nuclear powerTemplate:Webarchive</ref>
On March 18, 2012, the city of Osaka decided as largest shareholder of Kansai Electric Power Co, that at the next shareholders-meeting in June 2012 it would demand a series of changes:
that Kansai Electric would be split into two companies, separating power generation from power transmission.
a reduction of the number of the utility's executives and employees.
the implementation of absolutely secure measurements to ensuring the safety of the nuclear facilities.
the disposing of spent fuel.
the installation of new kind of thermal power generation to secure non-nuclear supply of energy.
selling all unnecessary assets including the stock holdings of KEPCO.
In this action, Osaka had secured the support of two other cities and shareholders: Kyoto and Kobe, but with their combined voting-rights of 12.5 percent they were not certain of the ultimate outcome, because for this two-thirds of the shareholders would be needed to agree to revise the corporate charter.<ref>The Mainichi Shimbun (March 19, 2012) Osaka aims to end Kansai Electric's nuclear power ops as shareholderTemplate:Webarchive</ref>
At a meeting held on April 10, 2012, by the "energy strategy council", formed by the city of Osaka and the governments of the prefectures, it became clear that at the end of the fiscal year 2011 some 69 employees of Kansai Electric Power Company were former public servants. "Amakudari" was the Japanese name for this practice of rewarding by hiring officials that formerly controlled and supervised the firm. Such people included the following:
13 ex-officials of the: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
3 ex-officials of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry,
2 ex-officials of the Ministry of the Environment,
16 former policemen,
10 former fire-fighters,
13 former civil engineers.
Besides this, it became known that Kansai Electric had done about 600 external financial donations, to a total sum of about 1.695 billion yen:
70 donations were paid to local governments: to a total of 699 million yen
100 donations to public-service organizations: 443 million yen,
430 donations to various organizations and foundations: a total of 553 million yen
During this meeting some 8 conditions were compiled, that needed to be fulfilled before a restart of the No.3 and No.4 reactors Oi Nuclear Power Plant:
the consent of the local people and government within 100 kilometer from the plant
the installation of a new independent regulatory agency
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> MasterCard Worldwide reported that Osaka ranks 19th among the world's leading cities and plays an important role in the global economy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Osaka's GDP per capita (Nominal) was $59,958.($1=\120.13)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, by 2020, Osaka ranked as the 5th most expensive city due to flatlining consumer prices and government subsidies of public transportation.<ref name="forbes-2020">Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Osaka was ranked as having the 15th most competitive financial center in the world and fifth most competitive in Asia (after Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to global consulting firm Mercer, Osaka was the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in the world in 2009. It jumped up nine places from 11th place in 2008 and was the eighth most expensive city in 2007. However, it was not ranked in the top ten places of the list in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Osaka as the second most expensive city in the world in its 2013 Cost of Living study.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Osaka 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.
All Shinkansen trains including Nozomi stop at Shin-Osaka Station and provide access to other major cities in Japan, such as Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Tokyo.
Regular bus services are provided by Osaka City Bus, as well Hankyu, Hanshin and Kintetsu, providing a dense network covering most parts of the city.
Osaka is served by two airports situated just outside of the city, Kansai International Airport (IATA: KIX) which handles primarily international passenger flights and Osaka International Airport (IATA: ITM) which handles mostly domestic services and some international cargo flights.
Due to its geographical position, Osaka's international ferry connections are far greater than that of Tokyo, with international service to Shanghai, Tianjin, and Busan along with domestic routes to Kitakyushu, Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Okinawa.
Osaka has a large number of wholesalers and retail shops: 25,228 and 34,707 respectively in 2004, according to the city statistics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many of them are concentrated in the wards of Chuō (10,468 shops) and Kita (6,335 shops). Types of shops vary from malls to conventional shōtengai shopping arcades, built both above- and underground.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Shōtengai are seen across Japan, and Osaka has the longest one in the country.<ref>[2]Template:Webarchive</ref> The Tenjinbashi-suji arcade stretches from the road approaching the Tenmangū shrine and continues for Template:Convert going north to south. The stores along the arcade include commodities, clothing, and catering outlets.
Other shopping areas include Den Den Town, the electronic and manga/anime district, which is comparable to Akihabara; 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, in Japan and abroad. Author Michael Booth and food critic François Simon of Template:Lang have suggested that Osaka is the food capital of the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Osakans' love for the culinary is made apparent in the old saying "Kyotoites are financially ruined by overspending on clothing, Osakans are ruined by spending on food."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Regional cuisine includes Template:Nihongo4, Template:Nihongo4, Template:Nihongo4, as well as the traditional Template:Nihongo4, particularly Template:Nihongo4.
Osaka is known for its fine sake, which is made with fresh water from the prefecture's mountains.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Osaka's culinary prevalence is the result of a location that has provided access to high-quality ingredients, a high population of merchants, and proximity to the ocean and waterway trade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In recent years, Osaka has started to garner more attention from foreigners with the increased popularity of cooking and dining in popular culture.<ref>Osaka Food GuideTemplate:Webarchive, The City Lane</ref>
At Osaka Shochiku-za, close to Namba station, kabuki can be enjoyed as well as manzai.
At Shin Kabuki-za, formerly near Namba and now near Uehommachi area, enka concerts and Japanese dramas are performed.
Yoshimoto Kogyo, a Japanese entertainment conglomerate operates a hall in the city for manzai and other comedy shows: the Namba Grand Kagetsu hall.
The Hanjō-tei opened in 2006, dedicated to rakugo. The theater is in the Ōsaka Tenman-gū 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 Theater 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.
Nearby City Hall in Nakanoshima Park, is Osaka Central Public Hall, a Neo-Renaissance-style building first opened in 1918. Re-opened in 2002 after major renovation, it serves as a multi-purpose rental facility for citizen events.
Festival Hall was a hall hosting various performances including noh, kyōgen, 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.
One of the most famous festivals held in Osaka, the Tenjin Matsuri, is held on July 24 and 25 (Osaka Tenmangū). Other festivals in Osaka include the Aizen Matsuri (June 30–July 2, Shōman-in Temple), the Sumiyoshi Matsuri (July 30–August 1, Sumiyoshi Taisha), Shōryō-e (April 22, Shitennō-ji) and Tōka-Ebisu (January 9–10, Imamiya Ebisu Jinja). The annual Osaka Asian Film Festival takes place in Osaka every March while the Midosuji Parade takes place in October.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The National Museum of Art (NMAO) is a subterranean Japanese and international art museum, housing mainly collections from the post-war era and regularly welcoming temporary exhibitions. Osaka Science Museum is in a five storied building next to the National Museum of Art, with a planetarium and an OMNIMAX theater. 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 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.
Osaka made the bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics but was eliminated in the first round of the vote on July 13, 2001, which awarded the game to Beijing.
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 and every nationwide TV network (with the exception of TXN network) registers its secondary-key station in Osaka. All five nationwide newspaper majors also house their regional headquarters, and most local newspapers nationwide have branches in Osaka. However major film productions are uncommon in the city. Most major films are produced in nearby Kyoto or in Tokyo. The Ad Council Japan was founded in 1971 is based in Osaka, now it is the Osaka branch.
Osaka is home to many publishing companies, including Examina, Izumi Shoin, Kaihou Shuppansha, Keihanshin Elmagazine, Seibundo Shuppan, Sougensha, and Toho Shuppan.
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Likewise, public high schools are operated by the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education.
Osaka once had a large number of universities and high schools, but because of growing campuses and the need for larger area, many chose to move to the suburbs, including Osaka University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Historically foreign expatriates in the Kansai region preferred to live in Kobe rather than Osaka. As a result, until 1991 the Osaka area had no schools catering to expatriate children.<ref name=Stewartp43>Stewart, Alex. "educating kansai" (Archive). The Journal of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Jānaru), Volume 40, Issues 7–12. The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), 2003. p. 43.</ref> Osaka International School of Kwansei Gakuin, founded in 1991, is located in nearby Minoh,<ref>"School Profile 2014–2015" (Template:Webarchive). Osaka International School of Kwansei Gakuin. Retrieved on November 1, 2015.</ref> and it was the first international school in the Osaka area.<ref name=Stewartp43/> The Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake of 1995 caused a decline in demand for international schools, as there were about 2,500 U.S. nationals resident in Osaka after the earthquake while the pre-earthquake number was about 5,000. American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Kansai chapter president Norman Solberg stated that since 2002 the numbers of expatriates in Kansai were recovering "but the fact is there is still a persistent exodus to Tokyo."<ref>Stewart, Alex. "education kansai" (Archive). The Journal of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Jānaru), Volume 40, Issues 7–12. The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), 2003. p. 41.</ref> In 2001 the city of Osaka and YMCA established the Osaka YMCA International School.<ref name=Stewartp43/>
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Lockyer, Angus. "The Logic of Spectacle C. 1970", Art History, Sept 2007, Vol. 30 Issue 4, p571-589, on the international exposition held in 1970
McClain, James L. and Wakita, Osamu, eds. Osaka: The Merchants' Capital of Early Modern Japan. (1999). 295 pp. online editionTemplate:Webarchive
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Najita, Tetsuo. Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan: The Kaitokudo Merchant Academy of Osaka. (1987). 334 pp. online edition
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