Editing Osaka (section)

== Etymology ==
''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>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJHArhRVYEoC&pg=PA154|first=Ōta|last=Gyūichi|publisher=Brill Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-20162-0|title=The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga|pages=153–154|year=2011|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=voerPYsAB5wC&pg=PA650|editor1-last=Ring |editor1-first=Trudy|editor2-last=Watson|editor2-first=Noelle|editor3-last=Schellinger|editor3-first=Paul|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-884964-04-4|title=Asia & Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places|page=650|year=1996|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>

By the [[Edo period]], {{Nihongo2|大坂}} (''Ōsaka'') and {{Nihongo2|大阪}} (''Ōsaka'') were mixed use, and the writer {{ill|Hamamatsu Utakuni|ja|浜松歌国}}, in his book ''Setsuyo Ochiboshu'' published in 1808, states that the [[kanji]] {{Nihongo2|坂}} was abhorred because it means "returns to the earth," and thus {{Nihongo2|阪}} was used. The kanji {{Nihongo2|土}} (earth) is also similar to the word {{Nihongo2|士}} (knight), and {{Nihongo2|反}} means against, so {{Nihongo2|坂}} can be understood as "samurai rebellion." {{citation needed|date=January 2025}} {{Nihongo2|阪}} was the official name in 1868 after the [[Meiji Restoration]]. The older kanji (坂) is still in very limited use, usually only in historical contexts. When used as an abbreviation, the modern kanji {{Nihongo2|阪}} {{transliteration|ja|han}} refers to Osaka City or [[Osaka Prefecture]].