Editing Osaka (section)

== Government ==
{{See also|Local Autonomy Law|Municipalities of Japan|Politics of Osaka City}}
{{infobox
| above       = Local administration
| abovestyle  = background-color: lightgrey
| subheader   = The Mayor and the Council
| image1      = [[File:Osaka_City_Hall_-_01.JPG|200px]]
| caption1    = Osaka City Hall
| headerstyle = background-color: lightgrey
| header1     =
| label2      = Mayor:
| data2       = [[Ichiro Matsui]]
| label3      = Vice Mayors:
| data3       = Toru Takahashi,<br/>Shin Asakawa,
<br/>Tsuyoshi Yamamoto
| header20    = City Council
| label21     = President:
| data21      = Toshifumi Tagaya [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|(LDP)]]
| label22     = Members:
| data22      = 83 councilors (7 vacant)
| label31     = Factions:
| data31      = [[Osaka Restoration Association]] (36),<br/>[[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]]<br/> and Citizen's Club (20),<br/> [[New Komeito Party|Komei Party]] (19),<br/> [[Japanese Communist Party]] (9),<br/>Go OSAKA (1)<br/>Osaka Abe (1)
| label32     = Seats by districts:
| data32      = {{Collapsible list
  |framestyle=border:none; padding:0;
  |title=Ward (no. of seats)
  |1=[[Abeno-ku, Osaka|Abeno-ku]] (4),
|2=[[Asahi-ku, Osaka|Asahi-ku]] (4),
|3=[[Chūō-ku, Osaka|Chūō-ku]] (2),
|4=[[Fukushima-ku, Osaka|Fukushima-ku]] (2),
|5=[[Higashinari-ku, Osaka|Higashinari-ku]] (3),
|6=[[Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka|Higashisumiyoshi-ku]] (5),
|7=[[Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka|Higashiyodogawa-ku]] (6),
|8=[[Hirano-ku, Osaka|Hirano-ku]] (6),
|9=[[Ikuno-ku, Osaka|Ikuno-ku]] (5),
|10=[[Jōtō-ku, Osaka|Jōtō-ku]] (5),
|11=[[Kita-ku, Osaka|Kita-ku]] (3),
|12=[[Konohana-ku, Osaka|Konohana-ku]] (3),
|13=[[Minato-ku, Osaka|Minato-ku]] (3),
|14=[[Miyakojima-ku, Osaka|Miyakojima-ku]] (3),
|15=[[Naniwa-ku, Osaka|Naniwa-ku]] (2),
|16=[[Nishi-ku, Osaka|Nishi-ku]] (2),
|17=[[Nishinari-ku, Osaka|Nishinari-ku]] (5),
|18=[[Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka|Nishiyodogawa-ku]] (3),
|19=[[Suminoe-ku, Osaka|Suminoe-ku]] (4),
|20=[[Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka|Sumiyoshi-ku]] (6),
|21=[[Taishō-ku, Osaka|Taishō-ku]] (3),
|22=[[Tennōji-ku, Osaka|Tennōji-ku]] (2),
|23=[[Tsurumi-ku, Osaka|Tsurumi-ku]] (3),
|24=[[Yodogawa-ku, Osaka|Yodogawa-ku]] (5)
 }}
| label33     = Website
| data33      = [http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/shikai/english/ Osaka City Council]
| label34     =
| data34      = <small>Note: As of October 27, 2017</small>
}}
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 ([[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|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>{{cite web|url=http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/shikai/english/index.html |title=Osaka City Council homepage |publisher=City.osaka.lg.jp |access-date=May 5, 2010}}</ref>

Osaka also houses several agencies of the Japanese government. Below is a list of governmental offices housed in Osaka.

{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* [[Japan Coast Guard]], Fifth Regional Headquarters
*Japan Fair Trade Commission; Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku Office
* Kinki Regional Finance Bureau
* Kinki Regional Economy, Trade and Industry Bureau
* Kinki Regional Transportation Bureau
* Kinki Communications Bureau
* Kinki Regional Development Bureau
* [[National Police Agency (Japan)|Kinki Regional Police Bureau]]
* [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Osaka Office]]
* Osaka Customs
* Osaka District Court
* Osaka Family Court
* Osaka High Court
* Osaka Immigration
* Osaka Labour Bureau
* Osaka Meteorological Observatory
* Osaka Public Prosecutors Office
* Osaka Regional Aerospace Bureau
* Osaka Regional Law Bureau
* Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau
* Osaka Summary Court
{{div col end}}

===Developments===
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 [[Osaka Restoration Association (1st)|their party]]. If implemented, Osaka City, neighboring [[Sakai, Osaka|Sakai]] City and possibly other surrounding municipalities would dissolve and be reorganized as four [[Special wards of Tokyo|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: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120730221419/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120731a2.html Bill to transform Osaka government jointly submitted to Diet]</ref>

In October 2018, the city of Osaka officially ended<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://globalvoices.org/2018/10/06/osaka-cuts-sister-city-ties-with-san-francisco-over-comfort-women-statue/|title=Osaka cuts sister city ties with San Francisco over "comfort women" statue · Global Voices|date=October 6, 2018|work=Global Voices|access-date=October 7, 2018|language=en}}</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>{{Cite letter|first=Hirofumi|last=Yoshimura|recipient=London Breed, Mayor of San Francisco|subject=Termination of Sister City Relationship|url=https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/hodoshiryo/cmsfiles/contents/0000448/448185/letter.pdf|date=October 2, 2018|format=PDF|publisher=City of Osaka|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003000128/http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/hodoshiryo/cmsfiles/contents/0000448/448185/letter.pdf|archive-date=October 3, 2018|title=Archived copy|access-date=May 20, 2019}}</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">{{cite web |title=Osaka referendum defeat raises questions about future of city's politics |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/02/national/politics-diplomacy/osaka-referendum-future/ |author=Eric Johnston |date=November 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102090033/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/02/national/politics-diplomacy/osaka-referendum-future/ |archive-date=November 2, 2020}}</ref> Osaka mayor and Osaka Ishin co-leader [[Ichiro Matsui]] said he would resign when his term ended in 2023.<ref name="metropolis-2020"/>

=== Energy policies ===
==== Nuclear power ====
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)[http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120227p2g00m0dm044000c.html 3 major Kansai cities aim to break dependence on nuclear power] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120710025044/http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120227p2g00m0dm044000c.html |date=July 10, 2012 }}</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) [http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120319p2g00m0dm011000c.html Osaka aims to end Kansai Electric's nuclear power ops as shareholder] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319172039/http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120319p2g00m0dm011000c.html|date=March 19, 2012}}</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&nbsp;billion yen:
* 70 donations were paid to local governments: to a total of 699&nbsp;million yen
* 100 donations to public-service organizations: 443&nbsp;million yen,
* 430 donations to various organizations and foundations: a total of 553&nbsp;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
* a nuclear safety agreement
* the establishment of new nuclear safety standards
* stress tests and evaluations based on these new safety rules<ref>The Mainichi Shimbun (April 10, 2012) [http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120410p2a00m0na014000c.html Kansai Electric, affiliates had 69 ex-bureaucrats employed as execs as of end of fiscal 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414140532/http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120410p2a00m0na014000c.html |date=April 14, 2012 }}</ref>