Osaka Story History

Osaka, located in the city of Osaka Prefecture in the Kinki region of western Japan, is the seat of the prefectural government of Osaka Prefecture and one of the designated cities by government decree. With an area of 223 square kilometers and a total population of about 2.67 million, Osaka is the third most populous city in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohama.

“Osaka” was often called “Osaka” in ancient times, and the word “Osaka” first appeared in the Muromachi period.

The place name “Osaka” originally refers to the northern end of the Uemachi platform that spans the north and south between the Yamato River and the Yodo River.

The earliest record of this place name in Chinese characters is that in 1496, the related records of “Shengyu Nai Shonai Osaka” appeared in the imperial text written by Lian Ru, the ancestor of the Jodo Shinzong Zhongxing. Originally, the area of Osaka that Renru called was the name of the area such as Naniwa (Namba, Naniwa, Ranika) in ancient times, and Renru established the Osaka Imperial House (Ishiyama Honganji) in the current Osaka city area. Extending to the surrounding area, it is called Osaka.

The origin of the name, although there is a saying that the area has a large slope (Japanese: saka), so it is called Osaka, but in Lianru’s former Osaka, the pronunciation is not “オホサカ”, but “ヲサカ”, and In various materials, you will also see the name of “Kosaka (おさか)” (the Japanese is called Wuying in “The Japanese Secretary”). Therefore, this statement lacks credibility.

After Lianru, the pronunciation of Osaka is “おおざか”. In the Edo period, the merchant Zenbei was shipwrecked and drifted to the Russian Empire. The Russians heard the pronunciation as “ウザカ” and spread it. It is also said that the pronunciation of “おさか” was delayed as “おーさか” by the staff at Osaka Station in the past, and it was slowly spread as “おおさか”.

Since the Nara period, Osaka has been a trading port due to its location near the sea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle and made Osaka the core city of the Toyotomi regime. During the Edo period, Osaka and Kyoto and Edo were collectively known as the “Three Capitals” and were the most prosperous commercial cities in Japan at that time. After the war, it was still the largest city in Western Japan.

Osaka has heavy industries based on steel, machinery manufacturing, and metal processing, and light industries based on textiles, printing, food, paper and chemicals. There are more than 100,000 stores of various types in the city. Osaka is also known for its unique culture. In the city’s Hankyu district, there are also bustling underground streets. The scale of industrial and commercial activities and the density of mass transit MRT railways are among the highest in Japan.

Osaka is the fashion center of Japan’s Kansai region, with a wide variety of commodities, complete shopping facilities and developed circulation. Osaka people usually divide Osaka into North Castle (KITA) and South Castle (MINAMI).

The main business districts of Beicheng include Osaka Station, Umeda, Kitashinchi, Kyobashi, Sakura Palace, etc. Among them, there are many high-end department stores around Osaka Station and Umeda Station, which are shopping places for high-end products, while the nearby underground streets and There are relatively cheap items in the streets.

The main business districts of Nancheng include the prosperous shopping districts such as Shinsaibashi, Namba, Sennichimae, Kuromon Market, Tennoji, Nihonbashi, and Nanko Tempozan area. Among them, there are several large department stores near Namba (NAMBA) station, and the Nihonbashi area near Namba is “Akihabara” in Osaka, where there are many electrical stores and duty-free shops.

In 1957, Osaka and San Francisco established a sister city relationship.

On October 2, 2018, the mayor of Osaka, Japan, in the name of the mayor, sent a letter to the mayor of San Francisco, the United States, notifying the termination of the sister city relationship. This is because the city of San Francisco has not responded to a letter from Osaka city asking for its opinion on the donation of the statue of the girl symbolizing the issue of comfort women.

In January 2019, Osaka was selected into the “2018 WFBA World’s Top 200 Charming Cities” list.

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