Osaka or 大阪 is Japan’s third biggest city with the metropolis of the Kansai region on the island of Honshu. Osaka is a port city, and historically the merchant capital of Japan. Osaka is a center city that located in the heart of Kansai when you travel from oversea to Osaka, Japan that you have to land to this city before visit other part of Kansai area. Also, Osaka is the second largest economy city. If you walk to the streets and see people from Osaka talk with a good tempo sound that only this city can be heard and characteristic speech is a dialect of the Kansai area called Kansai dialect (Kansai-ben). Also many Japanese people associate Kansai dialect with comedians and frequently said that the tough make Osakans laugh.
Did you know that? The cherry blossom and the pansy flower or Sakuraso is flower sign of Osaka city.
Osaka have popular foods menu that made of flour such as Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki and Korea Town in Tsuruhashi. Not only foods that you can enjoy when you visit Osaka. In the city have many interests place from old history to modern style such as Osaka Castle, long street walk from Shinsaibashi to Namba, Universal Studios Japan, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, and Tsutenkaku Tower. While in this city have a unique culture and full of tourist locations from sightseeing, eating and drinking around Umeda, Namba, Shinsaibashi, and Shinsekai (new-world downtown area).
There are two airports in Osaka that you can departure which are Osaka International Airport and Kansai International Airport. Mostly tourists depart at Kansai International Airport. There are many flights from overseas and domestic that arrive and departure in the airport. From Osaka can fly to Tokyo about 1 hour and 15 minute and flight connect to Haneda Airport. It is also can take the Shinkansen train from Shin-Osaka Station to Tokyo and takes around 2 and a half hours on train.
In addition that Osaka is located nearby Kobe (Hyogo), Kyoto, Nara and being only about a 30-55 minutes train ride away so this will makes Osaka area perfect for tourism visit the city and area nearby.
What Osaka come from?
“Osaka” means a large hill in the past. Osaka is known as Naniwa and no one knows exactly when change to Osaka name. But there is evidence from the text that appeared in the book of the year 1496. In the past that Osaka wrote in Kanji is 大 坂 but the latter Kanji alphabet often mistaken as 士 反. This alphabet meaning about the samurai rebels and this name is not meaningful during the period of the Meiji Reformation in 1870 then change to new Kanji alphabet to 阪 (pronounced as Yomiwa Han) which is mean Osaka City and Osaka Prefecture.
