is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Osaka-fu" in ; "Kansai" in Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the northeast, Nara Prefecture to the southeast, and Wakayama Prefecture to the south.
Osaka is the capital and largest city of Osaka Prefecture, and the third-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Sakai, Higashiōsaka, and Hirakata.Nussbaum, "Osaka" in Osaka Prefecture is located on the western coast of the Kii Peninsula, forming the western is open to Osaka Bay. Osaka Prefecture is the third-most-populous prefecture, but by geographic area the second-smallest; at it is the second-most densely populated, below only Tokyo. Osaka Prefecture is one of Japan's two "urban prefectures" using the designation fu () rather than the standard ken for prefectures, along with Kyoto Prefecture. Osaka Prefecture forms the center of the Keihanshin metropolitan area, the second-most-populated urban region in Japan after the Greater Tokyo area and one of the world's most productive regions by GDP.
History
Prior to the Meiji Restoration, the modern-day area of Osaka Prefecture was split between Kawachi, Izumi, and Settsu provinces.Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in
Osaka Prefecture was created on June 21, 1868, at the very beginning of the Meiji era.The creation of Osaka prefecture took place slight earlier than many other prefectures, that had to wait for abolition of the han system in 1871. During the instigation of Fuhanken Sanchisei in 1868, the prefecture received its suffix fu, designating it as a prefecture.
On September 1, 1956, the city of Osaka was promoted to a city designated by government ordinance and thereby divided into 24 wards. Sakai became the second city in the prefecture to be promoted to a city designated by government ordinance on April 1, 2006, and was divided into seven wards.
In 2000, Fusae Ota became Japan's first female governor when she replaced Knock Yokoyama, who resigned after prosecution for sexual harassment.Tolbert, Kathryn. "Election of First Female Governor Boosts Japan's Ruling Party", The Washington Post, February 8, 2000. Tōru Hashimoto, previously famous as a counselor on television, was elected in 2008 at the age of 38, becoming the youngest governor in Japan.
On June 18, 2018, an earthquake struck the northern region of the prefecture. It killed 4 people and caused minor damage across Greater Osaka.
Proposed reorganisation
In 2010, the Osaka Restoration Association was created with backing by Governor Tōru Hashimoto, with hopes of reforming Osaka Prefecture into the Osaka Metropolis and merging with the City of Osaka. In the 2011 local elections, the association was able to win the majority of the prefectural seats and Hashimoto was elected as mayor of Osaka.
A referendum on the issue was held in 2015 and was defeated with 50.38% of voters opposed to the plan. A second referendum in 2020 was rejected by 50.6% of voters.
Geography Osaka Prefecture neighbors the prefectures of Hyōgo and Kyoto in the north, Nara in the east and Wakayama in the south. The Yodo and Yamato Rivers flow through the prefecture.
Prior to the construction of Kansai International Airport, Osaka was the smallest prefecture in Japan. The artificial island on which the airport was built added enough area to make it slightly larger than Kagawa Prefecture."平成10年全国都道府県市区町村の面積の公表について(Official announcement on the national territory and area of 1998, by prefectures, cities, districts, towns and villages)" , Geographical Survey Institute, Government of Japan, January 29, 1999."コラム Vol.017 全国都道府県市区町村面積調 (Column: "National Area Investigation" vol.017)" , Alps Mapping K.K., March 8, 2001.
As of 1 April 2012, 11% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Kongō-Ikoma-Kisen and Meiji no Mori Minō Quasi-National Parks and Hokusetsu and Hannan-Misaki Prefectural Natural Parks.
Municipalities
Since 2005, Osaka consists of 43 municipalities: 33 cities, nine towns and one village. As of 2021, the 33 cities include two designated major cities, seven core cities and two (transitional) special case cities (after legal abolition in 2015, to be replaced with the core city system in the 2020s). Flag, name w/o suffix Full name District(-gun)Area (km2)PopulationMap LPE code(w/o pref. [27...],checksum [-x]) Japanese transcription translation Daitō大東市 Daitō-shi Daitō City –18.27119,329 218 Fujidera藤井寺市 Fujidera-shi Fujidera City –8.8965,075 226 Habikino羽曳野市 Habikino-shi Habikino City –26.44113,256 222 Hannan阪南市 Hannan-shi Hannan City –36.155,798 232 Higashiōsaka東大阪市 Higashi-Ōsaka-shi Higashi-Osaka City(East Osaka City) –61.78495,011 227 Hirakata枚方市 Hirakata-shi Hirakata City –65.08401,449 210 Ibaraki茨木市 Ibaraki-shi Ibaraki City –76.52280,562 211 Ikeda池田市 Ikeda-shi Ikeda City –22.09103,028 204 Izumi和泉市 Izumi-shi Izumi City –84.98186,370 219 Izumiōtsu泉大津市 Izumi-Ōtsu-shi Izumi-Ōtsu City(as opposed to Ōtsu City in Ōmi Province) –13.3675,398 206 Izumisano泉佐野市 Izumi-Sano-shi Izumi-Sano City(as opposed to Sano City in Shimotsuke Province) –55.03 100,649 213 Kadoma門真市 Kadoma-shi Kadoma City –12.28124,516 223 Kaizuka貝塚市 Kaizuka-shi Kaizuka City –43.9988,345 208 Kashiwara柏原市 Kashiwara-shi Kashiwara City –25.3976,383 221 Katano交野市 Katano-shi Katano City –25.5576,383 230 Kawachinagano河内長野市 Kawachi-Nagano-shi Kawachi-Nagano City(as opposed to Nagano City in Shinano Province) –109.61105,872 216 Kishiwada岸和田市 Kishiwada-shi Kishiwada City –72.68197,629 202 Matsubara松原市 Matsubarashi Matsubara City –16.66121,125 217 Minoh箕面市 Minoo-shi Minoo City –47.84134,435 220 Moriguchi守口市 Moriguchi-shi Moriguchi City –12.73143,877 209 Neyagawa寝屋川市 Neyagawa-shi Neyagawa City –24.73236,758 215 Osaka (capital)大阪市 Ōsaka-shi Osaka City –225.212,668,586 100 Ōsakasayama大阪狭山市 Ōsaka-Sayama-shi Osaka-Sayama City(as opposed to Sayama City in Saitama) –11.8657,993 231 Sakai堺市 Sakai-shi Sakai City –149.82828,741 140 Sennan泉南市 Sennan-shi Sennan City(Sen[shū] South City)(after Sennan District) –48.4862,076 228 Settsu摂津市 Settsu-shi Settsu City –14.8885,290 224 Shijōnawate四條畷市 Shijōnawate-shi Shijōnawate City –18.7455,832 229 Suita吹田市 Suita-shi Suita City –36.11378,322 205 Takaishi高石市 Takaishi-shi Takaishi City –11.3556,583 225 Takatsuki高槻市 Takatsuki-shi Takatsuki City –105.31350,914 207 Tondabayashi富田林市 Tondabayashi-shi Tondabayashi City –39.66112,993 214 Toyonaka豊中市 Toyonaka-shi Toyonaka City –36.38396,014 203 Yao八尾市 Yaoshi Yao City –41.71268,013 212 Chihayaakasaka千早赤阪村 Chihaya-Akasaka-mura Chihaya-Akasaka Village Minamikawachi37.385,467 383 Kanan河南町 Kanan-chō Kanan Town25.2616,027 382 Taishi太子町 Taishi-chō Taishi Town14.17 13,634 381 Kumatori熊取町 Kumatori-chō Kumatori Town Sennan17.2343,988 361 Misaki岬町 Misakichō Misaki Town49.0816,267 366 Tajiri田尻町 Tajiri-chō Tajiri Town4.968,377 362 Nose能勢町 Nose-chō Nose Town Toyono98.689,971 322 Toyono豊能町 Toyono-chō Toyono Town34.3719,519 321 Shimamoto島本町 Shimamoto-chō Shimamoto Town Mishima16.7829,970 301 Tadaoka忠岡町 Tadaoka-chō Tadaoka TownSenboku4.0317,187 341 Osaka 大阪府 Ōsaka-fu Osaka Prefecture – 1,905.14 8,823,358000ISO: JP-27
Mergers
After the modern reactivation of districts in 1878/79, Osaka, including Sakai which was only merged into Osaka in 1881, consisted of 5 urban districts (-ku) and 27 rural districts (-gun), excluding 15 districts in Yamato Province which was later separated from Osaka as Nara Prefecture in 1887. When the prefectures were subdivided into modern municipalities in 1889, the five urban districts were turned into two district-independent cities: Osaka City and Sakai City, and Osaka's [rural] districts were subdivided into 12 towns and 310 villages. After Osaka City had absorbed many surrounding municipalities in the interwar/Taishō period, the number of municipalities in Osaka had already dropped to 149 by 1953. The Great Shōwa mergers of the 1950s reduced the total to 47 by 1961, including 26 cities by then. The current total of 43 was reached during the Great Heisei mergers in 2005.
Economy
The gross prefecture product of Osaka for the fiscal year 2004 was ¥38.7 trillion, second after Tokyo with an increase of 0.9% from the previous year. This represented approximately 48% of the Kinki region. The per capita income was ¥3.0 million, seventh in the nation. Commercial sales the same year was ¥60.1 trillion.
Overshadowed by such globally renowned electronics giants as Panasonic and Sharp, the other side of Osaka's economy can be characterized by its Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) activities. The number of SMEs based in Osaka in 2006 was 330,737, accounting for 99.6% of the total number of businesses in the prefecture. While this proportion is similar to other prefectures (the average nationwide was 99.7%), the manufactured output of the SMEs amounted to 65.4% of the total within the prefecture, a rate significantly higher than Tokyo's 55.5%, or Kanagawa's 38.4%. One model from Osaka of serving the public interest and restimulating the regional economy, combined with industry-education cooperation efforts, is the Astro-Technology SOHLA, with its artificial satellite project. For details on the campaign featuring SOHLA, navigate through the Japanese page to the 2003 campaign listing, at entry "東大阪の人工衛星" (Higashiosaka's Satellite) Having originally started from a gathering of Higashiosaka based SMEs, Astro-Technology SOHLA has not only grown into a Kansai region-wide group but has also won support from the government, through technology and material support from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and financial support from NEDO.The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
The Osaka Securities Exchange, specializing in derivatives such as Nikkei 225 Futures, is based in Osaka.
There are many electrical, chemical, pharmaceutical, heavy industry, food, and housing companies in Osaka Prefecture.
Major companies
Major factories and research institutes
Demographics
According to the 2005 Population Census of Japan, Osaka prefecture has a population of 8,817,166, an increase of 12,085, or 0.14%, since the Census of year 2000.
As of 2022, the prefecture has about 93,000 ethnic Korean persons, the largest such population of any prefecture in Japan. As of 2013, most ethnic Korean children attend ordinary Japanese public schools, although some Korean schools operated by the Chongryon and classes for ethnic Koreans had opened in the prefecture. During the Japanese rule of Korea many ethnic Koreans came to the Osaka area to look for work. Many people from Jeju came to the Osaka area after a 1922 ferry line between Osaka and Jeju opened. During World War II Japanese authorities forced additional ethnic Koreans to move to the Osaka area.Aoki, Eriko. "Korean children, textbooks, and educational practices in Japanese primary schools" (Chapter 8). In: Ryang, Sonia. Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin (Routledge Studies in Asia's Transformations). Routledge, October 8, 2013. , 9781136353055. Start: p. 157. CITED: p. 166.
Temples and shrines Shitennō-ji Kanshin-ji Sumiyoshi Taisha
Museums National Museum of Ethnology, Japan Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farm Houses (Hattori Ryokuchi Park) OSTEC (Osaka Science and Technology Center) Exhibition Hall Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Osaka 大阪日本民芸館
Education Public elementary and junior high schools in the prefecture are operated by the municipalities. Public high schools are operated by the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education.
Universities Hagoromo University of International Studies (Sakai) Hannan University (Matsubara) Kansai Gaidai University (Hirakata) (Kansai University of Foreign Studies) Kansai Medical University (Hirakata, Osaka) Kansai University (Suita, Takatsuki, Osaka city)