Osaka (大阪,
Ōsaka?) About this sound listen (help·info) is a city in the
Kansai region of
Japan's main island of
Honshū, the designated city under the
Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of
Osaka Prefecture and also the heart of
Greater Osaka Area. Located at the mouth of the
Yodo River on
Osaka Bay, Osaka is the third largest city by population after
Tokyo[1] and
Yokohama.
For reference, Greater Osaka Area is the second largest area in Japan by population and one of the largest metropolitan areas highly ranked in the world, with nearly 18 million people,[2] and by
GDP, the second largest area in Japan and the seventh largest area in the world.
Historically the commercial capital of Japan, Osaka functions as one of the command centers for the
Japanese economy. The ratio between daytime and night time population is 141%, the highest in Japan, highlighting its status as an economic center.[3] Its nighttime population is 2.6 million, the third in the country, but in daytime the population surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo.[4] Osaka has traditionally been referred to as the "nation's kitchen" (天下の台所, tenka no daidokoro?), or the
Mecca of gourmet food.[5][
6][7][8Prehistory to the
Kofun period
Some of the earliest signs of habitation in the area of Osaka were found at the Morinomiya remains (森の宮遺跡, Morinomiya iseki?), with its shell mounds, including sea oysters and buried human skeletons from the 5th--6th centuries BC. It is believed that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a peninsular land, with an inland sea in the east. During the
Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the plains grew as rice farming became popular.[5]
By the Kofun period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The large numbers, and the increasing size, of tomb mounds found in the plains of Osaka are seen as evidence of political-power concentration, leading to the formation of a state.[5][9]
[edit]
Asuka and
Nara period
In 645,
Emperor Kōtoku built his palace, the
Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace in Osaka,[10] making this area the capital (Naniwa-kyō). The place that became the modern city was by this time called Naniwa. This name, and derived forms, are still in use for districts in central Osaka such as Naniwa (浪速) and
Namba (難波).[11] Although the capital was moved to Asuka (in
Nara Prefecture today) in 655, Naniwa remained a vital connection, by land and sea, between
Yamato (modern day Nara Prefecture),
Korea, and
China.[5][12]
In 744, Naniwa once again became the capital by order of
Emperor Shōmu. Naniwa ceased to be the capital in 745, when the
Imperial Court moved back to
Heijō-kyō (now
Nara). The seaport
function was gradually taken over by neighboring lands by the end of Nara period, but it remained a lively center of river, channel, and land transportation between
Heian-kyō (
Kyoto today) and other destinations.
- published: 02 Nov 2010
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