Osaka

Ōsaka means 'large hill' or 'large slope'. It is unclear when this name gained prominence over Naniwa, but the oldest written evidence for the name dates back to 1496. By the Edo period, 大坂 (Ōsaka) and 大阪 (Ōsaka) were mixed use, and the writer Hamamatsu Utakuni, in his book Setsuyo Ochiboshu published in 1808, states that the kanji 坂 was abhorred because it means 'returns to the earth,' and thus 阪 was used. The kanji 土 ('earth') is also similar to the word 士 ('knight'), and 反 means 'against,' so 坂 can be understood as 'samurai rebellion'. 阪 became the official name in 1868 after the Meiji Restoration. The older kanji (坂) is still in very limited use, usually only in historical contexts. When used as an abbreviation, the modern kanji 阪 (han) refers to Osaka City or Osaka Prefecture.

During the Jōmon period (7,000 BCE), present-day Osaka was mostly submerged, and the Uemachi Plateau (上町台地, Uemachi Daichi) formed a 12 km (7.5 mi) long and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide peninsula separating Kawachi Bay from the Seto Inland Sea. It is considered one of the first places where inhabitants of Japan settled, both for the favorable geological conditions, rich in fresh water and lush vegetation, and because its position was defensible against military attack. The earliest evidence of settlements in the Osaka area are the Morinomiya ruins (森ノ宮遺跡, Morinomiya iseki) which is located in the central Chuo-ku district. Buried human skeletons and a kaizuka (a mound containing remains) were found, as well as shell mounds, oysters, and other interesting archeological discoveries from the Jomon period. …

Osaka's west side is open to Osaka Bay, and is otherwise completely surrounded by more than ten satellite cities, all of them in Osaka Prefecture, with one exception: the city of Amagasaki, belonging to Hyōgo Prefecture, in the northwest. The city occupies a larger area (about 13%) than any other city or village within Osaka Prefecture. When Osaka was established in 1889, it occupied roughly the area known today as the Chuo and Nishi wards, 15.27 square kilometers (6 mi2) that grew into today's 222.30 square kilometers (86 mi2) via incremental expansions. The largest was a single 126.01-square-kilometer (49 mi2) expansion in 1925. Osaka's highest point, located in Tsurumi-ku, is 37.5 meters (123.0 ft) above Tokyo Peil. The lowest point, in Nishiyodogawa-ku, is −2.2 meters (−7.2 ft) below Tokyo Peil. Osaka is situated at a latitude of 34. …

Osaka has a large number of wholesalers and retail shops: 25,228 and 34,707 respectively in 2004. Many of them are concentrated in the wards of Chuō (10,468 shops) and Kita (6,335 shops). Types of shops vary from malls to conventional shōtengai shopping arcades, built both above- and underground. Shōtengai are seen across Japan, and Osaka has the longest one in the country. The Tenjinbashi-suji arcade stretches from the road approaching the Tenmangū shrine and continues for 2.6 km (1.6 miles) going north to south. The stores along the arcade include commodities, clothing, and catering outlets. …

The gross city product of Osaka in fiscal year 2004 was ¥21.3 trillion, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year. The figure accounts for about 55% of the total output in the Osaka Prefecture and 26.5% in the Kinki region. In 2004, commerce, services, and manufacturing have been the three major industries, accounting for 30%, 26%, and 11% of the total, respectively. The per capita income in the city was about ¥3.3 million, 10% higher than that of the Osaka Prefecture. MasterCard Worldwide reported that Osaka ranks 19th among the world's leading cities and plays an important role in the global economy. Osaka's GDP per capita (Nominal) was $59,958.($1=\120.13) However, by 2020, Osaka ranked as the 5th most expensive city due to flatlining consumer prices and government subsidies of public transportation. …

Greater Osaka has an extensive network of railway lines, comparable to that of Greater Tokyo. Major stations within the city include Umeda (梅田), Namba (難波), Shinsaibashi (心斎橋), Tennōji (天王寺), Kyōbashi (京橋), and Yodoyabashi (淀屋橋). Osaka connects to its surrounding cities and suburbs via the JR West Urban Network as well as numerous private lines such as Keihan Electric Railway, Hankyu Railway, Hanshin Electric Railway, Kintetsu Railway, and Nankai Electric Railway. The Osaka Metro system alone ranks 8th in the world by annual passenger ridership, serving over 912 million people annually (a quarter of Greater Osaka Rail System's 4 billion annual riders), despite being only 8 of more than 70 lines in the metro area. All Shinkansen trains including Nozomi stop at Shin-Osaka Station and provide access to other major cities in Japan, such as Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Tokyo. …