is a
prefecture located in the
Kinki region on
Honshū island,
Japan. The capital is the city of
Osaka. It is the center of
Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area.
History
''For the history of Osaka prior to
Meiji Restoration, see
Osaka.''
Osaka prefecture was created in 1868, at the very beginning of
Meiji era.
[1]
On
September 1,
1956:
Osaka City was promoted to a
city designated by government ordinance and thereby divided into 24
wards.
In 2000,
Fusae Ota (太田 房江), was the first female to become a governor in Japan, replacing the former
Knock Yokoyama, who resigned after having been prosecuted for
sexual harassment.
[2].
On April 1, 2006:
Sakai City was promoted to a
city designated by government ordinance and thereby divided into 7
wards.
Geography
Osaka prefecture is directly neighboring to the prefectures of
Hyōgo and
Kyoto in the north,
Nara in the east and
Wakayama in the south. The west is open to
Osaka Bay. Rivers flowing through includes the
Yodo River and Yamato River.
Osaka used to be the smallest in area in Japan prior to the construction of
Kansai International Airport, but is now merely the second-smallest, thanks to the artificial island the airport has reclaimed.
[3][4].
Cities
Map of Osaka Prefecture.
Osaka Pref. Head Office
Thirty-three cities are located in Osaka Prefecture:
Towns and villages
These are the towns and villages in each
district.
Mergers
★ 'Merger: Mihara and Sakai (
1 February 2005)'
The town of
Mihara merged into the city of
Sakai. Since then Sakai has been split into wards of which Mihara is one.
★ 'Merger: Chihayaakasaka and Kawachinagano (possibly by end of May
2007)'
The village of
Chiahayaakasaka, the only remaining village within the prefecture, has requested a merger into the adjacent city of
Kawachinagano, after talks of merging with the surrounding towns of
Kanan and
Taishi fell through.
[5]
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% versus previous year. This represented approximately 48% of the Kinki region. The per capita income was ¥3.0 million, 7th in the nation.
[6] Commercial sales the same year was ¥60.1 trillion.
[7]
Shadowed by globally renowned electronics giants as
Matsushita or
Sharp, the other side of Osaka's economy can be characterized with its Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) activities. The number of SMEs based in Osaka in 2006 were 330,737, accounting for 99.6% of total number of businesses in the prefecture.
[8] While such proportion is similar to other prefectures (nationwide average was 99.7%), the manufacturing shipment from the SMEs amounted for 65.4% of the total within the prefecture, a significantly higher rate compared to
Tokyo's 55.5%, or
Kanagawa's 38.4%.
[9] One of the popularly highlighted model from Osaka serving the public interest of re-stimulting regional economy, combined with industry-education cooperation efforts is the Astro-Technology SOHLA,
[10] with is struggling artificial satellite project.
[11] 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 the support from the government, through technology and material support from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
[12], and financial support from NEDO
[13][14].
The
Osaka Securities Exchange, specialized much in the derivatives such as Nikkei 225 Futures, is based in Osaka.
It is features there are many companies about electrical, chemical,pharmaceutical, heavy industry food and housing.
For major companies based in Osaka
see
For major factories and research institutes in Osaka
see
Hanshin Industrial Region and
Kansai Science City
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.
[15]
Culture
Museums
★
National Museum of Ethnology, Japan [2]
★
Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farm Houses (
Hattori Ryokuchi Park)
★
OSTEC (Osaka Science and Technology Center) Exhibition Hall
★
The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Osaka [3]
Universities in Osaka Prefecture
★
Kansai Medical University (
Moriguchi, Osaka)
★
Osaka University (
Toyonaka and
Suita)
★
Osaka University of Foreign Studies (
Minoh)
★
Osaka Kyoiku University (
Kashiwara)
★
Osaka City University (
Osaka city)
★
Osaka Prefecture University (
Sakai)
★
Kansai University (Suita,
Takatsuki, Osaka city)
★
Kinki University (
Higashiosaka)
★
Kansai Gaidai University (
Hirakata) (Kansai University of Foreign Studies)
Parks
★ The
Expo Memorial Park (
Suita) It was held
Expo '70 here. About 260
ha.There is The
Japanese garden,
National Museum of Art, Osaka and an amusement park "
Expoland".
★
Hattori Ryokuchi Park (
Toyonaka) About 150
ha.
★
Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park (
Osaka city) About 100
ha.It was held Expo '90 of horticulture.
[16]
★ Nagai Park (
Osaka city) About 66
ha. It is held
The World Championships in Athletics games in 2007 at
Nagai Stadium in this park.
★
Osaka Castle Park (
Osaka city) About 106
ha.
★
Nakanoshima Park Park (
Osaka city) There is The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, public hall (established in 1911,It is
Neo-Renaissance architecture.), libraly (
Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library : established in 1904,It is
Neo-Baroque Architecture.) and The
city hall of Osaka city. 11
ha.
Sports
The sports teams listed below are based in Osaka.
Football (soccer)
★
Gamba Osaka (
Suita)
★
Cerezo Osaka (
Osaka city)
★
Sagawa Express Osaka S.C. (
Osaka city)
Baseball
★
Orix Buffaloes (
Osaka city)
Basketball
★
Osaka Evessa (
Osaka city)
Volleyball
★
Osaka Blazers Sakai (
Sakai)
★
Suntory Sunbirds (
Osaka city)
★
Panasonic Panthers (
Hirakata)
Transportation
Osaka Prefecture has three
airports (
Kansai International Airport,
Osaka International Airport, and
Yao Airport).
Ford more information about the railroad system, see (Osaka mass transit ).
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.
Friendship relationships
Osaka Prefecture has sister-city type relationships with these eight locations:
[17]
★
Shanghai in
People's Republic of China
★
East Java in
Indonesia
★
Val-d'Oise in
France
★
Queensland in
Australia
★ the
Primorsky area of
Russia
★
California in the
United States
★
Lombardy in
Italy
★
Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates
Prefectural symbols
The symbol of Osaka Prefecture, called the ''sennari byōtan'' or "thousand gourds," was originally the crest of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the feudal lord of
Osaka Castle.
Miscellaneous topics
★ Osaka is the only unlandlocked prefecture that does not have any natural islands.
★ There is a first shop of
Conveyor belt sushi in Higashiosaka.,
[18] .
References
1. 大阪のあゆみ (History of Osaka) 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.
2. Tolbert, Kathryn. "Election of First Female Governor Boosts Japan's Ruling Party", ''The Washington Post'', February 8, 2000.
3. "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.
4. "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.
5. Asahi Shimbun, Osaka edition, April 30th 2007, p. 1, 大阪唯一の村消える？ ''Ōsaka yuiitsu no mura kieru?''
6. 平成16年度の県民経済計算について (Prefectural Economy for the fiscal year 2004 based on 93SNA) ''Cabinet Office, Government of Japan''
7. 大阪府民経済計算 (Osaka Prefectural Economy based on 93SNA) ''Osaka Prefectural Government''
8. 2006 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan, Japan Small Business Research Institute (Japan)
9. なにわの経済データ (The Naniwa Economy Data)
10. Astro-Technology SOHLA
11. Japan Advertising Council 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) [1]
12. "Smaller firms build a satellite" ''City of Osaka, Chicago Office''
13. The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
14. "Study of PETSAT" ''NEDO, 2005''
15. Table 1: 大阪府の人口の推移 ( Population Change of Osaka Prefecture)
16. http://www.expo90.jp/english/index.html
17. http://www.pref.osaka.jp/en/introduction/friend.html
18. introduction (japanese), retrieved March 14, 2007
External links
★
Official Osaka Prefecture homepage
★
Osaka Tourism & Convention Guidance homepage
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