Dōtonbori & Namba
Neon canal, street-food alleys, the Glico runner sign — Osaka's beating night-time heart.
Open in Maps ↗Prefecture profile · 都道府県
Osaka 大阪府
Japan's second metropolis and historical commercial capital. A merchant city by temperament — open, loud, generous with food — anchoring the Hanshin industrial belt and home to a quarter of the country's pharmaceutical headquarters.
Capital
Osaka City
Population
8.8 million
Area
1,905 km²
Region
Kansai
History
Settled as Naniwa as early as the 5th century, Osaka served briefly as the imperial capital before Heijō and again briefly under Empress Kōgyoku. The Yodo and Yamato rivers made it Japan's natural east-west trade hinge from antiquity.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi raised Osaka Castle in 1583 and made the city the de-facto commercial capital of unified Japan. Through the Edo period the rice futures market at Dōjima — the world's first organized commodity exchange — set the price of rice for the entire archipelago. Osaka was nicknamed 'the nation's kitchen' (天下の台所).
After Meiji, Osaka industrialized rapidly into the 'Manchester of the East,' specializing in textiles, shipbuilding, and chemicals. Postwar it pivoted into appliances, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, and today is staking its second-century identity on Expo 2025, the Yumeshima IR development, and a deepening biomedical and life-sciences cluster around Nakanoshima.
Economy & business
Osaka's prefectural GDP is roughly ¥41 trillion (around US$280 billion), placing it second among Japan's 47 prefectures and ahead of countries like Norway or Austria. The economy is unusually diversified — heavy on B2B trading houses (Itochu, Marubeni, Sumitomo), pharmaceuticals, precision machinery, and consumer brands — and notably independent from Tokyo's financial gravity.
Key industries
Pharmaceuticals & life sciences
Takeda, Shionogi, Sumitomo Pharma and Ono Pharmaceutical are headquartered in the historic Dōshōmachi pharma district.
Electronics & appliances
Panasonic (Kadoma), Sharp, Daikin and Funai give Osaka its postwar 'home of consumer electronics' identity.
Trading & wholesale
Itochu, Marubeni and the historic Senba merchant district still route a large share of Japan's import-export flow.
Food, beverage & confectionery
Suntory, Ezaki Glico, Calbee, Nissin Foods, House Foods — Osaka invented instant ramen and remains its capital.
Heavy machinery & shipbuilding
Kubota, Daihatsu, Hitachi Zosen and Sumitomo Heavy Industries anchor the Hanshin industrial belt.
Notable companies
PanasonicSharpDaikinTakeda PharmaceuticalShionogiSumitomo PharmaItochuMarubeniSumitomo CorporationSuntoryEzaki GlicoNissin FoodsHouse FoodsKubotaDaihatsuHankyu Hanshin HoldingsKeihan HoldingsNippon Life Insurance
Trade partners
ChinaUnited StatesSouth KoreaTaiwanVietnamThailandHong Kong
Tourism highlights
Osaka Castle
Hideyoshi's reconstructed five-story keep set in a 100-hectare cherry-blossom park.
Open in Maps ↗Kuromon Ichiba Market
Working market that has fed Osaka since the Edo period — seafood, kushikatsu, fugu and wagyu skewers.
Open in Maps ↗Shinsekai & Tsūtenkaku
Postwar working-class district built around the 'New World' tower, famed for kushikatsu and old-school Osaka humor.
Open in Maps ↗Sumiyoshi Taisha
One of Japan's oldest shrines, founded in the 3rd century, with a distinctive pre-Buddhist Sumiyoshi-zukuri architecture.
Open in Maps ↗Expo '70 Commemorative Park & Tower of the Sun
Tarō Okamoto's monumental sculpture surrounded by woodland — host site of Expo 2025.
Open in Maps ↗Did you know
Osaka invented instant ramen — Momofuku Andō produced the world's first packet of Chicken Ramen in a backyard shed in Ikeda in 1958.
Dōjima Rice Exchange (1730) is widely credited as the world's first organized futures market, predating Chicago by 118 years.
On Osaka escalators people stand on the right and walk on the left — the inverse of Tokyo. The local theory is that 1970 Expo crowds were trained to leave the left side clear for the right-handed sword-drawing of approaching samurai (it's almost certainly apocryphal, but the convention stuck).
About Osaka — Frequently asked
What is the capital of Osaka?
The capital of Osaka is Osaka City.
What region of Japan is Osaka in?
Osaka is part of the Kansai region of Japan.
What are Osaka's main industries?
Osaka's key industries include Pharmaceuticals & life sciences, Electronics & appliances, Trading & wholesale, Food, beverage & confectionery.
What are the top tourist attractions in Osaka?
Top attractions in Osaka include Dōtonbori & Namba, Osaka Castle, Kuromon Ichiba Market, Shinsekai & Tsūtenkaku.
What major companies are based in Osaka?
Notable companies headquartered in Osaka include Panasonic, Sharp, Daikin, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Shionogi.
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