Osaka_Prefecture

Osaka Prefecture (大阪府 Ōsaka-fu^?) is a prefecture located in the Kinki region on Honshū, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area.

History

In 2008, Toru Hashimoto (橋下徹), previously famous as a counselor on television, was elected at age 38 as the youngest governor in Japan.

Geography

Osaka Prefecture neighbors 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. 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.³⁴.

Cities

Towns and villages

Mergers

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.⁵ Commercial sales the same year was ¥60.1 trillion.⁶

Overshadowed by such globally renowned electronics giants as Matsushita 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.⁷ 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%.⁸ One model from Osaka of serving the public interest and restimulting the regional economy combined with industry-education cooperation efforts is the Astro-Technology SOHLA,⁹ with is struggling artificial satellite project.¹⁰ 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)¹¹, and financial support from NEDO¹²¹³.

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 2000.¹⁴

Culture

Museums

Universities in Osaka Prefecture

Parks

Sports

Football (soccer)

Baseball

Basketball

Volleyball

Transportation

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:¹⁶

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.

Miscellanea

References

^ "大阪のあゆみ (History of Osaka)" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-03-12.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.
^ Tolbert, Kathryn. "Election of First Female Governor Boosts Japan's Ruling Party", The Washington Post, February 8, 2000.
^ "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.
^ "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" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
^ "大阪府民経済計算 (Osaka Prefectural Economy based on 93SNA) Osaka Prefectural Government" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
^ "2006 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan, Japan Small Business Research Institute (Japan)". Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
^ "なにわの経済データ (The Naniwa Economy Data)" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
^ "Astro-Technology SOHLA" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
^ "Japan Advertising Council". Retrieved on 2007-03-14. 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]
^ ""Smaller firms build a satellite" City of Osaka, Chicago Office". Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
^ The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
^ ""Study of PETSAT" NEDO, 2005" (in Japanese with English abstract). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
^ "Table 1: 大阪府の人口の推移 ( Population Change of Osaka Prefecture)" (in Japanese). Osaka Prefectural Government. Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
^ 財団法人国際花と緑の博覧会記念協会：English：Expo'90 Foundation
^ Osaka's friendships regions/states and Overseas Offices
^ introduction (japanese), retrieved March 14, 2007

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