The city is the capital of Osaka Prefecture. Often dubbed the second city of JapanFact: date=September 2008, Osaka was historically the commercial capital of Japan, and to date the heart of Japan's second largest Fact: date=September 2008(and the world's ninth largestFact: date=September 2008) metropolitan area of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, whose population is 17,220,000.
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The city is the capital of Osaka Prefecture. Often dubbed the second city of JapanFact: date=September 2008, Osaka was historically the commercial capital of Japan, and to date the heart of Japan's second largest Fact: date=September 2008(and the world's ninth largestFact: date=September 2008) metropolitan area of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, whose population is 17,220,000.
A unique title that the city of Osaka holds is the first place in Japan for day to night population ratio of 141%, a depiction of Osaka's economic- and commerce-centric character. While at night time the population ranks third place in the country at 2.6 million, in daytime it surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo.
Osaka is traditionally considered the or the gourmet food capital of Japan. Navigate to the equivalent Japanese page (大阪市の歴史 タイムトリップ20,000年 (History of Osaka, A timetrip back 20,000 years))1 for additional information.
The beginnings - Kofun Period
Some of the earliest signs of habitation in the area of Osaka were found at the , with its shell mounds, including sea oysters and buried human skeletons from the 5 - 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.
By the Kofun Period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The large numbers, and the growing of the size of tomb mounds found in the plains of Osaka, are seen as evidence of political power concentrating, leading to the formation of a state.
Asuka and Nara Period
In 645, Emperor Kōtoku built his palace (難波長柄豊碕宮 Naniwa-no-nagara-no-toyosaki-no-Miya) in Osaka, making this area the capital (Naniwa-kyō). The area which now consists of Osaka city was called by this time Naniwa, a name which still exists as the names of districts in central Osaka as Naniwa (浪速) and Namba (難波). While the capital was moved to Asuka (in Nara Prefecture today) in 655, Naniwa has always been a vital connection, by land and sea, between Yamato (modern day Nara Prefecture), Korea, and China.
In 744, Naniwa was once again named capital by Emperor Shōmu. Naniwa ceased to be the capital in 745, when the Imperial Court moved back to Heijō-kyō (now Nara). The sea port function was gradually lost over to neighboring lands by the end of Nara Period, but it remained a lively transit of river, channel and land transportation between Heian-kyō (Kyoto today) and other destinations.
Heian - Edo Period
