Osaka

Osaka exists because merchants needed a city free from samurai interference—Japan's 'Kitchen' grew wealthy while Tokyo held power, proving that economic and political capitals need not be the same.

In 1583, Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle and made the city his base for reunifying Japan. After Hideyoshi's clan fell in 1615, the Tokugawa shoguns deliberately kept Osaka separate from their Edo power center. The shogunate relocated merchants and artisans to build a commercial city with an intricate system of waterways—the '808 Bridges of Naniwa.' The Dōjima Rice Exchange, established in 1697, became the world's first futures market. While Edo held political power, Osaka held economic power; while samurai ruled Tokyo, merchants ruled Osaka.

Osaka's merchant DNA survived modernization. When Japan industrialized after 1868, Osaka's textile industries grew so fast that by the early 1900s it had surpassed Tokyo in population, earning the title 'Greater Osaka.' But the 20th century reversed this: Tokyo's political centralization drew corporate headquarters east. Osaka pivoted to manufacturing—Panasonic (founded 1918) and Sharp (founded 1912) built the electronics industry from here. The 1970 World Expo announced Japan's return to the global stage; the 2025 Expo aimed to repeat that revitalization.

The Keihanshin region (Greater Osaka) has a population of 19.3 million (15% of Japan's population) and a GDP of approximately $954 billion—the world's 16th largest urban economy. Osaka City generates about 3.8% of Japan's GDP. Panasonic, Sharp, and Suntory maintain headquarters here; the Osaka Exchange hosts derivatives trading. Expo 2025 at Yumeshima Island drew 22.25 million ticket sales and generated an estimated ¥3.6 trillion in economic benefits, exceeding forecasts.

By 2026, Osaka's test will be whether Expo 2025's momentum can revive its ambition to become Japan's commercial capital again—or whether Tokyo's gravitational pull proves inescapable.