Ōsaka

Ōsaka

Ōsaka, fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It includes the industrial city of Ōsaka, the prefectural capital, and numerous industrial and residential suburbs.

The urban prefecture is bordered by Kyōto urban prefecture (north); by the ken (prefectures) of Hyōgo (northwest), Nara (east), and Wakayama (south); and by Ōsaka Bay (southeast). The main industries in the urban prefecture manufacture iron and steel products, textiles, chemicals, and electrical machinery. Ōsaka urban prefecture does not include the port of Kōbe, which lies to the west along the bay in Hyōgo prefecture, but the two cities do form the twin nucleus of the Ōsaka-Kobe Metropolitan Area, one of the major urban agglomerations in the country. In addition, Ōsaka is the hub of the larger Keihanshin Industrial Zone, which also includes the Kyōto area. Area 731 square miles (1,893 square km). Pop. (2010) 8,865,245.