Osaka is today the third largest city in Japan, after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located on the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of Honshu Island. Osaka is the capital of Osaka Prefecture, and is traditionally the commercial capital of Japan. The metropolitan area of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, with a population of 19,220,000, is the second largest in Japan.
Osaka has long been regarded as the gourmet capital of Japan, and often also considered the "nation's kitchen". The history of Osaka can be traced to 645 AD (but its origin probably dates back even earlier), when Emperor Kotoku built his palace around the area. Some of the famous sights in Osaka is Osaka Castle, Shitennoji Buddhist Temple and Sumiyoshi Taisha. Modern Osaka is a city of bridges and canals.
View of Osaka from Osaka Castle
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:OsakaFromOsakaCastleM0742.jpg, available in the public domain
Osaka, as seen from the top of the Umeda Sky Building
by Chris 73, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Osaka_city_view_02.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
View of Osaka with Yodo River in the background
by Chris 73, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Osaka_city_view_02.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
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