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Osaka was one of the three major cities in [[Edo Period|Tokugawa Japan]], and remains today roughly tied with [[Yokohama]] as Japan's most populous city.<ref>Osaka tends to be more populous during the day, while Yokohama is more populous at night, as many of Yokohama's residents work in Tokyo. Both of these cities vie for the position of largest city because, due to a technicality of political designations, [[Tokyo]] is a "metropolitan [[prefectures|prefecture]]" and not a "city."</ref>

Osaka was one of the three major cities in [[Edo Period|Tokugawa Japan]], and remains today roughly tied with [[Yokohama]] as Japan's most populous city.<ref>Osaka tends to be more populous during the day, while Yokohama is more populous at night, as many of Yokohama's residents work in Tokyo. Both of these cities vie for the position of largest city because, due to a technicality of political designations, [[Tokyo]] is a "metropolitan [[prefectures|prefecture]]" and not a "city."</ref>

Osaka is known for its strong ''[[chonin|chônin]]'' (townsperson/commoner) culture; in the Edo period, it rivaled or perhaps exceeded Edo as a commercial center, importing & consuming three times as much in goods as it exported, and also serving as a major financial center, with [[rice brokers|merchant networks]] at the head of massive flows of credit & loans. Osaka is also known as a major culinary center. Its role for centuries as one of the most major commercial centers in the country, bringing together the foods (and other goods) of the entire archipelago, has earned it the nickname ''[[Tenka]] no daidokoro'' (天下の台所), or "the Kitchen of All-Under-Heaven."<ref name=roberts1819>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (2002), 18-19.</ref>

Osaka is known for its strong ''[[chonin|chônin]]'' (townsperson/commoner) culture; in the Edo period, it rivaled or perhaps exceeded Edo as a commercial center, importing & consuming three times as much in goods as it exported, and also serving as a major financial center, with [[rice brokers|merchant networks]] at the head of massive flows of credit & loans. Osaka is also known as a major culinary center. Its role for centuries as one of the most major commercial centers in the country, bringing together the foods (and other goods) of the entire archipelago, has earned it the nickname ''[[Tenka]] no daidokoro'' (天下の台所), or "the Kitchen of All-Under-Heaven."<ref name=roberts1819>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 18-19.</ref>

==Geography==

==Geography==

Located to the west of Kyoto, facing the [[Inland Sea]], Osaka sits astride the [[Yodo River]], providing shipping & transportation access to Kyoto, and allowing for considerable access and influence in the Inland Sea.  

Located to the west of Kyoto, facing the [[Inland Sea]], Osaka sits astride the [[Yodo River]], providing shipping & transportation access to Kyoto, and allowing for considerable access and influence in the Inland Sea.  

Beginning in the mid-17th century, the ''Nishimawari'', or "[[Western Circuit]]," shipping route was put into place, connecting Osaka, via the Inland Sea and through the [[Straits of Shimonoseki]], to ports all along the [[Sea of Japan]] coast, as well as [[Ezo]] (Hokkaidô); the city was also an extremely common stopover point for travelers to and from Western Japan and Kyushu, including ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' daimyô processions, as well as [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]], who traveled by ship through the Inland Sea to Osaka, and then overland via the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]]<ref>The 57 Stations of the Tôkaidô ended at [[Sanjo Ohashi|Sanjô Bridge]] in Kyoto, but four more stations, known alternatively as the Ôsaka kaidô, Kyôkaidô, or simply considered an extension of the Tôkaidô, continued onwards to Osaka, ending at Kôraibashi.</ref> to [[Edo]].

Beginning in the mid-17th century, the ''Nishimawari'', or "[[Western Circuit]]," shipping route was put into place, connecting Osaka, via the Inland Sea and through the [[Straits of Shimonoseki]], to ports all along the [[Sea of Japan]] coast, as well as [[Ezo]] (Hokkaidô); the city was also an extremely common stopover point for travelers to and from Western Japan and Kyushu, including ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' daimyô processions, as well as [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]], who traveled by ship through the Inland Sea to Osaka, and then overland via the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]]<ref>The 53 Stations of the Tôkaidô ended at [[Sanjo Ohashi|Sanjô Bridge]] in Kyoto, but four more stations, known alternatively as the Ôsaka kaidô, Kyôkaidô, or simply considered an extension of the Tôkaidô, continued onwards to Osaka, ending at Kôraibashi.</ref> to [[Edo]].

==History==

==History==