阪

Osaka; slope

Kanji 2097

Enter the city of pleasure! This essay covers everything about Osaka, including its name, history, cuisine (e.g., Kansai sushi), castle, and entertainment industry, as well as the Osakan's colorful personality, conversational style, accent, and dialect. Learn about the "Osaka Metropolis Plan" that terrified some people, and find out about often-used terms such as "Keihan" and "Hanshin.”

Revision history:

Nov. 27, 2024: p. 18: Re. the book, I reversed the sequence of the main title and subtitle (per the National Diet Library entry) and revised the title translation accordingly.

Dec. 5, 2023:

• p. 13: Clarified a sentence about battera sushi.
• p. 18: Added a missing photo credit.

May 22, 2023: p. 4: Significantly revised the second and third paragraphs, as well as Sidebar 1, because new info. came in, throwing into doubt what I’d gleaned from other sources about the evolution of the names of the Osaka area.

June 16, 2021: 

• p. 2: Added the Henshall etymology.
• p. 4: I have now indicated more precisely that 1871 was when the government decided that 大阪 was the correct kanji to use in the city name. 
• p. 13: In the vocab. under the sample sentence, I redefined お膝元 as “territory of a powerful person.”
• p. 15: Expanded the photo caption.
• p. 16: Slightly changed the translation of the sample sentence.
• p. 20: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

June 24, 2016: Originally published.