Osaka Prefecture

Understand

Osaka Prefecture covers the plains around Osaka and forms the heart of the Kansai region, with nearly 9 million residents. Along with Kyoto Prefecture, it's one of only two "urban prefectures" (府 fu) in Japan, reflecting the heavily suburban, densely populated nature of the region.

Tourist information site Osaka Info is the official multilingual guide site, jointly run by the prefecture and the capital city.

Getting there

1 Kansai International Airport (KIX IATA). 2 Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport, ITM IATA).

Getting around

The Nankai Electric Railway connects Kansai airport to central Osaka and, unlike other railways, it accepts contactless payment from all major card payment brands.

See

Enter Osaka Castle, a reconstruction of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's castle (Osaka) Pay homage at the Nintoku Tombs, the largest burial mounds in the nation (Sakai and the southern part of the prefecture). There are a huge number of them, and 45 have been listed as a world heritage site by the name Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan Marvel at the Tower of the Sun in Expo Park (Suita) Escape the city with a stroll to Minoh Falls (Minoh) Enjoy the exhibits at the National Art Museum (Osaka) Learn more about one of the inventors of the tea ceremony, Sen no Rikyu in his hometown and visit Nanshuji Temple where he studied (Sakai) Wander the historic area in Tondabayashi Visit the largest Yayoi culture museum and Yayoi village in the country (Izumi) Stare in awe at the tiger shark and other fish at the Kaiyukan Aquarium (Osaka)

Eat

Osaka is famed in Japan for its culinary delights. See Osaka#Eat for a rundown of the most popular dishes.

Drink & nightlife

Yamazaki Single Malt is distilled at the Yamazaki distillery on the outskirts of Takatsuki, just across the prefectural line from Kyoto.