Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's
main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy
Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the largest
part of the Keihanshin metropolis, which comprises three major
cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. Located at the mouth of
the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, Osaka is Japan's third largest city
by population after Tokyo and Yokohama. Historically the
commercial center of Japan, Osaka functions as one of the command
centers for the Japanese economy. The ratio between daytime and
night time population is 141%, the highest in Japan, highlighting
its status as an economic center. Its nighttime population is 2.6
million, the third in the country, but in daytime the population
surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo. Osaka used to be
referred to as the "nation's kitchen" in feudal Edo
period because it was the centre of trading for rice, creating
the first modern futures exchange market in the world.
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