How Osaka Became the Economic Hub of Japan
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How Tokyo Became a Megacity: https://youtu.be/I5znvMX7zy4
Music:
Aces High Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Action Rock by MaxKoMusic | https://maxkomusic.com/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
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Photographs:
Remains of the ancient Naniwa Palace
By shankar s. https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankaronline/49398986353/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99887282
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Dojima Rice Exchange
By Yoshimitsu Sasaki – Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library, https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00681/a-history-of-osaka-japan%E2%80%99s-city-of-water.html, https://www.jpx.co.jp/dojima/en/index.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=105229329
Sign of the New York Stock Exchange
By Billie Grace Ward, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sign_of_the_New_York_Stock_Exchange,_Broad_Street.jpg
Osaka Prefectural Government Main Building
By KishujiRapid – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=157833541
1923 Great Kanto Earthquake
By 内務省社会局 – This image is available from the website of the National Diet Library, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65370922
Osaka University of Commerce,1928
ノーベル書房株式会社編集部「写真集 旧制大学の青春」1984年1月20日発行, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1926年5月に大阪市の中之島公園で開かれた第7回メーデー。
Unknown author
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=146405191
Osaka Station Circa 1930
By Unknown author – Japanese book “Japan of 100 years ago” published by Life Information Center., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7440774
Japan 1934 stamped postcard showing Kabukiza Theater in Sennichimae in Osaka
By Post of Japan – Self-scanned, Public Domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52180842
大阪松竹座にて、松竹楽劇部（後のOSK）による、『アルルの女』(The Girl from Arles/L’Arlésienne)。By 投稿者がスキャン – 『松竹七十年史』, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10826179
Old Daiichi Bank Osaka Branch 1926
By 建築學會（公表後50年経過により、著作権の保護期間が満了。） – 建築雑誌 第41輯第494號, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121843039
Osaka City Air Raid
日本語: 空襲後の大阪市街
1945
Source: English: Japanese book “Showa History of 100 million people: Occupation of Japan Vol.2” published by Mainichi Newspapers Company.
日本語: 毎日新聞社「一億人の昭和史 日本占領2」より。
Author: Author unknown
Link: https://w.wiki/HZoE
Near Shinsaibashi after the Osaka air raids
日本語: 大阪空襲後の心斎橋付近
1945
Source: Osaka International Peace Center
Unknown author
Link: https://w.wiki/HZoA
Description: 日本語: 昭和20年(1945年)8月14日の京橋駅空襲から10ヶ月経った京橋駅。この写真は交通科学博物館屋外展示場でも展示されている。
Date: June 1946
Source: 『日本国有鉄道百年写真史』P303
Author: Unknown author
Link: https://w.wiki/HZoA
Vintage Panasonic FM-AM Clock Radio, Model RC-7467
Date: 10 August 2017, 16:40
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/51764518@N02/36101660420/
Author: Joe Haupt from USA
Link: https://w.wiki/HZoR
Night view of Osaka bay from Mount Maya
By Laitr Keiows – Ain wirk CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7525423
Osaka Station in 1901
Unknown author http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h49867829, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1832042
上空より見た片山製薬所・枚方工場 （枚方市招提田近一丁目12番地の3）By Wasp314 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59423937
不易糊工業（八尾市）本社
By User:Kansai explorer – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18085276
大日本麦酒吹田工場
By 開国五十年史発行所『開国五十年史』1908 Public Domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74801311
十六銀行大阪支店
Date: 19 January 2025, 13:19:53
By Suikotei Own Work
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
NYC Subway Times Square
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=195754
大阪市のあべの筋
By Mr.Naka guutarabunko 中氏による撮影 CC0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76495671
980年型トヨタ・ソアラ2800GTを撮影
By Tokumeigakarinoaoshima Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65083124
Kansai International Airport
By Kirakirameister Own work CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22843344
Expo 2025 大屋根リング夜景全景
By Ibamoto Own work CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=166522234
大阪市立大学1号館
By KishujiRapid – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81427357
Universal Studios Japan
By Terence Ong Own work CC BY 2.5 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1520230
14 Comments
Nice one! I am loving your educational videos and the hard work that goes into them. Thank you!
Interesting to hear about the history and perspective of Osaka.
Osakans remind me of New Yorkers, a little louder and more pushy than the average.
Many homeless in Osaka today were also the contractors for the 1970 expo.
So much educational info about Osaka in this video! The time and effort you put in really shows!
Production values on this one, chefs kiss! Really interesting 😊
Excellent video. The level of editing and easy flow of the info must have taken a lot of time. Nicely done.
Great video. I felt like a year 12 student getting a top class education. I've always looked down on Osaka as pretend Japanese.
Nice work on showing the history of Osaka. What's your regular answers when someone asks what's there to do in Osaka though? After visiting the Osaka castle, USJ, dotonobori & Kuromon, I feel like there's little else to do aside from eating & drinking. So Osaka often becomes my gateway to visit other parts of Japan like Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Okayama, Kanazawa & Hiroshima.
I AM SO PROUD TO BE AN EXPAT LIVINF HERE 10 PLUS YEARS ^_^! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO ^_^!!
Your getting out on location and having a variety of apt historic clips to illustrate your point are a big step up in your production, Tracy. Well done! And your closing (Osaka has the best food) was such a contrast with all your other analysis that it hit squarely like an unforeseen punch line. Touché!
Lowkey funny how you posted this the same day i saw news claiming that Aichi just surpassed Osaka in GDP (don't take this as a jab, just a funny coincidence)
While I've been to Osaka many times, I never knew (or thought of) Osaka as the economic and/or industrial hub of Japan because besides founder Kōnosuke with National, Panasonic & Matsushita plus Sharp and Sanyo, don't most other well-known Japanese companies have their HQ in Tokyo? But in the early 70s while living in Yokohama, I did think Kawasaki was some kind of industrial hub because every time you drove through there, there was never any sunlight or clear skies because of countless factory chimneys spewing out industrial smoke. But I'll see your pre-World War II history of Osaka and raise with you with this latter 20th century question: Name 2 things that everyone in Japan used that used to be colored red? Answer: The National TVs that used to be in every Japanese home and all public phones. Now, in case I developed Alzheimer's, I had to check to see if my memory was correct about the latter—–and Google AI said, "Yes, Japanese public phones in the 20th century were commonly red (known as Aka Denwa or "Red Telephone"), particularly from the 1950s through the 1970s and 1980s. These were widespread, iconic, and primarily used for local calls before being replaced by green and gray phones that supported prepaid cards." Booyah !!
Very cool walk through of Osaka's developments.
Excellent overview, with some key historical facts and info. Just got back from there last week, and, as I told my friends, it is still so vibrant and exciting. Love the last part on Dotonobori. A really thriving place that has changed so much since I was first there in the 1980s that I hardly recognize it. And yet, you go to some districts, some neighborhoods, and it's as if I never left "home". You can even find some 商店街 (shotengai: traditional shopping streets) left, which is neat. Not to mention the underground textile/kimono shops and restaurants (Senbai Center Buildiing) near Honmachi. Of course, Osaka Castle is still the highlight for me. Thanks again for making and posting this video!