Keihanshin

Keihanshin Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe
Kyoto
Osaka
Kobe
Location in Japan
Coordinates: 34°50′N 135°30′E / 34.833°N 135.500°E / 34.833; 135.500Coordinates: 34°50′N 135°30′E / 34.833°N 135.500°E / 34.833; 135.500
Country	Japan
Major Cities	Osaka Kobe Kyoto Sakai
Area
• Metro	13,033 km2 (5,032 sq mi)
Population (Population Census of Japan 2010)[1]
• Metro	19,341,976
• Metro density	1,484/km2 (3,844/sq mi)

Keihanshin (京阪神, "Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe") is a metropolitan region in Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population (as of 2010) of 19,341,976 over an area of 13,033 km² (5,032 sq mi).^[2] It is the second-most-populated urban region in Japan (after the Greater Tokyo area), containing approximately 15% of Japan's population.

The GDP in Osaka is $671 billion as measured by PPP as of 2014, making it one of the world's most-productive regions, a match with Paris and London.^[3] MasterCard Worldwide reported that Osaka is the 19th ranking city of the world's leading global cities and has an instrumental role in driving the global economy.^[4] If Keihanshin was a country, it would be the 16th-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of nearly $953.9 billion in 2012.^[5]

The name Keihanshin is constructed by extracting a representative kanji from Kyoto (京都), Osaka (大阪), and Kobe (神戸), but using the Chinese reading instead of the corresponding native reading for each of the characters taken from Osaka and Kobe, and the Kan-on Chinese reading of the character for Kyoto instead of the usual Go-on Chinese reading.

Definitions

Range of distance

The Japan Statistics Bureau defines the set of municipalities that are entirely or mostly within 50 kilometres (31 miles) of the Municipal Office of Osaka as one measure of the metropolitan area. As of 2010, the population for this region was 16,342,641.^[6]

Urban Employment Area

The Urban Employment Area is a metropolitan area definition developed at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Tokyo.^[7] This definition is comparable to the Metropolitan Statistical Area concept used to describe metropolitan areas in the United States. The basic building blocks are municipalities.

The core area is the set of municipalities that contain a densely inhabited district (DID) with a population of 10,000 or more. The Urban Employment Area is called Metropolitan Employment Area, when its core area has 50,000 DID population or more. Otherwise, the area is called Micropolitan Employment Area. A DID is a group of census enumeration districts inhabited at densities of 4,000 or more persons per km². Outlying areas are those municipalities where 10% or more of the employed population work in the core area or in another outlying area. Overlaps are not allowed and an outlying area is assigned to the core area where it has the highest commuter ratio.

This definition assigns a Metropolitan Employment Area to the following cities of the Keihanshin region: Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Himeji, and Wakayama. The lists below indicate which cities belong to which metropolitan area. Towns and villages are not listed.

Osaka Metropolitan Employment Area

The Osaka Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2010) of 12,238,814^[8] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Osaka, Higashiosaka, Kadoma, Moriguchi
• Outlying cities:
  • Osaka Prefecture (entire prefecture)
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southeastern part): Amagasaki, Nishinomiya, Ashiya, Itami, Takarazuka, Kawanishi, Sanda
  • Nara Prefecture (northern part): Nara, Tenri, Yamatotakada, Yamatokoriyama, Kashihara, Sakurai, Gose, Ikoma, Kashiba, Katsuragi
  • Other cities: Nabari (Mie), Yawata (Kyoto), Hashimoto (Wakayama)

Kyoto Metropolitan Employment Area

The Kyoto Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2010) of 2,679,094^[8] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Kyoto
• Outlying cities
  • Kyoto Prefecture (southern part): Uji, Kameoka, Joyo, Muko, Nagaokakyo, Kyotanabe
  • Shiga Prefecture (southwestern part): Otsu, Kusatsu

Kobe Metropolitan Employment Area

The Kobe Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2010) of 2,431,076^[8] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Kobe
• Outlying cities
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southern part): Akashi, Kakogawa, Takasago, Miki, and Awaji

Himeji Metropolitan Employment Area

The Himeji Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2010) of 743,427^[8] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Himeji
• Outlying cities
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southwestern part): Aioi, Tatsuno

Wakayama Metropolitan Employment Area

The Wakayama Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2010) of 584,852^[8] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Wakayama
• Outlying cities
  • Wakayama Prefecture (northwestern part): Kainan

Major Metropolitan Area

The Japan Statistics Bureau defines the Major Metropolitan Area or MMA (大都市圏) as the set of municipalities where at least 1.5% of the resident population aged 15 and above commute to school or work in a designated city (defined as the core area).^[9] If multiple designated cities are close enough to have overlapping outlying areas, they are combined into a single multi-core area. In the 2010 census, the designated cities used to define the Keihanshin MMA were Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Sakai has subsequently become a designated city.

This region consists of the combination of the metropolitan areas of Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, and Himeji, and additionally includes several periurban areas (particularly in southern Shiga Prefecture) that are not part of the four metropolitan areas.

As of 2010, the entire Keihanshin region had a population of 19,341,976 over an area of 13,033 square kilometres (5,032 square miles).^[2]

Cities

Core cities

The core cities formed Keihanshin are government ordinance cities. These cities designated the three largest cities as special cities with Tokyo in 1889. Kobe designated the six largest cities as special cities in 1922, and adopted the ward system in 1931. Following the World War II, the six largest cities was replaced by the government designated city system in 1956. Afterwards, Sakai became a government designated city in 2006.

The core cities of Keihanshin are:^[10]

• Osaka (population 2.66 million)
• Kobe (population 1.55 million)
• Kyoto (population 1.46 million)
• Sakai (population 842,760)

Other cities within the area

The other cities in Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto and Nara Prefectures include:

Aioi Akashi Amagasaki (pop 460,000) Ashiya Awaji Daitō Fujiidera Gojō Gose Habikino Hannan Higashiōsaka (pop 510,000) Himeji (pop 540,000) Hirakata (pop 410,000) Ibaraki Ikeda Ikoma Itami Izumi Izumiōtsu Izumisano Jōyō Kadoma Kaizuka

Kakogawa Kameoka Kasai Kashiba Kashihara Kashiwara Katano Katō Katsuragi Kawachinagano Kawanishi Kishiwada Kizugawa Kyōtanabe Matsubara Miki Minoh Moriguchi Mukō Nagaokakyō Nantan Nara (pop 370,000) Neyagawa Nishinomiya (pop 480,000)

Nishiwaki Ono Ōsakasayama Sakurai Sanda Sasayama Sennan Settsu Shijōnawate Suita (pop 360,000) Takaishi Takarazuka Takasago Takatsuki (pop 350,000) Tatsuno Tenri Tondabayashi Toyonaka (pop 390,000) Uda Uji Yamatokōriyama Yamatotakada Yao Yawata

Additional cities

In the major metropolitan area (MMA) definition used by the Japanese Statistics Bureau, the following cities in Mie, Shiga, Wakayama Prefectures are included:

Mie Prefecture

• Nabari

Shiga Prefecture

Higashiōmi Hikone Kōka Konan Kusatsu Moriyama Takashima Takashima

Ōtsu (pop 350,000) Ōmihachiman Rittō Takashima Yasu Ryuo

Wakayama Prefecture

• Wakayama
• Hashimoto
• Iwade
• Katsuragi
• Kudoyama

Transportation

Air

There are two major airports. The fairly centrally located Osaka International Airport, laid over the border between the cities of Itami and Toyonaka, serves primarily domestic routes.

Kansai International Airport opened in 1994 and is now the main international airport for the region. It sits on an artificial island well off-shore in Osaka Bay towards the Wakayama outlet. Kansai is the geographical term for the area of western Honshū surrounding Osaka. The airport island link to the mainland via the Skygate Bridge, containing a six lane expressway and the Kasai Airport Line, a rail link connecting to the Hanwa Line, which connects Wakayama to Osaka. Limit express trains offer non-stop service to Osaka and onward to Kyoto. Local connections are made to other areas. Highway buses also offer service to many areas.

Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of Port Island opened in 2006, offering domestic flights.

Rail

Greater Osaka has a very extensive network of railway lines, comparable to that of Greater Tokyo. Main rail terminals in the city include, Umeda, Namba, Tennoji, Kyobashi, and Yodoyabashi.

High Speed Rail

JR Central and JR West operate high-speed trains on the Tōkaidō-Sanyō Shinkansen line. Shin-Ōsaka Station acts as the Shinkansen terminal station, though the two lines are physically joined, and many trains offer through service. This station is connected to Ōsaka Station at Umeda by the JR Kyoto Line and the subway Midōsuji Line. Shin-Osaka Station and Kyoto Station are the busiest high-speed stations. The smaller stations of Shin-Kobe Station, Nishi-Akashi Station, Himeji Station, and Aioi Station also are within the Keihanshin area.

All trains on the two Shinkansen lines stop at Shin-Ōsaka Station and provide connections to other major cities in Japan. The Tokaido Shinkansen offers service to the east, stopping in such cities as Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo. From Tokyo connections can be made to other Shinkansen servicing areas north of Tokyo. The Sanyo Shinkansen offers service to the west, stopping in such cities as Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka. Through service is also offered to the Kyushu Shinkansen extending service to such cities as Kumamoto and Kagoshima.

There are also numerous Limited Express services which operate on conventional lines, but are designed for comfortable long distance travel. Many of these trains operate at speeds that most other countries would consider "high-speed". From Osaka, Limited Express services connect most major cities within the Keihanshin area and beyond, and are more popular than the Shinkansen for connections within the area due to service to more areas and more centrally located and well connected stations in areas also serviced by Shinkansen. Lower ticket prices also encourages usage, though they are more expensive than the regular/commuter trains which operate on the same lines.

Commuter Rail

Both JR West and private lines connect Osaka and its suburbs. The commuter rail network of JR West is called the Urban Network. Major stations on the JR Osaka Loop Line include Osaka (Umeda), Tennōji, Tsuruhashi, and Kyōbashi. JR West competes with such private rail operators as Keihan Electric Railway, Hankyu Railway, Hanshin Railway, Kintetsu Railway, and Nankai Electric Railway. The Keihan and Hankyu lines connect to Kyoto; the Hanshin and Hankyu lines connect to Kobe; the Kintetsu lines connect to Nara, Yoshino, Ise and Nagoya; and the Nankai lines connect to Osaka's southern suburbs and Kansai International Airport as well as Wakayama and Mt. Koya. Many lines in Greater Osaka accept either ICOCA or PiTaPa contactless smart cards for payment.^[11]

Municipal Subway

The Osaka Municipal Subway system is a part of Osaka's extensive rapid transit system. The Metro system alone ranks 13th in the world by annual passenger ridership, serving over 912 million people annually (a quarter of Greater Osaka Rail System's 4 billion annual riders), despite being only 8 of more than 70 lines in the metro area.

Economy

Keihanshin Area 2012

• 2012 average exchange rate (1 US dollar = 83 yen)^[12]

Prefecture	Gross Prefecture Product (in billion yen)[13]	Gross Prefecture Product (in billion US$)
Osaka	36,843	444
Hyōgo	19,647	220
Kyoto	9,847	119
Shiga	5,769	70
Wakayama	3,573	43
Nara	3,499	42
Kansai Region	79,178	953

GDP (nominal) 2012

Keihanshin and Top 20 Countries.^[5]

Rank	Country	GDP (in US$)
1	United States	15.68 trillion
2	China	8.36 trillion
3	Japan	5.96 trillion
･･･
12	Canada	1.82 trillion
13	Australia	1.52 trillion
14	Spain	1.35 trillion
15	Mexico	1.18 trillion
16	South Korea	1.13 trillion
(Kansai Region)	953.9 billion
17	Indonesia	878.1 billion
18	Turkey	789.2 billion
19	Netherlands	772.2 billion
20	Saudi Arabia	711.0 billion

GDP (purchasing power parity) 2014

Compared with other urban regions of the world, the agglomeration of Osaka is the seventh largest economy, in terms of gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity (PPP), in 2014 according to a study by the Brookings Institution.^[14]

Rank	Urban agglomerations	Country	GDP(PPP) (in billion US$)
1	Tokyo	Japan	1,617
2	New York City	United States	1,403
3	Los Angeles	United States	860.5
4	Seoul	South Korea	845.9
5	London	United Kingdom	835.7
6	Paris	France	715.1
7	Osaka	Japan	671.3
8	Shanghai	China	594.0
9	Chicago	United States	563.2
10	Moscow	Russia	553.3

Urban Employment Area

GDP (in billion US$)^[15][16]

Metropolitan Employment Area	2010	1995	1980
Osaka MEA	516.8	505.0	129.4
Kyoto MEA	115.3	100.0	25.6
Kobe MEA	96.0	90.4	23.8
Wakayama MEA	34.6	32.1	7.9
Himeji MEA	24.6	18.0	6.1
Total	786.2	745.5	192.8

See also

• Hanshin Industrial Region (Osaka and Kobe area)
• Kamigata
• Kansai region
• Kansai Science City
• Keihanshin industrial region
• List of metropolitan areas by population
• List of metropolitan areas in Asia by population
• List of metropolitan areas in Japan by population

References