Keihanshin

Keihanshin Kyoto–Osaka–Kobe Kinki MMA
Major metropolitan area of Japan
US$ 699.474 billion

Keihanshin (京阪神, "Kyoto–Osaka–Kobe") is a

), containing approximately 15% of Japan's population.

The

The name Keihanshin is

Chinese reading.

Definitions

Major Metropolitan Area

The Japan Statistics Bureau defines a Major Metropolitan Area or MMA (大都市圏) as a set of municipalities where at least 1.5% of the resident population aged 15 and above commute to school or work in a

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 eastern Shiga Prefecture) that are not part of the four metropolitan areas.

As of 2015^[update], the entire Keihanshin region had a population of 19,302,746 over an area of 13,228 square kilometres (5,107 square miles).^[3]

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 2015^[update], the population for this region was 16,260,117.^[8]

Urban Employment Area

The

. 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 MEA

Urban Employment Area

Osaka metropolitan area Osaka MEA
Urban Employment Area
(2015)
Prefectures	Kyoto Prefecture Osaka Prefecture Hyogo Prefecture Nara Prefecture Wakayama Prefecture
Core cities	Osaka Sakai Kadoma Higashiōsaka
Area (2011)[10]
• Total	4,291.37 km2 (1,656.91 sq mi)
• Inhabitable area	2,509.71 km2 (969.00 sq mi)
Population  (2015)[11]
• Total	12,078,820
• Rank	2nd in Japan
• Density	2,800/km2 (7,300/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)[10]	45.4 trillion Japanese yen (2010)

The Osaka Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2015[update]) of 12,078,820^[11] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Osaka, Sakai, Kadoma, Higashiōsaka
• Outlying cities
  • Osaka Prefecture (entire prefecture)
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southeastern part):
    Sanda
  • Nara Prefecture (northern part):
    Nara, Tenri, Yamatotakada, Yamatokōriyama, Kashihara, Sakurai, Ikoma, Kashiba, Katsuragi
  • Other cities:
    Yawata (Kyoto), Hashimoto (Wakayama)

Kyoto MEA

The

and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Kyoto, Kusatsu
• Outlying cities
  • Kyoto Prefecture (southern part):
    Kyotanabe
  • Shiga Prefecture (southwestern part):
    Otsu, Moriyama

Kobe MEA

The Kobe Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2015^[update]) of 2,565,501^[11] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Kobe
• Outlying cities
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southern part):
    Ono
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southeastern part):
    Sanda
  • Hyōgo Prefecture (southern part):
    Ono

Himeji MEA

The Himeji Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2015^[update]) of 773,389^[11] and consists of the following cities:

• Core cities: Himeji
• Outlying cities
• Hyōgo Prefecture (southwestern part):
  Tatsuno
• Hyōgo Prefecture (southern part):
  Ono

Wakayama MEA

The Wakayama Metropolitan Employment Area has a population (as of 2015^[update]) of 569,758^[11] and consists of the following cities:

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

Historical demographics of Keihanshin

Per Japanese census data, Keihanshin, also known as Greater Osaka, has had continuous population throughout the 20th century. From 1960 to 2010 the population nearly doubled from 10.6 million to 19.3 million.^[12][13] Beginning at around 2010, Keihanshin has experienced a small population decline.

Keihanshin^[12][13]

Year	Population
1950	7,005,000
1960	10,615,000
1970	15,272,000
1980	17,028,000
1990	18,389,000
2000	18,660,180
2010	19,341,976
2020	19,223,980

Cities

Core cities

The core cities formed Keihanshin are

. 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 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:^[14]

• Osaka (population 2.75 million)
• Kobe (population 1.53 million)
• Kyoto (population 1.46 million)
• Sakai (population 826,447)

Other cities within the area

Himeji

Nara

Wakayama

The other cities in the prefectures of Osaka, Hyōgo, Kyoto and Nara include:

Additional cities

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

Mie Prefecture

• Nabari

Shiga Prefecture

Nara Prefecture

Wakayama Prefecture

• Wakayama
  (pop 360,000)
• Hashimoto
• Iwade
• Katsuragi

Transportation

Tōkaidō Shinkansen

arriving at Kyoto Station

Akashi Kaikyō Bridge extends from Kobe to Awaji Island

.

Air

There are two major airports. The fairly centrally located

, serves primarily domestic routes.

. Limited 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

Keihanshin has a very extensive network of railway lines, comparable to that of Greater Tokyo. Main rail terminals in the cities include, Umeda/Osaka, Namba, Tennoji, Sannomiya, and Kyoto.

High speed rail

also are within the Keihanshin area.

All trains on the two

.

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 and Kyoto, 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

Municipal subway

Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe each have municipal subway systems. The Osaka Municipal Subway was privatized in 2018 and is now operated by Osaka Metro.^[16] Other rapid transit systems in the region include Kobe New Transit which serves the artificial islands off the coast of Kobe including Kobe Airport, as well as Osaka Monorail that connects municipalities in Osaka Prefecture to Osaka International Airport.

Economy

GDP (purchasing power parity) 2015

Compared with other urban regions of the world, the agglomeration of Osaka-Kobe is the ninth largest economy, in terms of gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity (PPP), in 2015 according to a study by the Brookings Institution.^[17]

Rank	Metro area	Country	GDP(PPP) (in billion US$)
1	Tokyo	Japan	1,624
2	New York	United States	1,492
3	Los Angeles	United States	927.6
4	Seoul-Incheon	South Korea	903.5
5	London	United Kingdom	831.1
6	Paris	France	818.5
7	Shanghai	China	809.5
8	Moscow	Russia	749.7
9	Osaka-Kobe	Japan	681.0
10	Beijing	China	663.6

Metropolitan employment areas

GDP based on PPP (in billion US$)^[18][19]

Area	1980	1985	1990	1995	2010
Osaka MEA	119.5	162.5	235.7	272.2	406.3
Kyoto MEA	23.7	34.0	45.7	53.9	90.6
Kobe MEA	22.0	31.0	44.0	48.7	75.5
Himeji MEA	7.3	10.1	13.7	17.3	26.4
Wakayama MEA	5.7	7.6	8.6	9.7	19.3

Prefectures

• 2014 average exchange rate (1
  yen)^[20]

Prefecture	Gross Prefecture Product (in billion yen)[21]	Gross Prefecture Product (in billion US$)
Osaka	37,934	358
Hyōgo	19,788	187
Kyoto	10,054	95
Shiga	5,846	55
Wakayama	3,579	34
Nara	3,541	33
Kansai Region	80,741	762

GDP (nominal) 2014

Kansai region and Top 20 Countries.[22]

Rank	Country	GDP (in US$)
1	United States	17.43 trillion
2	China	10.53 trillion
3	Japan	4.85 trillion
･･･
15	Mexico	1.30 trillion
16	Turkey	934.1 billion
17	Indonesia	891.1 billion
18	Netherlands	881.0 billion
	(Kansai Region)	762.1 billion
19	Saudi Arabia	756.4 billion
20	Switzerland	709.3 billion

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
• Jing-Jin-Ji

References