Osaka Bay (大阪湾 ''Ōsaka-wan'' ) is a bay in western

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. As an eastern part of the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

, it is separated from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

by the

Kii Channel The , also called the Kii Strait, is a strait separating the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshū. This strait connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The name of the strait derives from Ki ...

and from the neighbor western part of the Inland Sea by the

Akashi Strait The is a strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Awaji. The strait connects Seto Inland Sea and Osaka Bay. The width of the Akashi Strait is approximately 4 kilometers, and maximum depth is about 110 meters. The fastest tidal curren ...

. Its western shore is formed by Awaji Island, and its northern and eastern shores are part of the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

. Major ports on Osaka Bay include

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 48 ...

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...

Amagasaki file:Amagasaki Castle Tenshu 20181125.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Castle file:Amagasaki city center area Aerial photograph.1985.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center file:Amagasaki st03s3000.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial Citi ...

, and Hannan. A number of

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those tha ...

s have been created in Osaka Bay in past decades, including

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport ( ja, 関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō) commonly known as is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and K ...

Kobe Airport is an airport on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe, south of Sannomiya StationAIS Japan

Port Island is an artificial island in Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan. It was constructed between 1966-1980 (Phase 1) and 1987-2009 (Phase 2) at Port of Kobe, and officially opened with an exposition called " Portopia '81." It now houses a heliport, numerous ho ...

, and

Rokkō Island is a man-made island in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan. It is located in the southeast region of the Port of Kobe. The island has a rectangular shape, and covers . The residential area of the island, featuring apartment buildings—man ...

. In antiquity, Osaka Bay stretched almost to Kyoto, Naniwa, Osaka's oldest settlement, itself a peninsula in the bay. Several islands at the south end of Osaka Bay are part of the Seto Inland Sea National Park. Industries locate around Osaka Bay because there is a skilled and plentiful workforce, many port facilities, efficient linkages (from small to medium to large firms). There are good transport links (including the

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

), room for expansion (land reclaimed from the sea), and a large local market (9 million). In a recent economic change in Osaka Bay, older 'heavy' industries such as

Nippon Steel was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal. was established in 1970 by the merger of Fuji Iron & Steel and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest steel producer by volume as of 2019. ...

have declined, and 'new tech' companies such as ICT have expanded. There has been a growth in the quaternary industries — research, development, and information. There has also been a development in the science parks and the building of new motorways; this has meant the loss of the countryside. The Tempozan Ferris Wheel and

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan The is an aquarium located in the ward of Minato in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, near Osaka Bay. When it first opened, it was the largest public aquarium in the world. It is a member of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The a ...

are both located in the Tempozan Harbor Village area of Osaka.

Major ports

Port of Kobe The Port of Kobe is a Japanese maritime port in Kobe, Hyōgo in the Keihanshin area, backgrounded by the Hanshin Industrial Region. Located at a foothill of the range of Mount Rokkō, flat lands are limited and constructions of artificial isla ...

Port of Osaka The is the main port in Japan, located in Osaka within Osaka Bay. The Port of Osaka also has several sister ports including the Port of Busan The Port of Busan () is the largest port in South Korea, located in the city of Busan, South Kore ...

Airports

Kobe Airport is an airport on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe, south of Sannomiya StationAIS Japan

Bays of Japan Landforms of Osaka Prefecture {{Osaka-geo-stub