is one of 24 wards of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

in Japan.

Incidents and accidents

* 1970 Tenroku gas explosion * 2021 Osaka building fire

Notable locations

Kita-ku, particularly the

Umeda is a major commercial, business, shopping and entertainment district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, where the city's main northern railway termini ( Ōsaka Station, Umeda Station) are located. The district's name means "plum field". History Umeda ...

area surrounding Osaka Station, is one of the main commercial centers of Osaka. Kita-ku is also a financial administration center, housing the headquarters of the Japan Mint and the Osaka branch of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

Firms headquartered in Kita-ku

* Daicel *

Daikin is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Osaka. Daikin is the world's largest air conditioner manufacturer. History Daikin Industries Ltd was founded in 1924 as by Akira Yamada. In 1953, Daiflon or polychloro ...

(Umeda Center Building) * Daiwa House *

FM802 (call sign JOFV-FM) is a commercial radio broadcasting, radio station based at Daiwa Building in Tenjimbashi Nichome, Kita-ku, Osaka, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, broadcasting on 80.2 FM broadcasting, FM from Mount Iimori to Kansai region. As a latec ...

* Hankyu Hanshin Holdings * Hankyu Railway *

Kansai Electric Power Company , also known as , is an electric utility with its operational area of Kansai region, Japan (including the Keihanshin megalopolis). The Kansai region is Japan's second-largest industrial area, and in normal times, its most nuclear-reliant. Bef ...

* Kansai Telecasting Corporation * Kaneka Corporation *

Mainichi Broadcasting System JOOY-DTV (channel 4), branded as or (formerly known as from 1959 to 2011), is a Japanese television station serving as the Kansai region key station of the Japan News Network, owned-and-operated by a subsidiary of MBS Media Holdings with ...

* Nihon Bussan * Nippon Paint * Nipro * Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners *

Santen Pharmaceutical , is a Japanese pharmaceutical company, specializing in ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who under ...

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

Toyobo is one of Japan's top makers of fibers and textiles, including synthetic fibers (polyester, nylon and acrylics) and natural fibers, such as cotton and wool. History Toyobo was established in 1882 by Eiichi Shibusawa as a cotton-spinning co ...

* West Japan Railway Company * West Nippon Expressway Company (Dojima Avanza) *

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

(Umeda Gate Tower) * Zojirushi

Asahi Kasei is a multinational Japanese chemical company. Its main products are chemicals and materials. It was founded in May 1931, using the paid-in capital of Nobeoka Ammonia Fiber Co., Ltd, a Nobeoka, Miyazaki-based producer of ammonia, nitric acid ...

, Itochu Corporation, Kuraray and Kaneka Corporation each have "headquarters" in both Kita-ku and in Tokyo.

Firms with branch offices in Kita-ku

Dentsu , simply known as , stylized as dentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largest advertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in ...

and

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

have branch offices in Kita-ku.

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

has an office in the Umeda Sky Building Tower East.

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

has an office on the third and sixth floors of the Shin-Sakurabashi Building in Umeda. The office handles Aircalin-related inquiries. Google has an office in the Hankyu Grand Building in Kita-ku.

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

's Kansai Office opened in Kita-ku in March 1988; the division is now known as the Osaka Branch.

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

at one time operated a ticketing facility on the first floor of the Daiichi Seimei Building in

, Kita-ku.

Diplomatic missions

The Consulate-General of the United States in Osaka is located in Kita-ku. The Consulate-General of Belgium in Osaka is located on the twelfth floor of the Snow Crystal Building in

, Kita-ku. The Consulate-General of Germany in Osaka is located on the thirty-fifth floor of the Umeda Sky Building Tower East in Kita-ku. The Consulate-General of Italy in Osaka is located since April 2013 on the 17th floor of the Nakanoshima Festival Tower in Nakanoshima.

Landmarks

Umeda downtown

Commercial and business centre of

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

region with many high-rise buildings and large underground complexes.

Nakanoshima island

Government facilities and museums, and office buildings is situated on this island. Notable establishments is City hall, Central Public Hall,

Osaka branch and Osaka International Convention Center. National Museum of Art, Osaka and Osaka Science Museum is also in this island.

Parks

* Nakanoshima Park * Yodogawa riverside park and Kema-Sakuranomiya Park * Ohgimachi Park **Ogimachi Kids Park (Kids Plaza Osaka) * Sakuranomiya Park * Minami-Temma Park * Umeada Umekita Gardens

Shrine and Temple

* Kokubun-ji (Osaka) * Osaka Temmangu Shrine

Others

*Tenjimbashisuji Shōtengai (the longest covered shopping street in Japan) * Festival Hall *The South Korean government maintains the Korea Education Institution (, ) in Kita-ku.

Department stores

* Hanshin Department Store * Hankyu Department Store * Daimaru Umeda-mise

Mass media

Newspapers

*''

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilin ...

'' Osaka Office – Umeda *''

'' Osaka Office – Nozakicho *''

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

'' Osaka Office – Nakanoshima

Broadcasting stations

* Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) – Chayamachi, TV and radio * Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) – Oyodo-minami, TV and radio * Kansai TV – Ogimachi, TV

Education

International schools: * Osaka YMCA International SchoolContact Us
" Osaka YMCA International School. Retrieved November 1, 2015. "6-7-34, Nakatsu Kita-ku Osaka city 531-0071"

Railway stations

Terminals: * Osaka Station (

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

) *

Umeda Station is a major railway station in Kita-ku, Osaka, Kita-ku in the northern commercial center of Osaka, Japan. It is the busiest station in western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005. Umeda Station is served by the following railways: ...

( Hankyu, Hanshin, Osaka Subway) * Yodoyabashi Station ( Keihan, Osaka Subway) The following stations are also connected to Osaka and Umeda by underground passageways: * Kitashinchi Station (JR West) * Higashi-Umeda Station (Osaka Subway) * Nishi-Umeda Station (Osaka Subway) Other stations in Kita-ku: * Minami-morimachi Station (Osaka Subway) * Nakatsu Station (Hankyu) * Nakatsu Station (Osaka Subway) * Nakazakicho Station (Osaka Subway) * Ogimachi Station (Osaka Subway) * Osaka-Temmangu Station (JR West) * Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme Station (Hankyu, Osaka Subway) * Temma Station (JR West)

Notable people from Kita-ku, Osaka

Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and ...

- Japanese writer, 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature winner *

Etsuko Inada was a Japanese Figure skating, figure skater who mostly competed in singles. She was the first female athlete to represent Japan at the Winter Olympics. Inada began skating at eight years old. She was a seven-time Japan Figure Skating Champion ...

– Japanese figure skater * Kagaku Murakami – Japanese painter and illustrator * Kenta Kiritani – Japanese actor and singer * Tetsuji Takechi – Japanese theatrical and film director, critic, and author

References

External links

* * {{Coord, 34, 42, 20, N, 135, 30, 36, E, source:jawiki, display=title Wards of Osaka