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 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It has an area of 4.37 km², and a population of 51,567.

General information

Largely a residential area itself, Naniwa-ku is adjacent to and has in recent years blurred into the

Namba Namba (, ) is a district in Chūō and Naniwa wards of Osaka, Japan. It is regarded as the center of Osaka's ''Minami'' ( :ja:ミナミ, "South") region. Its name came from a variation of '' Naniwa'', the former name of Osaka. Namba hosts som ...

district, which is south Osaka's transport hub and centre of commerce, entertainment, shopping, and culture. Naniwa retains significant

Burakumin The are a social grouping of Japanese people descended from members of the feudal class associated with , mainly those with occupations related to death such as executioners, gravediggers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and tanners. Bura ...

and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

communities. The plight and struggle of both communities in Japan is represented in Liberty Osaka (Osaka Human Rights Museum). Almost the entire ward was decimated in air attacks during bombing in March 1945. Few buildings pre-dating World War II remain.

Attractions

Naniwa is the site of a number of well-known commercial areas like

Nipponbashi is a shopping district of Naniwa Ward, Osaka, Japan. The area is centered along Sakaisuji Avenue, extending from the Ebisu-chō Interchange of the Hanshin Expressway in the south, to Nansan-dōri (just east of Nankai Namba Station) in th ...

, where

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

and

SNK is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company established many franchises ...

are headquartered. Locally known as Den Den Town (Electric City), Nipponbashi was traditionally a concentration for Osaka's electrical appliance outlets, though the emergence of several large electrical department stores over in recent years has seen its shop space make a gradual shift away from the electrical appliance sector. Directly to its south is Shin Sekai (New World), an entertainment district famous for the Tsutenkaku Tower and Janjan Alley. Amongst Naniwa's sites is the Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, which sponsors the lively Toka Ebisu Festival. Naniwa is the site of the

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Namba, Osaka, Japan. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional sumo tournament ( honbasho) held in March every year. The capacity of the ...

(''Osaka-furitsu taiiku-kaikan''), where the Grand Sumo Tournament is held in March (''Ozumo Sangatsu Basho'') and Liberty Osaka -

the Osaka Human Rights Museum Liberty Osaka (formerly the Osaka Human Rights Museum) was a museum dedicated to human rights situated in Naniwa-ku, a ward in south Osaka City. As the first general museum dedicated to human rights in Japan, the focus of its permanent exhibits w ...

. Naniwa also contains the massive modern shopping, dining, and entertainment complex, Namba Parks.

Landmarks

* Den Den Town * Festival Gate * Imamiya Ebisu Shrine * Namba City * Namba Parks * Osaka City Air Terminal *

* Tsutenkaku * Liberty Osaka (Osaka Human Rights Museum) * Sports Palace, Osaka

Mass media

Newspaper

Sankei Shimbun The , name short for , is a daily national newspaper in Japan published by the Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd, ranking amongst the top five most circulated newspapers in Japan. Together with its English-language paper ''Japan Forward'', the ''Sankei ...

- Namba Sankei Building

FM Radio Station

* FM OSAKA - Minatomachi River Place

Train stations

;

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, ...

: Kansai Line (

Yamatoji Line The is the common name of the western portion of the Kansai Main Line in Japan. The line is owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It starts at Kamo Station (Kyoto), Kamo Station in Kyoto Prefecture and ends at JR Namba Stat ...

): Shin-Imamiya Station - Imamiya Station -

JR Namba Station is a railway station in Namba, Naniwa Ward, Osaka, Japan, adjacent to Namba Station (Nankai Railway, Osaka Subway) and Ōsaka Namba Station ( Kintetsu, Hanshin Railway) operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). JR Namba is the wes ...

Osaka Loop Line The is a railway Circle route, loop line in Japan operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It encircles central Osaka. Part of a second, outer loop line, the Osaka Higashi Line, from Hanaten Station, Hanaten to Kyuhoji Station, Kyuh ...

: Ashiharabashi Station - Imamiya Station - Shin-Imamiya Station ;

Nankai Railway is a private railway in Japan, founded in 1884. The name ''Nankai'' (which means "South Sea") comes from the company's routes along the Nankaidō, the old highway that ran south from the old capital, Kyoto, along the sea coast. Nankai predates ...

(In registration, Namba Station on Nankai Railway is located in Chūō-ku, and Shin-Imamiya Station in Nishinari-ku) :

Nankai Main Line The is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Nankai Kōya Line, Kōya Line. The route is from Namba Station in south downtown of Osaka to Wakayamashi Station in Wakayama, Wa ...

: Imamiyaebisu Station (only local trains of the Koya Line stop) : Kōya Line (Shiomibashi Branch):

Shiomibashi Station is a train station in Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Nankai Electric Railway. Lines Shiomibashi Station is the terminus of the Koya Line (Shiomibashi Line), and has the station number "NK06 ...

- Ashiharachō Station ;

Hanshin Railway is a Japanese private railway company owned by Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group that links Osaka and Kobe. It also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. The first character for Kobe (神戸) and the second character for Osaka (大阪) combine to form ...

Hanshin Namba Line The is a railway line operated by the private railway operator Hanshin Electric Railway connecting Amagasaki Station in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and Ōsaka Namba Station in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. History The , the pre ...

Sakuragawa Station ;

Osaka Metro The is a major rapid transit system in the Osaka metropolitan area of Japan, operated by the Osaka Metro Company, Ltd. It serves the city of Osaka and the adjacent municipalities of Higashiosaka, Kadoma, Moriguchi, Sakai, Suita, and Yao. ...

(In registration, Namba Station is located in Chūō-ku) :

Midōsuji Line The is a rapid transit line in Osaka, Japan, operated by Osaka Metro. Constructed under Midōsuji, a major north-south street, it is the oldest line in the Osaka subway system and the second oldest in Japan, following the Tokyo Metro Ginza L ...

: Daikokuchō Station :

Yotsubashi Line The is an underground rapid transit line in Osaka, Japan, operated by Osaka Metro. The line connects Umeda, Hommachi, Yotsubashi, Namba, Daikokuchō and Suminoe, and runs parallel to the Midōsuji Line from Daikokuchō to Nishi-Umeda. Despite b ...

: Namba Station (a platform) - Daikokuchō Station :

Sennichimae Line is an underground rapid transit line in Osaka, Japan. It is one of the lines of Osaka Metro. It links the northwestern district of Fukushima-ku and the southeastern district of Ikuno-ku with the central commercial and entertainment district ...

: Sakuragawa Station :

Sakaisuji Line The is an underground rapid transit line in Osaka, Japan, operated by Osaka Metro. Its official name is , and in Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan), MLIT publications, it is written as . The Sakaisuji Line is uniq ...

: Ebisuchō Station ;

Hankai Tramway is a company which owns two tramway lines in the cities of Osaka and Sakai, Osaka, Japan. It was originally a subsidiary of Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd. although it still uses the Nankai symbol as its logo. History Hankai Tramway Co., L ...

(In registration, Minami-Kasumichō Station is located in Nishinari-ku) : Hankai Line: Ebisuchō Station

Education

The

Osaka Chinese School The Osaka Chinese School is a Chinese international school in Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan. It serves grades 1–9. In 1986 Chang Hwei-chin, then the school principal, stated that every year students of the Chinese school's junior high school enter ...

is in Naniwa-ku.Home page

. Retrieved on April 11, 2015. "所在地：大阪市浪速区敷津東1-8-13"

Companies headquartered in Naniwa-ku, Osaka

Kubota is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, Heavy equipment, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, P ...

Nankai Electric Railway is a private railway in Japan, founded in 1884. The name ''Nankai'' (which means "South Sea") comes from the company's routes along the Nankaidō, the old highway that ran south from the old capital, Kyoto, along the sea coast. Nankai predate ...

* Pixela Corporation *

Tabio Tabio is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. It is located from Bogotá. The town was officially founded April 8, 1603, by Diego Gómez de Mena, on grounds that w ...

Notable people from Naniwa-ku, Osaka

* Atomi Kakei, Japanese calligrapher, painter, scholar and educator * Daizen Takahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler *

Junko Noda is a Japanese freelance voice actress and singer from Naniwa-ku, Osaka. She often voices boyish girls and boys. Having grown up in Osaka, she has also voiced characters who speak in the Kansai dialect, typically in supporting roles. Filmograp ...

, Japanese voice actress and singer *

Kazumi Takahashi was a Japanese novelist and scholar of Chinese literature in Shōwa-era Japan. His wife was fellow writer Takako Takahashi. Biography Takahashi was born in Naniwa-ku, Osaka, and was a graduate of Kyoto University. While still a student, he co ...

, Japanese novelist and scholar *

Masatoshi Hamada , nicknamed , is a Japanese comedian best known as the ''tsukkomi'' half of the owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. Hamada is married to Natsumi Ogawa, with whom he has two children. Early life Hamada was born near Daikokucho S ...

, Japanese comedian (Downtown) *

Shinobu Orikuchi , also known as , was a Japanese people, Japanese ethnologist, linguistics, linguist, folklorist, novelist, and poet. As a disciple of Kunio Yanagita, he established an original academic field named , which is a mixture of Japanese folklore, Jap ...

, Japanese ethnologist, linguist, folklorist, novelist, and poet * Nakamoto Yuta, japanese singer, kpop group member NCT, NCT127, actor

References

External links

Official website of Naniwa
{{Authority control Wards of Osaka