Overview of Kita-ku Area 10.33km2 Households 51,965 Population 97,263 Population Density 9,415People/km2

Kita Ward is located at the gateway to Osaka. It is bordered on three sides by rivers: the Yodo River to the north, the Oh River to the east, and the Tosabori River to the south. To the west lies Fukushima Ward.

The central part of the ward is the area surrounding the JR Osaka Station. This is the location of large transportation terminals, including the Hankyu and Hanshin railroads, the subway, and the municipal bus line. It is also a business district with many high-rise buildings. Department stores, hotels, and eating and drinking places are concentrated in this area. They combine with Western Japan’s largest underground arcade to create an immense shopping district. The nearby Umeda Shinmichi is the intersection of National Highway #1 and #2. From this area the large transportation arteries for the mercantile city of Osaka, Midosuji and Shin-Midosuji, extend north and south. On the south bank of the Yodo River, a major construction project is now in its second stage. This is the Yodogawa-Sagan Route, linking the Hanshin Expressway Wangan Route and Shin-Midosuji. The focus of the riverside improvement project in the Nagara Higashi area, which includes the Nakatsu area in the north, is on the construction of a large high-rise apartment complex and the environmental improvement of the area. It is noted for being the residential neighborhood closest to the urban core, bringing the business and residential districts closer together.

In the eastern part of Kita Ward, the Tenjinbashi shopping arcade built in the classic Japanese style runs north and south from the Tenmangu Shrine and is always a scene of bustling activity. The area along the Oh River is a popular site for viewing cherry blossoms. For one week in mid-April, the section from the South Gate to the North Gate of the Osaka Mint is open to the public, creating a splendid tunnel-like walkway for cherry blossom viewing. In addition, the Tenma Tenjin Hanjotei variety hall for rakugo comics was opened in September 2006 on the Tenmangu grounds. It marks the first time the Kansai region has had a venue of this type in the 60 years after the war. It has become a popular site for both humor and the new dynamic culture of Osaka.

Nakanoshima in the southern part of the ward is the location of the municipal offices, as well as banks and trading companies. They create a magnificent scene in combination with Nakanoshima Park. It is also the location of Osaka City Central Public Hall, designated an important intangible cultural asset, for which preservation and restoration work was completed in 2002. Several commercial complexes have opened in recent years in the Nishi Umeda area in the western part of the ward, which has become an urban core with a concentration of high-rise buildings. The Basic Plan for the Osaka Station Northern District, unveiled in 2004, outlines the treatment for the former site of the Umeda Cargo Station. Work is now underway to reconfigure this advanced development district with the intention of promoting land use that elicits the knowledge, dynamism, atmosphere, culture, and interaction suitable for a district crucial to the revitalization of the Kansai region.

Official flower	Central Public Hall	Osaka Science Museum