There are four regular sessions a year in the Osaka City Council, as well as extraordinary sessions, which are held whenever necessary. The Mayor convokes council sessions. Extraordinary sessions must be convoked by the Mayor when demanded by the President with a decision of Assembly Steering Committee or by a quarter or more of the councilors.

The period in which the City Council possesses the capacity to act is called a session. The sessions are regulated as follows (the length of a session can be extended by resolution according to necessity);

Structure

The City Council deliberates in a conference format, and its decisions are made by majority vote, according to the basic principle of democracy.
Major sittings consist of the Plenary Session and committee meetings.

Plenary Session

Plenary Sessions must be attended by all city councilors. Final decisions of the City Council are made during the Plenary Session. Adoption or rejection of bills submitted and the council’s stance in relation to such bills is ultimately decided at the Plenary Session.

Standing Committee

It is virtually impossible for each and every bill to be deliberated on at length during the Plenary Session. For this reason, the committee system was introduced to utilize the expertise and experience of councilors by allowing them to efficiently examine various issues in small groups.

The Osaka City Council has six Standing Committees. All councilors must be appointed by the President to one of the Standing Committees.

The Standing Committees examine referred bills and other issues, and possess the authority to investigate items within their jurisdiction.

Special Committee

Special Committees are established by resolution of the Plenary Session for the examination of specific bills and investigation of various issues. The committees are disbanded after completing their examination and investigation of the referred issue. An Account Settlement Special Committee is established twice a year.

Disaster Countermeasures Committee

The Disaster Countermeasures Committee was established to create temporary and permanent countermeasures related to various disasters.

Session Outline

Plenary Session
	Proposal of bills and other issues Explanation of proposals

Committee Examination
	Standing Committees Account Settlement Special Committees

Plenary Session
	Report by Committee Chairs Questions & answers and discussion Decision

Preliminary Deliberation

To ensure an efficient and smooth Plenary Session,the Osaka City Council may hold a committee meeting before the opening of the Plenary Session in order to discuss the items and bills scheduled to be submitted or to examine concrete details beforehand. This is called the preliminary deliberation.