Location

Osaka's Umeda. With a population of 20 million, Umeda is located at the center of one of the world's largest economic centers. As a base of global business, the city offers bountiful opportunities.

The city of Osaka forms the center of Japan's second largest economic region, Kansai. At the heart of the city, Umeda is a business area is home to many well-known companies with globally-developed businesses. The city is expected to further grow and develop as a base not only for business within Japan, but globally.

5 Reasons to pick Osaka, Umeda

01

Kansai’s enormous market, With Umeda at the center

Collectively known as the "Kansai area," the 6 prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara, and Wakayama, with a population of 20,000,000, comprise the second largest economic area in Japan, rivaling the economies of leading Asian countries like Korea or Indonesia. It’s in the center of Kansai, in Osaka’s Umeda, where many internationally competitive companies, resources and technologies gather together.

02

Kansai’s transport hub With extremely convenient domestic and international access

Osaka developed long ago at the center of transport in Japan, its economy, and its government, and it has since come to flourish over the years as Japan’s greatest commercial city. Umeda, at Osaka’s center is the largest transportation hub in western Japan, the terminus of 7 stations and 12 rail lines, where the number of daily passengers reaches 2.5 million. From Umeda, you have easy access to various parts of the Kansai region, such as Kyoto and Kobe, and travel to major cities in Japan such as Tokyo, Nagoya, and Fukuoka is also convenient. In addition, you can reach Kansai International Airport, Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport), and Kobe Airport in 30 minutes to 1 hour by train or bus, making it easy to access not only Japanese cities but the whole world.

03

Whether it be commercial businesses, offices, accommodation, entertainment—you’ll find nothing lacking here

Umeda, Osaka is one of Japan’s largest shopping areas, including many department stores and the flagship stores of famous brands. In recent years, large-scale commercial facilities have opened one after another, and the scale of commercial growth in Osaka has become one of the largest in Japan. Despite being a city bustling with shopping and entertainment, you’ll find offices, hotels, law firms, financial institutions, and more all located within a compact 1 km radius, making it easy to access government agencies and consulates. It’s the ideal environment for living in, business, and leisure.

04

A strong sense of industry-academia collaboration rooted in the Kansai area

The Kansai area is home to a great many educational institutions, including Kyoto University, which is famous for the IPS cell research of Professor Nobuya Yamanaka, a Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine. Excellent universities, research institutes, companies, and support organizations are gathered together here to form a cluster of industries. Many Kansai-based global companies collaborate with great universities and educational research institutes to create numerous innovative products and services. The Kansai region has also been designated a National Strategic Special Zone, in which the Japanese government has boldly eased system regulations with the aim of creating the "world’s easiest business environment" to operate in, especially in the pharmaceutical field. Inventions in the medical and pharmaceutical fields in Kansai are recognized worldwide.

05

Generous government support, including event hosting and the issuing of startup visas

The City of Osaka has held many large-scale events, including pitch contests and large open innovation meetings for startups from across the world. The city also provides foreign entrepreneurs with a startup visa for up to one year, as well as a variety of support for preparing for their entrepreneurial ventures. As a result, in 2017 there were more than 2,000 foreign entrepreneurs with status of residence, giving Osaka a rate of increase higher than that of Tokyo.

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