Naniwa-ku, Osaka

Naniwa-ku (浪速区) is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. 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 district, which is south Osaka's transport hub and centre of commerce, entertainment, shopping, and culture.

Naniwa retains significant Burakumin and Korean 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, where Capcom and SNK are headquartered.^[1] 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 (Osaka-furitsu taiiku-kaikan), where the Grand Sumo Tournament is held in March (Ozumo Sangatsu Basho) and Liberty Osaka - the Osaka Human Rights Museum. Naniwa also contains the massive modern shopping, dining, and entertainment complex, Namba Parks.

Landmarks

Mass media

Newspaper

Sankei Shimbun - Namba Sankei Building

FM Radio Station

FM OSAKA - Minatomachi River Place

Train stations

JR West: Kansai Line (Yamatoji Line): Shin-Imamiya Station - Imamiya Station - JR Namba Station; Osaka Loop Line: Ashiharabashi Station - Imamiya Station - Shin-Imamiya Station
Nankai Railway (In registration, Namba Station on Nankai Railway is located in Chūō-ku, and Shin-Imamiya Station in Nishinari-ku): Nankai Main Line: Imamiyaebisu Station (only local trains of the Koya Line stop); Kōya Line (Shiomibashi Branch): Shiomibashi Station - Ashiharachō Station
Hanshin Railway: Hanshin Namba Line Sakuragawa Station
Osaka Metro (In registration, Namba Station is located in Chūō-ku): Midōsuji Line: Daikokuchō Station; Yotsubashi Line: Namba Station (a platform) - Daikokuchō Station; Sennichimae Line: Sakuragawa Station; Sakaisuji Line: Ebisuchō Station
Hankai Tramway (In registration, Minami-Kasumichō Station is located in Nishinari-ku): Hankai Line: Ebisuchō Station

Education

The Osaka Chinese School is in Naniwa-ku.^[2]

Companies headquartered in Naniwa-ku, Osaka

Notable people from Naniwa-ku, Osaka

Atomi Kakei, Japanese calligrapher, painter, scholar and educator
Daizen Takahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler
Junko Noda, Japanese voice actress and singer
Kazumi Takahashi, Japanese novelist and scholar
Masatoshi Hamada, Japanese comedian (Downtown)
Shinobu Orikuchi, Japanese ethnologist, linguist, folklorist, novelist, and poet
Nakamoto Yuta, japanese singer, kpop group member NCT, NCT127, actor