Timeline of Osaka

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Osaka, Japan.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 19th century

Map of Osaka in 1686 CE

• 211 CE – Sumiyoshi taisha (shrine) founded.
• 593 CE – Shitennō-ji (temples) founded.
• 645 CE – Capital of Japan relocated to Naniwa-kyō;^[1] Kōtoku in power.
• 672 – Tenmu in power.^[2]
• 724 – Shōmu in power.^[2]
• 794 – Japanese capital relocated from Naniwa to Heian-kyō.^[2]
• 1496 – Ishiyama Hongan-ji construction begins (approximate date).^[3][4]
• 1583 – Osaka Castle construction begins.^[4][5]
• 1614 – November: Siege of Osaka begins.
• 1615
  • June: Siege of Osaka ends.
  • Dōtonbori (canal) built.
• 1684 – Takemoto-za puppet theatre opens.^[6]
• 1720 – Sasa-se theatre fan club founded.^[7]
• 1724 – Kaitokudō merchant academy established.^[8]

• Gallery
• 
  Sumiyoshi Taisha Grand Shrine
• 
  Shitennoji
• 
  Remains of Naniwa-no-Miya Palace (2017)

19th century

Osaka Japan in 1880s

Sennichimae area in 1916

• 1805 – Bunrakuza puppet theatre opens (approximate date).^[6]
• 1837 – Economic/social unrest led by Ōshio Heihachirō.^[1]
• 1838 – Tekijuku (school) opens.^[6]
• 1868
  • European commerce begins.^[9][5]
  • City becomes part of Osaka Municipal Prefecture.^[6]
• 1869 – Tokyo-Osaka steamship line begins operating.^[10]
• 1871
  • Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka postal service begins.^[11]
  • Imperial Mint built.^[12][13]
• 1874 – Kobe-Osaka railway begins operating;^[14] Ōsaka Station (with clocktower) opens.^[15]
• 1875 – Meiji political Osaka Conference of 1875 held.
• 1876 – Osaka Nippō (newspaper) begins publication.
• 1878 – Osaka Stock Exchange and Osaka Chamber of Commerce [ja] [1]^[16] established.
• 1879 – Asahi Shimbun (newspaper) begins publication.^[17]
• 1880 – Osaka Commercial Training Institute [ja] established.
• 1881 – Osaka Iron Works established.^[10][18]
• 1882
  • Osaka Boseki Kaisha (spinning mill) in business.
  • Population: 332,425.^[4]
• 1884 – Osaka Shosen Kaisha (shipping firm) in business.^[19]
• 1887 – Population: 426,846.^[4]
• 1888 – Osaka Mainichi Shinbun [ja] (newspaper) begins publication.^[20]
• 1890 – Nakanoshima Park opens.^[13]
• 1892
  • December 20: Fire.^[9]
  • Population: 479,895.^[4]
• 1895
  • Sumitomo Bank established.^[21][22]
  • Kyōbashi Station built.^{[citation needed]}
• 1897
  • Parts of Higashinari-gun [ja] and Nishinari-gun [ja] annexed to Osaka city.^[23]
  • Demonstration of Lumière "projected pictures" at the Nanchi Embujo theatre.^[24]
  • Population: 758,285.^[4]
• 1900 – Population: 881,344 city; 1,678,422 prefecture.^[25]

20th century

Osaka castle

Skyscrapers in Umeda district

1900s–1940s

• 1901 – Satirical Kokkei Shinbun [ja] begins publication.^[26][27]
• 1903 – National Industrial Exposition (Japan) [ja] held in Osaka.^[28][4]
• 1904 – Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library opens.
• 1905 – Maruki-go bakery in business.^[29]
• 1909 – Tennōji Park established.
• 1910 – Population: 1,239,373 city; 2,197,201 prefecture.^[25]
• 1915 – Tennōji Zoo founded.^[30]
• 1917 – City planning committee formed.^[14]
• 1918
  • City Social Bureau established.^[14]
  • Osaka Central Public Hall [ja] built.^[31]
• 1919 – Miki Hall (concert venue) opens.^[31]
• 1920
  • Shirokiya department store built.^[29]
  • Population: 1,768,295.^[32]
• 1922 – Daimaru department store built.^[29]
• 1923
  • Sharp in business.^[33]
  • Seki Hajime [fr] becomes mayor.^[34]
• 1924 – Osaka Photographic Science Society founded.^[35]
• 1925
  • City wards established: Higashinari, Higashiyodogawa, Konohana, Minato, Naniwa, Nishinari, Nishiyodogawa, Sumiyoshi, and Tennōji.
  • "Public radio broadcasting commences."^[17]
  • Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. established.
  • Population: 2,114,804.^[32]
• 1926 – Asahi Kaikan (concert hall) opens.^[31]
• 1927 – Dojima Ohashi [ja] (bridge) built over Dojima River.^[18]
• 1928 – Osaka University of Commerce active.
• 1929
  • Kosobe Conservatory (garden) established.^[36]
  • Hankyu Department Store opens in Umeda Station.^{[citation needed]}
• 1930 – Population: 2,453,573 city; 3,540,017 prefecture.^[25]
• 1931 – National Defense Women's Association founded in Osaka.^[11][37]
• 1932 – City wards established: Asahi and Taishō.
• 1933
  • Subway Midōsuji Line begins operating.
  • Sanwa Bank established.^[22]
• 1936
  • Osaka Tigers baseball team formed.
  • Osaka Municipal Museum of Art [ja] opens.
• 1940
  • January 28: Train crash at Ajikawaguchi Station.^[12]
  • Population: 3,252,340 city;^[38] 4,843,032 prefecture.^[25]
• 1942
  • Osaka Shimbun [ja] (newspaper) in publication.^[16]
  • Subway Yotsubashi Line begins operating.
• 1943
  • City wards established: Abeno, Fukushima, Higashisumiyoshi, Ikuno, Jōtō, and Miyakojima.
  • Hitachi Zosen Corporation in business.^[18]
• 1945
  • March 13: Bombing of Osaka during World War II begins.
  • August 14: Bombing of Osaka ends.
  • Population: 1,102,959.^[39]
  • Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau established.
• 1947
  • Kansai Symphony Orchestra founded.
  • Population: 1,559,310.^[38]
• 1948 – Grand Sumo tournament begins.^[40]
• 1949 – Osaka City University and Osaka Securities Exchange^[16] active.

1950s–1990s

• 1950 – Population: 1,956,136.^[39]
• 1955
  • Cinerama Gekijo opens.^[41]
  • Sankei Sports newspaper begins publication.^[16]
  • Population: 2,547,321.^[32]
• 1956
  • Tsūtenkaku (tower) built.
  • Osaka designated a government ordinance city.^[42]
• 1957 – Sister city relationship established with San Francisco, USA.^[43]
• 1958 – Radio Osaka begins broadcasting.
• 1961
  • September: Typhoon Muroto II occurs.^[12]
  • Subway Chūō Line begins operating.
• 1964
  • Tokyo-Osaka Tōkaidō Shinkansen (hi-speed train) begins operating.^[12]
  • Nagai Stadium opens.
• 1967 – Subway Tanimachi Line begins operating.
• 1968 – Osaka Sports [ja] newspaper in publication.^[16]
• 1969 – Subway Sakaisuji Line and Sennichimae Line begin operating.
• 1970
  • April: Gas explosion in Kita-ku.^[12]
  • Expo '70 (world's fair) held in Osaka.^[44]
• 1972
  • May 13: Sennichi Department Store Building fire.
  • Osaka Expo '70 Stadium opens.
• 1974 – City wards established: Hirano, Suminoe, Tsurumi, and Yodogawa.
• 1975 – Population: 2,780,000.^[45]
• 1977 – National Museum of Art, Osaka opens.
• 1979 – Capsule Inn Osaka in business.^[46]
• 1980 – Osaka Symphony Orchestra [ja] established.^[47]
• 1982
  • Osaka International Ladies Marathon begins.
  • Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka established.
• 1983 – Osaka-jō Hall (arena) opens.
• 1984 – National Bunraku Theatre opens.^[2]
• 1987 – Kincho Stadium opens.
• 1989
  • City wards established: Chūō and Kita.
  • Osaka Science Museum opens.
• 1990
  • Subway Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line begins operating.
  • Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan opens.
  • Garden and Greenery Exposition held in city.^[48]
• 1993 – Umeda Sky Building constructed.
• 1995
  • January 17: The 6.9 M_w  Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of VII, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced in the region.
  • Takafumi Isomura becomes mayor.
• 1996 – Osaka Prefectural Central Library opens.^[49]
• 1997 – Tempozan Ferris Wheel and Kyocera Dome open.
• 1999 – Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum opens in nearby Ikeda.

21st century

• 2001 – June 8: Ikeda school massacre occurs in nearby Ikeda.
• 2006 – Subway Imazatosuji Line begins operating.
• 2007 – Kunio Hiramatsu becomes mayor.
• 2009 – Kansai Music Conference begins.
• 2010 – Population: 2,665,314.^[50]
• 2011 – Tōru Hashimoto becomes mayor.^[51]
• 2013 – Festival Hall opens.
• 2014 – Population: 2,685,218.^[52]
• 2021 – December 17: A fire occurs in Kita ward.

See also

• Osaka history
• Osaka history (in Japanese; includes timeline)
• List of mayors of Osaka [ja]

References

1. Kenneth Henshall (2014). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of Japan to 1945. USA: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7872-3.
2. Schellinger 1996.
3. Mark L. Blum and Shin'ya Yasutomi, ed. (2006). "Chronology of Rennyo's Life". Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-535099-9.
4. Souvenir 1903.
5. Britannica 1910.
6. McClain 1999.
7. Matsudaira 1984.
8. Christine Guth (1996). "Timeline". Art of Edo Japan: The Artist and the City 1615–1868. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16413-8.
9. Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Japan", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co., hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t89g6g776 – via Hathi Trust
10. G. C. Allen (1946). Short Economic History of Modern Japan, 1867–1937. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-31303-2.
11. "Timeline of Modern Japan (1868–1945)". About Japan: A Teacher's Resource. New York: Japan Society.
12. Bruce Wetterau (1990), New York Public Library Book of Chronologies, New York: Prentice Hall, OL 1885709M
13. Ruble 2001.
14. André Sorensen (2002). The Making of Urban Japan: Cities and Planning from Edo to the Twenty First Century. Japanese Studies Series. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-73657-7.
15. Hoshimi Uchida (2002). "Spread of Timepieces in the Meiji Period". Japan Review (14 (Birth of Tardiness: The Formation of Time Consciousness in Modern Japan)): 173–192. JSTOR 25791261.
16. "Japan". Europa World Year Book. Europa Publications. 2004. ISBN 978-1-85743-254-1.
17. Yoshio Sugimoto, ed. (2009). "Chronology". Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-49546-3.
18. "Corporate Chronology". Osaka: Hitachi Zosen Corporation. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
19. Department of Finance (1904). Financial and Economical Annual of Japan. Tokyo: Government Printing Office – via Hathi Trust.
20. Altman 1990.
21. Glyn Davies; Roy Davies (2002). "Comparative Chronology of Money" – via University of Exeter.
22. Norio Tamaki (1995). "Genealogy of leading Japanese banks, 1859–1959". Japanese Banking: A History, 1859–1959. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-02233-0.
23. Mosk 2001.
24. Jasper Sharp (2011). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7541-8.
25. Statistics 1941.
26. "Japanese Humor and Caricature", The Bookman, New York, pp. 76 v, July 1904, hdl:2027/njp.32101077276929
27. Hans Harder and Barbara Mittler, ed. (2013). Asian Punches: a Transcultural Affair. Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-28607-0.
28. "Expositions: where the modern technology of the times was exhibited". Tokyo: National Diet Library. 2011.
29. Kazuo Usui (2014). Marketing and Consumption in Modern Japan. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-35074-2.
30. Vernon N. Kisling, ed. (2000). "Zoological Gardens of Japan (chronological list)". Zoo and Aquarium History. USA: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-3924-5.
31. Hugh de Ferranti and Alison Tokita, ed. (2013). Music, Modernity and Locality in Prewar Japan: Osaka and Beyond. Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4724-0989-8.
32. Ayanori Okasaki (1957). "Growth of Urban Population in Japan". Genus. 13 (1/4): 132–152. JSTOR 29787368.
33. "Corporate Info: Chronology". Osaka: Sharp Corporation. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
34. Hanes 2002.
35. "Chronology". History of Japanese Photography. USA: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 2003. ISBN 978-0-300-09925-6.
36. "Garden Search: Japan". London: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
37. Gregory James Kasza (1995). The Conscription Society: Administered Mass Organizations. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06242-7.
38. Leon E. Seltzer, ed. (1952), Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 1394, OL 6112221M
39. "Population of capital city and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1955. New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations.
40. J.A. Sargeant (1959). Sumo: the Sport and the Tradition. Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 978-1-4629-0422-8.
41. "Movie Theaters in Osaka". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
42. Philip Shapira; et al., eds. (1994). Planning for Cities and Regions in Japan. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-0-85323-248-3.
43. "San Francisco Sister Cities". USA: City & County of San Francisco. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
44. Gary D. Allinson (2004). "Chronology". Japan's Postwar History (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8912-1.
45. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office (1976). "Population of capital city and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1975. New York. pp. 253–279.
46. "Sleep Tight", The Economist, August 22, 2014
47. Colin Lawson, ed. (2003). "Orchestras Founded in the 20th Century (chronological list)". Cambridge Companion to the Orchestra. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00132-8.
48. Brian Moeran (1996). "Chronology of Japanese Advertising and Media from 1862 to 1991". A Japanese Advertising Agency: An Anthropology of Media and Markets. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-1-136-79533-6.
49. "Institutions in Japan: Browse by Region (Kinki)". Research Access in Japanese Museums, Libraries, and Archives Resources. North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
50. "Population of Capital Cities and Cities of 100,000 or More Inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2013. United Nations Statistics Division.
51. "Japanese Mayors". City Mayors.com. London: City Mayors Foundation. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
52. "About Osaka City". City of Osaka. Retrieved July 30, 2015.

This article incorporates information from the Japanese Wikipedia.

Bibliography

Published in the 19th century

• Philipp Franz von Siebold (1841). "(Ohosaka)". Manners and Customs of the Japanese, in the Nineteenth Century. London: John Murray. hdl:2027/hvd.hw26ti – via Hathi Trust.

Published in the 20th century

• "Osaka". Guide Book for Tourists in Japan. Yokohama: Obun Printing Co. 1903.
• Souvenir Guide to Osaka and the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition. Hakurankwai Kyosankwai. 1903.
• "Osaka" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). 1910. p. 344.
• "Osaka (Settsu)", Handbook for Travellers in Japan (9th ed.), London: J. Murray, 1913, hdl:2027/nnc1.50290956
• T. Philip Terry (1914), "Osaka", Terry's Japanese Empire, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, LCCN 14005129
• Robert P. Porter (1915), "The Larger Cities: Osaka", Japan, the New World-Power (2nd ed.), London: Oxford University Press
• Claudius Madrolle (1916). "Osaka". Chine du Sud, Java, Japon (in French) (2nd ed.). Paris: Hachette. hdl:2027/uc1.$b193211.
• Osaka-fu tokeisho: 1940 [Osaka Prefecture Statistics] (in Japanese), Osaka-fu, 1941
• W.A. Robson, ed. (1954). "Tokyo and Osaka". Great Cities of the World: their Government, Politics and Planning. Routledge. pp. 719–754. ISBN 978-1-135-67247-8.
• William B. Hauser (1977), "Osaka: A Commercial City in Tokugawa Japan", Urbanism Past and Present, 5, ISSN 0160-2780
• S. Matsudaira (1984). "Hiiki Renchū (Theatre Fan Clubs) in Osaka in the Early Nineteenth Century". Modern Asian Studies. 18 (4): 699–709. doi:10.1017/s0026749x00016395. JSTOR 312345. S2CID 143950026.
• Albert Altman (1990). "The proprietors assert themselves: the Osaka Asahi shinbun and the Osaka Mainichi shinbun in the late nineteenth century". In Peter Lowe and Herman Moeshart (ed.). Western Interactions With Japan: Expansions, the Armed Forces and Readjustment 1859–1956. Japan Library. ISBN 978-1-135-88102-3.
• Kuniko Fujita and Richard Child Hill, ed. (1993). "Osaka and Tokyo Compared". Japanese Cities. USA: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-4399-0092-5.
• Schellinger and Salkin, ed. (1996). "Osaka". International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania. UK: Routledge. p. 648+. ISBN 9781884964046.
• James L. McClain and Wikita Osamu, ed. (1999). "Chronology". Osaka: The Merchants' Capital of Early Modern Japan. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3630-3.
• Ian Martin Röpke (1999). Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto. Historical Dictionaries of Cities of the World. Maryland, USA: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3622-8.

Published in the 21st century

• Carl Mosk (2001). "Manchester of the Far East". Japanese Industrial History: Technology, Urbanization, and Economic Growth. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-3855-7.
• Blair A. Ruble (2001). Second Metropolis: Pragmatic Pluralism in Gilded Age Chicago, Silver Age Moscow, and Meiji Osaka. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80179-9.
• Jeffrey E. Hanes (2002). The City As Subject: Seki Hajime and the Reinvention of Modern Osaka. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-92683-7.
• Richard Tames (2008). "Historical Gazetteer: Osaka". A Traveller's History of Japan (4th ed.). USA: Interlink Books. ISBN 978-1-56656-404-5.
• Hugh Cortazzi, ed. (2012). "Osaka". Victorians in Japan: In and Around the Treaty Ports. Bloomsbury. pp. 137–. ISBN 978-1-78093-977-3. (first published in 1987)

External links

• Items related to Osaka, various dates (via Europeana).
• Items related to Osaka, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).