The Port of Osaka is on the eastern shore of the Inland Sea where the Yodo River enters Osaka Bay on the main Japanese island of Honshu. Capital of Osaka Prefecture and unique among cities, the Port of Osaka has a nighttime population of 2.6 million and a daytime population of 3.7 million.
Port History
Shell mounds at the Morinomiya indicate that the area was inhabited as early as the 6th Century BC. Rice farming brought permanent habitation during the 5th to 6th Centuries AD, when the Port of Osaka became a hub for western Japan (evidenced by the many tomb mounds around the city).
In 645 AD, the Japanese emperor built his palace there and made the area Japan’s capital (called Naniwa-kyo). In the latter 7th Century, Naniwa lost its position as capital, and the Port of Osaka gradually lost its central trade position. A Buddhist sect built their headquarters on the ruins of the Naniwa imperial palace, and Oda Nobunaga started a 10-year siege of their temple in 1570. When the monks surrendered in 1580, their temple was destroyed and Osaka Castle was constructed on the site.
During the Edo period (1603-1867), the Port of Osaka regained its status and once again became an important Japanese port and cosmopolitan city. In 1837, a low-ranking samurai led an insurrection because the city did not support its poor, destroying over one-fourth of the city before the rebellion was put down.
The Osaka Municipal Government started administering the Port of Osaka in 1887, investing heavily in the port’s development. A shipping boom came during World War I, and port traffic increased dramatically. During the Pacific War (1930-1945), local government undertook efforts to strength the maritime transportation system.
Port Commerce
After the destruction and fallout of World War II, reconstruction began in 1947, and the municipal government was granted direct administrative control of the harbor in 1952. In 1967, the Port of Osaka entered into a sister city relationship with the Port of San Francisco. Construction continued through 1982 when the port adopted a plan to reclaim land and further expand the harbor. In 2005, the Port and Harbor Bureau reorganized to administer port business, improve port operations, strengthen disaster prevention, revitalize waterfront areas, and promote commercial development of port properties.
Today, the Port of Osaka is a leader in Japan’s international trade. The City of Osaka continuously promotes innovative development of the port and the waterfront business district. The Port of Osaka’s waterfront area covers almost 1900 hectares, and the harbor limits cover almost 4800 hectares.
The Port of Osaka’s exclusive container wharf facilities in the Sakishima District contain 11 berths, over 3000 meters of quay with from 10 to 14 meters of draft, and over 90 hectares of yards. The Nanko International Container Center covers over 16 hectares, including cargo-handling yards of five hectares and a transit shed of over four hectares. The Port of Osaka’s Integrated Cargo Distribution Center, with 8.5 hectares of floor space, is a state-of-the-art distribution facility for foreign imports and container cargoes.
The Port of Osaka’s Container Terminals in the Yumeshima District offer three berths and over 1100 meters of quay 15 meters with draft of 15 meters. The yards here cover 55 hectares. Functioning as a container distribution point, traffic here includes international routes from Southeast Asia, China, and Australia.
The Maishima Wharf and Liner Wharf contain an import produce center handling food imports for the region. The wharf is a multi-purpose center for roll-on/roll-off imports of automobiles and construction machinery. The Maishima Wharf offers three berths with 719 meters quay and a draft of 4 meters. It covers over ten hectares, including almost two hectares of warehouse. The Liner Wharf offers seven berths and 1069 meters of quay with 10 meters of draft. Transit sheds cover a total of four hectares, and the wharf has 4.2 hectares of warehouse and a silo that can accommodate 7500 tons.
In 2004, the Port of Osaka handled over 93 million tons of cargo, including 34.6 million tons of foreign cargo. This included 1.7 million TEUs of containerized cargo. Imports of 24.3 million tons were primarily industrial products, metal machine parts, light industrial products, and agricultural products. Exports of 10.4 million tons were dominated by metal machine parts, industrial chemicals, and light industry products.
Cruising
The Port of Osaka’s Tempozan Passenger Terminal, located at the mouth of the Ajikawa River, receives cruise liners throughout the year. The waterfront there offers amusement and recreation facilities. Nearby are small passenger liner terminals devoted to local traffic.
The Port of Osaka is a favorite tourist destination. It is the closest cruise port to the historic cities of Kyoto and Nara and to the Kansai International Airport. The Sakishima Cosmosquare District, located in the inner city, is home to the INTEX Osaka hosting international trade fairs, conventions, and high-tech companies. It also contains many tourist attractions including the Osaka Wine Museum, Osaka Martime Museum, Asia and Pacific Trade Center, and the World Trade Center Osaka (western Japan’s tallest building).
West Konohana has been transformed from a busy industrial center to an exciting entertainment area housing Universal Studios Japan. The Tempozan Harbor Village is a popular entertainment district containing one of the world’s biggest aquariums (Kaiyukan), Tempozan market place, the Suntory Museum, and a huge ferris wheel offering breathtaking views of Osaka Bay. The Osaka Nanko Bird Sanctuary in Sakishima is an internationally-recognized habitat where birdwatchers and nature lovers gather from around the world. Hokko Yacht Harbor offers diverse marine recreation including yacht rentals where visitors can learn to sail.
Finally, the Port of Osaka is proud to contribute to the environmental well-being of the area. The Osaka Port and Harbor Bureau implements “Harbor Environmental Guidelines” seeking to create a thriving natural environment, beaches and rocky shoreline habitats, and a new natural island and arbor zone to contribute to the worldwide effort to overcome global warming.
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