Hokkaido Toyako Summit
Venues
Situated in roughly the central part of the Japanese archipelago, Osaka Prefecture occupies a curving, almost crescent-shaped area that is oriented lengthwise the north-south direction. Opening onto Osaka Bay to the west, it is bounded in all other directions by mountain ranges. While it has second smallest area of any prefecture in Japan, Osaka's population of 8.8 million accounts for 7% of the national population, making it the third most populous prefecture following Tokyo and Kanagawa.
Moreover, Osaka is home to approximately 210,000 foreign residents, which is 15.6% of the national total. A major metropolis, Osaka is at the heart of the Kansai Region and is a hub of the national expressway and railway networks, as well as playing the role of the principal economic powerhouse of western Japan.
