List of metropolitan areas in Japan in the context of "Osaka Prefecture"

Kyoto Prefecture (京都府, Kyōto-fu; Japanese pronunciation: [kʲoꜜː.to, kʲoː.toꜜ.ɸɯ]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2.58 million and has a geographic area of 4,612 square kilometres (1,781 sq mi). Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture to the east, Mie Prefecture to the southeast, Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture to the south, and Hyōgo Prefecture to the west.

Kyoto, the capital and largest city, accommodates 57% of the prefecture's total population, with other major cities including Uji, Kameoka, and Maizuru. Kyoto Prefecture is located on the Sea of Japan coast and extends to the southeast towards the Kii Peninsula, covering territory of the former provinces of Yamashiro, Tamba, and Tango. Kyoto Prefecture is centered on the historic Imperial capital of Kyoto, and is one of Japan's two "prefectures" using the designation fu rather than the standard ken for prefectures. Kyoto has made Kyoto Prefecture one of the most popular tourism destinations in Japan for national and international tourists, and 21% of the prefecture's land area was designated as Natural Parks. Kyoto Prefecture forms part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area, the second-most-populated region in Japan after the Greater Tokyo area and one of the world's most productive regions by GDP.

Osaka (Japanese: 大阪市, Hepburn: Ōsaka-shi; pronounced [oː.sa.kaꜜ.ɕi]; commonly just 大阪, Ōsaka [oː.sa.ka] ) is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With an estimated population of 2,816,247 as of October 1, 2025 and a population density of about 12,505 people per square kilometer, it is the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan and the 10th-largest urban area in the world with more than 19 million inhabitants.

Osaka was traditionally considered Japan's economic hub. By the Kofun period (300–538) it had developed into an important regional port, and in the 7th and 8th centuries, it served briefly as the imperial capital. Osaka continued to flourish during the Edo period (1603–1867) and became known as a center of Japanese culture. Following the Meiji Restoration, Osaka greatly expanded in size and underwent rapid industrialization. The construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, and by the 1900s, Osaka was the industrial hub in the Meiji and Taishō eras. Osaka made noted contributions to redevelopment, urban planning and zoning standards in the postwar period, and the city developed rapidly as one of the major financial centers in the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area.

The Shinkansen (Japanese: 新幹線; [ɕiŋkaꜜɰ̃seɴ] , lit. 'new trunk line'), colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond long-distance travel, some sections around the largest metropolitan areas are used as a commuter rail network. It is owned by the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency and operated by five Japan Railways Group companies.

Starting with the Tokaido Shinkansen (515.4 km; 320.3 mi) in 1964, the network has expanded to consist of 2,951.3 km (1,833.9 mi) of lines with maximum speeds of 260–320 km/h (160–200 mph), 283.5 km (176.2 mi) of Mini-shinkansen lines with a maximum speed of 130 km/h (80 mph), and 10.3 km (6.4 mi) of spur lines with Shinkansen services. The network links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, and connects to Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaido. An extension to Sapporo is under construction and was initially scheduled to open by fiscal year 2030, but in December 2024, it was delayed until the end of FY2038. The maximum operating speed is 320 km/h (200 mph) (on a 387.5 km (241 mi) section of the Tōhoku Shinkansen). Test runs have reached 443 km/h (275 mph) for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 603 km/h (375 mph) for SCMaglev trains in April 2015.

Nagoya (名古屋市, Nagoya-shi; [naꜜ.ɡo.ja, -ŋo.ja, na.ɡo.jaꜜ.ɕi, -ŋo.jaꜜ.ɕi] , locally [na.ɡo.ja, -ŋo.ja]) is the capital and most populous city of Aichi Prefecture in Japan. It is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city in Japan (with a 2025 population of 2.3 million), and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is itself the third-most populous metropolitan area in Japan (with a population of 10.11 million). Nagoya is located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, and its seaport is the largest in Japan.

In 1610, the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital of Owari Province from Kiyosu to Nagoya. This period saw the renovation of Nagoya Castle. The early 1900s brought a convergence of economic factors that fueled rapid growth in the city during the Meiji Restoration, and it became a major industrial hub for the country as the area's automobile, aviation, and shipbuilding industries flourished; the traditional manufacturing of bicycles, sewing machines, and timepieces was thus followed by the production of ceramic, chemicals, oil, petrochemicals, and steel. These factors made Nagoya a target of American air raids during the Pacific War.

Chūkyō (中京圏, Chūkyō-ken), or the Chūkyō region (中京地方, Chūkyō-chihō), is a major metropolitan area in Japan that is centered on the city of Nagoya (the "Chūkyō", i.e., the "capital in the middle") in Aichi Prefecture. The area makes up the most urbanized part of the Tōkai region. The population is 9,439,000 in 3,704 square kilometers of built-up land area.Nevertheless, like most of Japan's major metro areas, the core of it lies on a fertile alluvial plain, in this case, the Nōbi Plain.

It is among the 50 most populous metropolitan areas in the world, and is the third most populous metropolitan area in Japan (after Greater Tokyo and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto), containing roughly 7% of Japan's population. Historically, this region has taken a back seat to the other two power centers, both politically and economically; however, the agglomeration of Nagoya is the world's 22nd-largest metro area economy, in terms of gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity in 2014, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. The GDP of Greater Nagoya, Nagoya Metropolitan Employment Area, was US$256.3 billion in 2010.

Urban Employment Area (都市雇用圏, Toshi Koyō-ken) is a definition of metropolitan areas used in Japan, defined by the Center for Spatial Information Service of the University of Tokyo. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry defined 233 areas for the UEAs of Japan. It is different from the definition of metropolitan areas defined in census by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. For the latter scheme, see the List of metropolitan areas in Japan article.

The basic principle of UEA is similar to that of the Statistics Bureau definition; a central city and its associated outlying municipalities with certain numbers of commuters. A UEA with at least 50,000 DID (Densely Inhabited District) population is called Metropolitan Employment Area (大都市雇用圏, Dai-toshi Koyō-ken) or MEA for short in English. A UEA with at least 10,000 and less than 50,000 DID population is called Micropolitan Employment Area (小都市雇用圏, Shō-toshi Koyō-ken) or McEA for short in English.