Area of Kansai

The area of Kansai (関西地方, Kansai-chihō ), called area of Kinki (近畿地方; , Kinki-chihō ) officially, is a geographical surface located on the island of Honshū, the principal island of the Japan.

Definitions

The area of Kansai is bordered by the areas of the Chūbu, in the east, and of Chūgoku, in the west. According to the definition most commonly allowed, it is consisted of the six following prefectures:

the Prefecture of Kyōto (京都府) ;
the Prefecture of Ōsaka (大阪府) ;
the Prefecture of Hyōgo (兵庫県) ;
the Prefecture of Nara (奈良県) ;
the Prefecture of Shiga (滋賀県) ;
the Prefecture of Wakayama (和歌山県) .

An old definition (for example in a school handbook of 1903) included it in Kansai. Because of the importance acquired by Nagoya during the last decades, this prefecture from now on is almost always regarded as belonging to the Tōkai. The Koujien, dictionary Japanese very traditionalist (the definitions of alive people are absent there) however always regards Kansai as the whole of these seven prefectures. There exists however of other definitions of Kansai, of which broadest consists in there including not only the prefecture of Mie, but also the Préfecture of Fukui and the Préfecture of Tokushima. This definition for example is used by the travel agencies which propose circuits in Kansai, or for the cultural festival of the colleges of Kinki.

Economy, demography, history, culture

This area, very industrialized and very urbanized, is often compared with the Région of Kantō, more in the east on the island of Honshū, which includes the Mégapole Tōkyō - Yokohama. Associated with the urban whole of the inland sea, this immense urban area (1000 km) form the Japanese Megalopolis.

Kinki (近畿) means literally the vicinity of the capital ; indeed, the capital of Japan was, until the Period Edo, located in this area. But juridically (not substantially), Kyōto is the capital still maintaining. Kansai (関西) means as for him the west of the barriers ; this refers at the time where check-points were set up on the road of Tōkaidō (in a similar way, the term Kantō means is barriers ).

The area of Kansai includes/understands important metropolises such as Ōsaka, Kyōto, Kōbe or Nara.

One of densément populated of Japan, the area of Kansai is very well served by the transport infrastructures. Three major airports are located there: the International airport of Kansai, in the Bay of Ōsaka, the International airport of Ōsaka as well as the International airport of Kōbe. As regards the surface transports, a very dense highway network as well as the principal lines of Shinkansen serve Kansai.

Of this area in XVIe century a style from Kabuki particularly soft and delicate is resulting famous: Kabuki de Kamigata ( Kamigata is an old name of Ōsaka).

One can observe in this area a notable modification of the language, mainly of a nature spoken this dialect is called the Kansai-Ben.

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