#hanshin

How a post-quake migration, booming industry, and bold urban planning briefly made Kansai the heart of modern pre-war Japan.

The many faces of Osaka, Kansai's economic hub.

Japan has a deep-rooted culture of regional identity, and perhaps no contrast captures this better than the enduring rivalry between its two most populous and economically powerful regions.

To the east lies Kantō, anchored by Tokyo—the nation’s political, financial, and cultural capital. The region includes Japan’s two most populous prefectures, Tokyo and Kanagawa, home to major urban centers like the refined port city of Yokohama and the industrial hub of Kawasaki. Surrounding these are the sprawling suburbs of Saitama and Chiba, as well as more rural areas like Gunma, Tochigi, and Ibaraki.

To the west is Kansai, comprising seven prefectures including Osaka, the region’s commercial powerhouse; Kyoto, the historic former imperial capital; and Hyōgo, where the elegant and cosmopolitan port city of Kobe is located. While Kansai can’t match Kantō in population or overall economic scale, it holds its own through cultural richness, historical prestige, and a distinctly vibrant identity.

Because while Tokyo may seem to have everything, it lacks the easygoing wit of Osaka—the birthplace of manzai comedy and headquarters of entertainment juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo—the stylish flair of Kobe, and the timeless sophistication of Kyoto.

That’s why Kansai-jin, the people of Kansai, are fiercely proud of their region, their dialect (Kansai-ben), their cuisine, their customs, and their local stars. One such icon is Emiko Kaminuma, the undisputed queen of Kansai TV, whose shows air almost exclusively within the region. Even small details, like escalator etiquette, reinforce Kansai’s independent spirit—you stand on the left and pass on the right, the opposite of Tokyo.

Kansai is also home to the headquarters of some of Japan’s most influential companies—Panasonic, Nintendo, Suntory, Wacoal, and Takeda Pharmaceutical, among others. And while its contribution to Japan’s GDP is significant, even Kansai locals will admit that Tokyo’s economic dominance is overwhelming. Today, there's no real contest.

But that wasn’t always the case. For centuries, Kansai—home to the ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto, and the mercantile hub of Osaka—was Japan’s political, cultural, and economic heart. By the early 1600s, however, power shifted east: the Tokugawa shogunate made Edo its seat of government, and over the next two centuries the city grew into the largest metropolis in the world, with more than a million residents. Edo was more urban, populous, and consumer-driven than Kyoto or Osaka, though the emperor still resided in Kyoto and Osaka remained the nation’s commercial kitchen. It was only after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when the emperor moved east and Edo was renamed Tokyo, that Japan’s political and symbolic capital were unified in one place. From the late 19th century onward, Tokyo expanded rapidly, eventually eclipsing Kansai as the nation’s dominant center.

And yet, for a fleeting moment during the transition from the culturally significant but short-lived Taishō era (1912–1926) to the early years of Shōwa (which began in 1926), it looked as if Kansai might reclaim its crown. Industry boomed, cities modernized, and a sense of cosmopolitan energy swept through the region. This brief but brilliant resurgence became known as the Great Osaka Era—a golden age when the west dared to dream of leading Japan once again.

How Kansai Built the Future: Inside the Great Osaka Era

Some of the iconic Osaka buildings from the Dai Osaka Era: (l–r) the Nankai Building in Namba, home to the Takashimaya Department Store; the courtyard of the iconic Semba Building; Osaka City Hall; the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation head office; and the Art Deco Shibakawa Building.

Even before the natural disaster that devastated Japan’s capital, Osaka remained the country’s economic engine—more industrialized and more densely populated than Tokyo, even if it no longer led in total population. While Tokyo had grown into the nation’s political and administrative heart, Osaka continued to dominate commerce and manufacturing. Then, on September 1, 1923, the Great Kantō Earthquake struck. Tokyo and Yokohama were reduced to rubble, traumatizing their populations and leaving millions without homes, water, electricity, or reliable transportation for months.

In the aftermath, many fled to other major cities—most notably Kansai, where some of Tokyo’s elite brought their capital, expertise, and ambitions. The influx only accelerated a transformation already underway. What followed was the Great Osaka Era (大大阪時代, Dai Ōsaka Jidai)—a surge of expansion and modernization that unfolded during the pivotal shift from the culturally vibrant Taishō era to the early years of Shōwa. In this moment, despite Tokyo’s rapid rise, Kansai briefly seemed poised to define Japan’s urban future.

By 1925, Osaka annexed 44 neighboring towns and villages, more than doubling its size and becoming Japan’s largest city by both area and population. With that expansion came an ambitious transformation: modern infrastructure, civic planning, and transportation projects redefined the city. During that period, it also built Japan’s first municipal-run subway in 1933, integrating it with department stores and office basements—laying the foundation for the underground shopping arcades that would become a defining feature of Japanese cities in the decades that followed.

The imposing concourse of Hankyu Umeda Station in 1922 which also served as the entrance for the Hankyu Umeda Department Store. It retained its grand architecture for decades — seen above in 1985 and 2001 — before finally closing in 2005 for the Hankyu Department Store’s renovation.

At the same time, Kansai’s private railway companies revolutionized urban development. Electrified, high-speed interurban lines connected Osaka to Kobe, Kyoto, and beyond. The Hanshin corridor—named by combining the second kanji of Osaka (大阪), “阪”, and the first kanji of Kobe (神戸), “神”, into Hanshin (阪神)—became a showcase of transit-oriented development, pioneering Japan’s commuter culture and suburban expansion.

In other words, railway companies like Hanshin and Hankyu didn’t just build train lines— inspired by Hankyu’s Ichizo Kobayashi’s pioneering spirit, they created entire lifestyle ecosystems. Along their routes, they developed department stores (Hankyu Umeda Department Store was Japan’s first full-scale department store integrated with a station), theaters (such as the Hankyu owned Grand Takarazuka Theater), residential neighborhoods, seaside resorts , cultural spaces, and hotels—including the luxurious Koshien Hotel, designed by William Merrell Vories. Hanshin also built family leisure attractions like Hanshin Park—an amusement park and zoo located near Koshien Stadium, which itself was constructed to host the National High School Baseball Championship and later became home to the Hanshin Tigers, the region’s beloved professional baseball team. This seamless integration of transit, commerce, and leisure formed a Kansai-born model that Tokyo would later emulate.

Hankyu Umeda Department Store in 1933.

In fact, this approach became the blueprint for modern urban Japan. In Tokyo, Tokyu Corporation applied the same strategy to build Shibuya into a retail and cultural hub, and later helped bring Tokyo Disneyland to Chiba. Other railway companies—like Odakyu, Seibu, JR East, and Keio—turned Shinjuku into Japan’s largest commercial district (and by some metrics, the world’s busiest), while doing the same for Ikebukuro, Ginza, Yūrakuchō, and other core neighborhoods.

Back in Kansai, the railways also developed an affluent suburban belt known as the Hanshinkan suburbs, which included areas like Ashiya and Takarazuka. These communities featured Western-style villas, golf courses, and cultural institutions, and remain among Japan’s most prestigious addresses to this day.

Alongside Hankyu Umeda, Osaka’s luxurious department stores flourished during this time. In 1922, Daimaru Shinsaibashi was rebuilt in a striking Art Deco style. The following year, Matsuzakaya—originally from Nagoya—expanded into Osaka, opening a grand Western-style building in the same district. Takashimaya’s current Namba flagship opened in 1932. Together, these developments helped turn Namba and Shinsaibashi into major commercial centers, while Dōtonbori—glowing with neon signs, cinema palaces, and food stalls—became the face of modern Osaka nightlife.

Midosuji Station when it opened in 1933.

Just a few blocks away, Midōsuji Boulevard emerged as the city’s premier high-end shopping street, with the Midōsuji metro line—still Osaka’s most important—running directly beneath it.

Outside Osaka, both Kyoto and Kobe experienced parallel growth. In Kyoto, the long-established Takashimaya store underwent aggressive renovation, while 1933 saw the opening of Fujii Daimaru, a more trend-focused department store aimed at modern women. In Kobe, Daimaru Motomachi catered to both Japanese elites and Western expatriates, and in 1935, Sogo Kobe opened and quickly became the city’s top retail destination. Kobe’s port was also massively expanded and, by the 1930s, had surpassed Yokohama to become Japan’s busiest international port.

Meanwhile, Kyoto invested in civic improvements of its own—expanding its streetcar network, widening roads, and reorganizing temple and shopping districts. Its women’s colleges and art schools flourished, reinforcing its role as Kansai’s intellectual and cultural counterweight to Osaka’s commercial dominance.

The Glico Running Man sign — a permanent ad for the Osaka-based confectionery company — is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. It has illuminated the Dotonbori Canal since 1935, during the Great Osaka Era. On the left, the original sign; on the right, the current, instantly recognizable version.

While the entire Kansai region thrived, Osaka stood at the center. The city poured resources into modern infrastructure—waterworks, sewage systems, electric lighting, streetcars, and subways—laying the foundation for its modern identity. From its department stores and railway networks to the debut of its now-iconic neon signage—including the first Glico Man in 1935—Osaka as we know it today was born during the Great Osaka Era.

Yet beyond the numbers and construction, the era also marked a deeper shift. A new sensibility began to take hold—a modern, Western-influenced way of living that reshaped the architecture, fashion, and cultural rhythms of Kansai. It was in this moment that the region began to not only move differently, but to look, dress, and dream differently too.

Hanshikan Modernism

One consequence of the Great Osaka Era was the emergence of Hanshinkan Modernism—a lifestyle and cultural movement centered in the affluent Hanshinkan Belt, a string of planned suburbs developed along the railway corridor between Osaka and Kobe. Blending Kansai traditions with Western innovations in food, fashion, architecture, and leisure, it reflected the ambitions of a rising urban elite.

The city of Ashiya in Hyōgo Prefecture came to embody this ideal. Nestled between the Rokko mountains and the sea, it offered a picturesque, orderly, and distinctly modern enclave. With tree-lined boulevards and expansive villas inspired by European designs, Ashiya appealed to Kansai’s upper class as a symbol of refined suburban life. The area’s legacy endures: Ashiya remains one of Japan’s most exclusive addresses, with fashion magazines still romanticizing the aspirational lifestyle of the “Ashiya woman.”

A tree-lined street in Ashiya during the fall of 2024.

While Ashiya stood out, it was part of a broader trend. Suburbs throughout the Hanshinkan corridor flourished in the 1920s and ’30s, thanks to developers like Hanshin and Hankyu, who marketed suburban life as an escape from Osaka’s industrial grime—then known as “Smoke City.” These rail-linked enclaves promised clean air, green space, and modern comforts beyond the city’s limits.

The area also catered to sophisticated urban tastes. Jazz cafés and dance halls opened in quick succession, while in 1924, Hankyu launched the Takarazuka Grand Theater to draw visitors to the suburb of Takarazuka. Its all-female Takarazuka Revue was a modern counterpoint to the traditional all-male Tokyo-based Kabuki. The 4,100-seat theater dwarfed the capital's 1,100-seat Kabuki-za and became a cultural landmark.

Hotels, golf courses, and seaside resorts completed the picture of leisure and affluence. Sports like golf and tennis—then considered “modern”—spread across Japan after taking root among Hanshinkan’s wealthy residents.

When the Great Kantō Earthquake destroyed the Tokyo offices of Kinema Junpo, Japan's first and most important film magazine at the time, its editors relocated the editorial base to the Hanshin area, establishing outposts in Ashiya and Kohakuen.

The Hanshinkan region also became a magnet for artists. Western-style painters like Asano Menpu, Okamoto Toki, and Narashige Koide moved there after the 1923 Kantō earthquake, bringing with them influences from Cubism, Futurism, and Constructivism. Koide established a studio in Ashiya and mentored younger artists. Others who lived and worked in the area included Jirō Yoshihara, Jirō Kamiyama, and Saburō Hasegawa. Nihonga painter Kagaku Murakami relocated from Kyoto to Ashiya for health reasons, and Hayashi Shigeyoshi worked from nearby Sumiyoshi.

The original Koshien hotel and the Takarazua Grand Theater lobby as of 2020.

Perhaps the most famous cultural figure to settle in the region was Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, one of Japan’s greatest modern novelists. After the earthquake, he moved from Tokyo to Ashiya, where he found inspiration in the refined yet changing world around him. His masterpiece, The Makioka Sisters (細雪 / Sasameyuki), is set in this milieu, capturing the rhythms and anxieties of modern affluent Kansai life.

In 1931, Tanizaki reflected on Osaka and its people in his essay 『私が見た大阪人』 (The Osaka People as I Saw Them), offering a sharply observed—if at times ambivalent—glimpse of the era’s cultural shifts:

[ 11/03 - HS10 出屋敷駅にて ]

西宮のように建物の中に入る阪神電車。トンネルではない…と思う。 Like Nishinomiya station, trains go through a building. Possibly not a tunnel.

大阪駅前再開発　阪神・大丸・ＪＲ・阪急　便利になってきている