Osaka is a large city in Japan, on the main island, Honshu. It stands on the coast, so it has long been an important port, and it grew into one of Japan’s big industrial centres — ships, factories, trade, and business. Though actually, Japanese people often talk about Osaka as a character as well as a place: a city famous for street food, comedy, and a warmer, more direct way of talking than Tokyo. The Japanese name 大阪 literally means “large hill” — the slope up to the high ground where Osaka Castle sits. In English we say oh-SAH-kah, with the weight on the middle. Osaka is also the name of the wider prefecture around the city, not only the city centre.