Abstract
Japan entered its industrial phase of development in 1868 with a bipolar structure. The de facto seat of government was in the Kantō region (focussed on Tokyo) while the cultural and commercial centre was in the Kansai region (focussed on Osaka). Osaka, together with its wider region, has traditionally played a leading role in the Japanese economy and has led the nation's drive towards internationalization. With this background, the paper traces the industrial development of Osaka and the Kansai region, and examines its more recent problem of long-term economic decline relative to Tokyo. Current planning strategies and large-scale infrastructure projects are then discussed at both a national and local level. These are shown to aim at reinforcing Kansai's international and technology functions to be complementary with those of Tokyo.
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