Osaka and Tokyo, what are the differences?
Working outside of Tokyo
When you think about Japan, what is the city that pops up first in your mind? For most people, it might be Tokyo. Okay, maybe Kyoto. If you know a lot about Japan, you may think of some other cities. However, Tokyo actually has only 10% of the national population of Japan, and about 14,037,872 people live in Tokyo as of September 2021. (To be precise, as of August 2021, The total population of Japan was 125.3 million people. Therefore, 11% of the total population resides in Tokyo.)
Yes, 10% may be quite high compared to New York City (approximately 2.5% of the U.S. citizen resides in New York City) and when you include the entire Tokyo metropolitan area that number increases even more. The Tokyo metropolitan area is home to 37,339,804 people which makes it the largest metropolitan area in the entire world. Now when you look at the percentage, a whopping 30% of the entire national population of Japan resides in this area.
Therefore, for some people, the entire image of Japan may be just Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan area is big enough, that you can have fun, work like crazy and interact with a diverse group of people. However, 70% of Japanese citizens live outside the Tokyo metropolitan area and there is so much more to Japan than just Tokyo.
What is Osaka actually like?
If you are thinking of working or living somewhere outside of Tokyo, but still want to live in a big city, Osaka is a great option. Osaka is located in the heart of West Japan and is placed in between Kyoto and Kobe. With Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka combined, this metropolitan area is called the Keihanshin area. It is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan and the population is 19,302,746 people. That is approximately 15% of the total population. (Combine Keihanshin and Tokyo metropolitan area, and you have about 45% of the national population of Japan living in these areas! In other words, about half of the Japanese people live in either Keihanshin or Tokyo metropolitan area.)
With such a large population, there are plenty of opportunities for jobs in a variety of fields here. Any job you wish to have, you can pretty much expect to find it here.
Which is better? Osaka vs Tokyo
What companies are in Osaka
As mentioned above you can pretty much find any job you want in Keihanshin metropolitan area. However, a lot of corporate headquarters are located in Tokyo, and if you wanted to work at the headquarters, it might be better to work in Tokyo. Companies like Panasonic, Kubota, Keyence, Daikin, Daihatsu have their headquarters in Osaka. Compared to Tokyo, a lot of companies that have their headquarters in Osaka tend to be in the manufacturing industry.
If you are thinking of working at a foreign company based in Japan, Tokyo has a much wider selection. Usually, foreign companies place one office in Japan, to oversee the entire country. Therefore, there is no need to expand to other cities. However, more and more companies foreign companies are opening up offices in the Keihanshin metropolitan area. Foreign companies that placed their Japanese headquarters in the Keihanshin metropolitan area include, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Procter & Gamble, Bayer, Nestle. A lot of Chemical related foreign companies tend to place their Japanese headquarters in the Keihanshin metropolitan area.
What is it like working in Osaka?
To be honest, working in Osaka is not that different from working in Tokyo. During the day, your commute to work, work at the office till night and go back home, so you won’t feel any difference in your daily life. In fact, you may feel that the trains are less crowded in Osaka, compared to those overcrowded trains in Tokyo. In Osaka, the Midosuji line tends to get quite crowded, but other lines such as JR, Hanshin, and Hankyu lines are less crowded.
Osaka might be a better place for you if you like to travel and do sightseeing in Japan. Osaka is neighboring Kyoto and Nara, two of the ancient cities (capital) of Japan. They are both about a 30-minute train ride from Osaka. Also, if you like outdoor activities, Osaka is definitely has a much better environment than Tokyo. Since the urban area in Tokyo is so widespread, it takes a long time to access the mountains or ocean (beach). However, Osaka is surrounded by mountains and their beaches in Kobe and in southern Osaka. Also, you get to go to Awaji island in less than 1-hour car drive where virtually you get infinite shorelines of beaches. Biwako is another great outdoor destination for people living in Osaka. You can pump up your inflatable boat and relax on Lake Biwa with your friends. Lake Biwa is also only about a 1-hour car drive.
Other than that, you can probably save a little more money than if you lived in Tokyo. Housing prices are definitely much cheaper, and the cost of goods, in general, is slightly cheaper than in Tokyo.
Choose the best place for you in Japan!
you can get used to living anywhere
Tokyo is a great place to live and work, especially if you have never come to Japan before. The sheer size of the city will blow your mind and you will have a blast living in Tokyo. However, if you want to experience Japan to the fullest, you should definitely consider living outside of Tokyo. Osaka and Tokyo are both great places to work and live, so it basically depends on you. If you already tried out Tokyo and thinking of other places to live, we would definitely recommend you to work and live in Osaka!
