Japan

The economic capital of Japan’s Kyushu region, Fukuoka is a city of about 1.5 million people with 2.5 million in the greater metropolitan area, making it the country’s fifth most populous.

It is also one of Japan’s fastest-growing and most dynamic cities. The number of young people in Fukuoka is expanding faster than any other Japanese city, and the metropolis has the highest rate of startups in the country. The metro area’s $100 billion economy is centered around wholesale and retail businesses and the service, food and beverage industries.

Osaka, Japan, is a densely populated center of industry and services. The Osaka prefecture, which is the second smallest in Japan by area, is the third largest in population, with 8.86 million people. With a GDP of ¥37 trillion, the Osaka prefecture’s economy is roughly the size of Austria’s.

With a metropolitan area GDP of about (US) $75 billion and population of about 2.2 million, Sendai is the economic and political capital of Japan’s Tohoku region, the northeastern portion of the country’s mainland. 

Tokyo, the political and financial capital of Japan, is one of the most functional and impressive urban agglomerations in the world. With a population of about 13.5 million, this densely populated urban area houses 11 percent of Japan’s population. The broader Tokyo megalopolis is the most populous in the world, with 37.8 million people.

Tokyo is the most important business center in Japan and one of the most important in the world. It ranks second among global cities in the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within its borders, at 38.

Nagoya is Japan’s third most populous metropolitan area with close to 11 million people. A manufacturing powerhouse, the city of Nagoya accounts for 1 percent of global and 11 percent of domestic GDP.