EVERYONE has heard of Tokyo and AGREES that the region is Japan's MOST cosmopolitan place! But which is Japan's 2nd MOST cosmopolitan area? Is it Osaka? Nagoya? Fukuoka? Pls discuss.... Thanks... :)

EVERYONE has heard of Tokyo and AGREES that the region is Japan's MOST cosmopolitan place! But which is Japan's 2nd MOST cosmopolitan area? Is it Osaka? Nagoya? Fukuoka? Pls discuss.... Thanks... :)

It's Yokohama. Osaka comes third.

"Yokohama (横浜) is the second largest city in Japan and one of the cities most used to seeing foreigners. "
http://wikitravel.org/en/Yokohama

I think Hiroshima has a very cosmopolitan feel to it, Kobe aswell.

Isn't Yokohama considered part of Greater Tokyo?

Isn't Yokohama considered part of Greater Tokyo?

Yes, technically speaking, it is part of "Greater Tokyo".
Economy experts lump Tokyo and Yokohama together and call them "Greater Tokyo（東京都市圏)" but that's not what Japanese normally think. They are seen diffrently because Japanese tend to think in prefectural unit here, and the city of Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa prefecture and not under Tokyo metropolitan government. Japanese normally use the word "Kanto (metropolitan) region(関東(大都市)圏）" or simply "Capital region(首都圏)" to indicate the region instead of "Greater Tokyo". The word "Greater Tokyo" is only heard among some economy experts.

So, if you are asking about the "city", the second most cosmopolican one is Yokohama. However, if you are asking about the region or "Urban Agglomeration", the second most cosmopolitan area would be "Keihanshin(京阪神)" region centered around Osaka. But we never call the region "Greater Osaka", unlike "Greater Tokyo" because the keihanshin region includes world-famous Kyoto and Kobe in addition to Osaka and each city has its pride and don't allow to be regarded part of Osaka.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keihanshin

EVERYONE has heard of Tokyo and AGREES that the region is Japan's MOST cosmopolitan place! But which is Japan's 2nd MOST cosmopolitan area? Is it Osaka? Nagoya? Fukuoka? Pls discuss.... Thanks... :)


I live in Nagoya and I have to say either Nagoya or Hamamatsu. I got off at a station today and it was 70% brazillian or african or basically non japanese. even the kids in japanese uniforms were non japanese! was really cool

Osaka,my suggestionhttp://www.photosnag.com/img/4685/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gif

It has to be Osaka or the Kansai region in general. I always look at it as the 2nd city.

Yokohama is basically a suburb of Tokyo.

Yokohama is basically a suburb of Tokyo.

^^ That's a disservice to Yokohama. The city is part of Greater Tōkyō, for sure, but that doesn't necessarily make it a "suburb," as it has a lot of functions and responsibilities that make it an urban center in its own right. After all, the city has a population of 3.67 million--way beyond a suburb. Yokohama is best thought of as a satellite city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_city)--i.e., a city that historically developed separately but was later absorbed into Tōkyō. Other examples are Chiba (pop. 955,000) and Saitama (1.21 million).

^^ That's a disservice to Yokohama. The city is part of Greater Tōkyō, for sure, but that doesn't necessarily make it a "suburb," as it has a lot of functions and responsibilities that make it an urban center in its own right. After all, the city has a population of 3.67 million--way beyond a suburb. Yokohama is best thought of as a satellite city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_city)--i.e., a city that historically developed separately but was later absorbed into Tōkyō. Other examples are Chiba (pop. 955,000) and Saitama (1.21 million).

You have a good point in this one. I called it a suburb since Tokyo is the urban core of this region.

Anyway, true that Yokohama is part of the Greater Tokyo area or the Kanto region is its an economic centre as well.