News Japan Power Cities: Osaka tops Japan city ranking

A ranking by the Mori Memorial Foundation studied government-designated major cities and prefectural capitals across Japan except for Tokyo in six fields including "economy and business" and "research and development" and converted the data into numerical values, and calculated the cities' overall ranking. Just like in 2022, Osaka tops the ranking.

In addition to winning first place in the categories of "economy and business" and "transportation and access," Osaka also improved its score in the "living and residential" field. Yokohama, which ranked fourth last year, and Nagoya, which placed fifth the previous year, came in second and third this time around.

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Kyoto, which ranked second last year, dropped to fifth place after losing points in the "culture and exchange" category, which had been its strongest point. The city won the most international conferences and exhibitions last year, but fell to third in 2023. The number of visits made to Kyoto for outings and sightseeing also declined. Meanwhile Fukuoka, a strong tourist draw in Japan's Kyushu region, dropped from third place in 2022 to fourth place. The city lost points in activities to attract tourists and the number of international conferences and exhibitions.

Kyoto fell due its low points in...culture?
Good God. That's like France losing points due to bad food.

Majestic said:

Kyoto fell due its low points in...culture?
Good God. That's like France losing points due to bad food.

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I assume they refer to the fact Kyoto had fewer visitors during the pandemic and suffers from other issues as well (lacking public transportation, etc.). Also, the city is practically bankrupt. There should be more conclusive info in their PDFs:

Spent a few days cycling in Kyoto and I thought in one place it was cool along the river, but other then that, expensive, people there not so friendly. I liked Nara much better. People are friendly and helpful and prices not so bad at all. Cycling in Nara was easy to get around in also.

musicisgood said:

Spent a few days cycling in Kyoto and I thought in one place it was cool along the river, but other then that, expensive, people there not so friendly. I liked Nara much better. People are friendly and helpful and prices not so bad at all. Cycling in Nara was easy to get around in also.

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I'll be in Nara later this week as we make the yearly trek back to visit family in Japan.

I quite like Nara City and the areas around it. Its has a more relaxed feeling than Osaka or Kyoto, at least for me.

Complaining about the people of Kyoto being less than friendly is like complaining that the British monarchy is out of touch. They can't help it. I wish I could remember exactly, but I think I remember reading once that when visiting people in Kyoto, when they pour you some kind of tea (houjicha?) it means it's time for you to leave. There are probably so many historical little rules like that that it's really hard to feel welcome unless you grew up in the local culture.

Mikawa Ossan said:

I think I remember reading once that when visiting people in Kyoto, when they pour you some kind of tea (houjicha?) it means it's time for you to leave.

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Ochazuke (お茶漬)