A propos de Kansai
The Kansai region is the cultural and historical heart of Japan: it includes both Osaka and Kyoto, and also the Seto Inland Sea towards Kobe and Himeji, and Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest freshwater lake. It has four of Japan’s national parks, and other picturesque areas including Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture and Awaji Island in Hyōgo.
-
Kyoto
-
Osaka
-
Kobe
-
Himeji
-
Amanohashidate
Compared to the Kanto region, the cities and aread of Kansai are more diverse. Kyoto is the city of culture; Osaka the city of commerce and business; Kobe as a port city is open and cosmopolitan. It could even be said a rivalry has existed between Osaka, historically the merchant city, and the power base of Tokyo, since the Edo period.
The Osaka accent is distinctive, and in fact the whole region has a dialect called Kansai-ben, with its own variations of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.