Everyday Life of Osaka in the 1970s Through Amazing Black and White Photos

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Tokyo and Yokohama. It is also the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan and the 10th largest urban area in the world.

Osaka is a major financial center of Japan, and it is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in Japan. The city is home to the Osaka Exchange as well as the headquarters of multinational electronics corporations such as Panasonic and Sharp. Osaka is an international center of research and development and is represented by several major universities, notably Osaka University, Osaka Metropolitan University, and Kansai University.

Famous landmarks in the city include Osaka Castle, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Dōtonbori, Tsūtenkaku in Shinsekai, Tennōji Park, Abeno Harukas, Sumiyoshi Taisha Grand Shrine, and Shitennō-ji, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Japan.

These amazing black and white photos were taken by Soyokaze Ojisan that documented everyday life of Osaka in the 1970s.

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America Fair in Osaka, Japan, on March 25, 1950

By 1950, the U.S. occupation of Japan was in its fifth year, so the Japanese newspaper Asahi Press sponsored the America Fair to infuse locals with a deeper grasp of the American way of life.

Encompassing 50 acres in Osaka, Japan, the fair displayed large-scale models of New York’s skyline, Abraham Lincoln’s log-cabin birthplace, and the Liberty Bell, among a slew of other icons.

The fair’s 2 million visitors gaped at those as well as replicas of additional landmarks, including the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty, and Mount Rushmore, with its faces carved to include traditionally Asian features.

Japanese visitors view a Mount Rushmore replica at the America Fair. (Photo by Takamasa Inamura/Library of Congress)

Three kimono clad Japanese girls sit at the base of a reproduction of the Statue of Liberty at the America Fair.