The Kansai region, situated roughly at the heart of the Japanese Archipelago with the Japan Sea to the north, the Seto Inland Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the south, is home to some 24 million people. Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest fresh-water lake, is in Kansai. The weather is generally mild, with the Nanki and Setouchi areas enjoying warm weather throughout the year and the Japan Sea coastal area experiencing heavy snowfalls in winter. With a varied topography ranging from mountains to plains, Kansai enjoys four distinctive seasons, each exhibiting the rich natural beauty typical of Japan.

For well over millennium from ancient times, Kansai has developed as Japan’s political, economic and cultural center, prospering around the ancient capitals of Osaka, Nara and Kyoto. About 60% of Japan’s National Treasures are to be found in Kansai, five of which have also been designated UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. Kansai is equally well known as the birthplace of Japan’s three principal classical performing arts, Noh, Bunraku and Kabuki, which have been designated UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Japan’s representative traditional arts chanoyu (tea ceremony) and ikebana (flower arrangement) were also found in the Kansai region.

Kansai is conveniently linked with all parts of Japan via overland (including high-speed Shinkansen railway and motorway networks) and air routes. Kansai International Airport, linked with about 30 countries around the world, and Kansai’s two major ports of Osaka and Kobe enable Kansai to serve as a locale of great strategic importance not only in Japan but also in Asia.

Kansai’s gross regional product accounts for about 20% of Japan’s gross domestic product. Kansai’s industrial activities range from electric appliances and machinery to iron and steel, chemicals and textiles, with many international companies based here.

Kansai has a high concentration of universities and research institutes, many of which carry out active high-tech research and development in collaboration with industrial and public sectors in a variety of fields, including IT, biotechnology and robotics Kansai also plays a leading role in global environmental protection in Japan.