The Kansai region (関西) of Japan, also known as the Kinki region (近畿地方; Kinki-chihō), lies in the middle of Japan's main island, Honshu.

The Ki (畿) in Kinki is also read in Japanese as miyako meaning city or metropolis. It stems from the fact that up until the Edo era Japan's capital was located in this region.

The Kansai region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Mie, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Shiga. The Kansai region is often compared (yet more often contrasted) with the Kanto region, which lies to the east and is comprised primarily of Tokyo and the surrounding area.

Whereas the Kanto region is symbolic of standardization throughout Japan (from the government to economics to the language), the Kansai region displays many more idiosyncracies through the culture in Kyoto, the merchantilism of Osaka, the history of Nara, the internationality of Kobe, and the distinct dialect (Kansai-ben) heard through the seven prefectures.

The region has three airports:

• Kansai International Airport, near Osaka, which handles little domestic traffic and all of the international traffic
• Osaka International Airport, in Itami and Toyonaka, handles most of the domestic traffic
• Kobe Airport, near Kobe, an airport under construction, which will handle domestic traffic

History

Kinai (畿内) is a historical region of Japan. Its name literally means "inside the capital." It consisted of the following five provinces: Yamato, Yamashiro, Kawachi, Settsu and Izumi.

Nowadays, the region is usually referred to as Kinki or Kansai

Dialect

The dialect of the people of the Kansai, called Kansai-ben in Japanese, could be compared to the Boston or New England accent in contrast with the more typical United States English accent. They have their own variations of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar which are unique to the region.

Some Japanese feel that Kansai people speak in a very stern and direct tone, and that it sounds menacing, and almost angry. On the other hand, there are many famous Japanese comedians from Kansai, presumably because some Japanese find their way of talking to be very funny, even when talking about serious things. They also have their own words, such as ōkini (おおきに), which means "thanks".

This dialect is especially strong in cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Otsu.

Universities in the Kansai Area

• Doshisha University
• Kansai University [1] (http://www.kansai-u.ac.jp/English/index-e.htm)
• Kansai Gaidai University
• Kinki University [2] (http://ccpc01.cc.kindai.ac.jp/english/index.htm)
• Kobe University
• Konan University [3] (http://www.konan-u.ac.jp/english/indexE.html)
• Kyoto Sangyo University [4] (http://www3.kyoto-su.ac.jp/index-e.html)
• Kyoto University
• Kwansei Gakuin University [5] (http://www.kwansei.ac.jp/english/index_english.html) (the name is a variant romanization of Kansai)
• Osaka University
• Osaka University of Foreign Studies [6] (http://www.osaka-gaidai.ac.jp/e-index.html)
• Osaka City University
• Osaka Prefecture University [7] (http://www.osakafu-u.ac.jp/kikaku/etest/index-e.html)
• Ritsumeikan University
• Ryukoku University [8] (http://www.ryukoku.ac.jp/english/index.html)

See also

• Geography of Japan
• List of regions in Japan
• naa (なぁ or なー, Osaka dialect) -- One of the ten non-English words that were voted hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company.

External links

• Wikitravel: Kansai (http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Kansai)