There are many companies listed on the First Section of the stock exchange that originated in Osaka and still maintain their headquarters there.
There are also many outstanding companies headquartered in Osaka that have deliberately chosen not to go public.
I believe that Osaka has been disparaged far more than it deserves as a result of the mutually reinforcing effects of the mass media—particularly television—being excessively and unnecessarily concentrated in Tokyo, and the provincial mentality of the entertainers and comedians who flock to them, believing that going to Tokyo and making money there are the prerequisites for success.
Six or seven years ago, Nikkei ran a series entitled “Kansai People of Today”…When a female singer popular among young people wrote that “What is good about Osaka is that it does not change,” I felt so strongly that I sent her a piece of my writing to offer her a word of admonition.
Ms. ○○, Osaka has now changed a great deal…One in twenty people is on public assistance, and the mayor is talking about building a soccer stadium in Umeda.
This is by no means an attack on her.
All those in a similar position should realize that when people who regard Tokyo as the place to get ahead and consequently come to live there speak about Osaka, there is no truth in what they say.
They should realize that they are only leading Osaka astray.
What you should be discussing are the problems of Tokyo, where you now make your homes.
Try looking up the number of First Section-listed companies that are headquartered in Osaka—even now.
You will be surprised.
Kansai is not a place built on the likes of Yoshimoto comedians.
These outstanding companies representing Japan…The large corporations, led by Hankyu, with their broad-minded spirit and tremendous underlying strength…The concentration of some of Japan’s finest intellects, led by Osaka University, and Osaka City Hall, which was once among the most capable municipal administrations in Japan…
Outstanding students from Osaka University’s Faculty of Economics used to choose Sumitomo Bank first and Osaka City Hall second as their places of employment…
The community of Semba, with its generous spirit and quiet elegance.
It goes without saying that these are the things on which the city is built.
It is simply that the mass media—particularly television—and those in Tokyo, or people throughout Japan with a mental age of twelve, whose level of understanding is so abysmal that television is the source of all their knowledge, do not understand this.