When Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura left for Paris early last week for one final lobbying effort for the 2025 World Expo, they left behind a city and prefecture that remain deeply divided over their most basic political goal — the integration of Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka.
Earlier this month, the two leaders and their local political group, Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka), had hoped a joint prefectural and municipal committee of elected officials from all political parties would discuss a report prepared by researchers at Tokyo-based Kaetsu Gakuen.
Their conclusion was that if the city of Osaka abolished its 23 wards and integrated itself into four semi-autonomous zones, the economic effect over a decade would be more than ¥1.1 trillion, much of that from savings due to a more streamlined local bureaucracy. But it was a conclusion that the local chapters of the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito, which have long opposed Osaka Ishin's integration plan, scoffed at.