Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka

Sumiyoshi-ku (住吉区^?) is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. It is located on the southern part of the Uemachi Plateau, in the southernmost part of Osaka City, and is separated from Sakai City's Sakai-ku and Kita-ku by the Yamato River. There are six rail lines, and three main thoroughfares - Abiko-Suji and Abeno-Suji, which run north-south through the centre of the ward - Abeno-Suji, continues north through the area of Tennoji - and Nagai Koen-Dori, which runs east-west and connects the area with the port to the west. The northern part of Sumiyoshi-ku is a residential area which is a continuation of the southern part of Abeno-ku. The Tezukayama 1-Chome neighbourhood in Abeno-ku, and Tezukayama-naka and Tezukayama-nishi neighbourhoods in Sumiyoshi-ku are upper-class residential areas. South of this, around the Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, are the Sumiyoshi and Kamisumiyoshi neighbourhoods, home to many long established local families. Surrounding these are the middle-class residential neighbourhoods of Shimizugaoka, Suminoe, Oriono, Minamisumiyoshi, Yamanouchi, and Nagai, which lies at the eastern end of the ward. Sumiyoshi-ku is home to about 157,000 residents, and has a population density of 16,800 people per square kilometer.

In ancient times, the kanji combination for the current day Sumiyoshi, 住吉, was pronounced Suminoe, and even appeared in Man'yōshū (8th-century Japanese poetry). At present, Sumiyoshi, Suminoe, and Sumie represent different area names.

Suminoe no Tsu (Suminoe Port), which in ancient times was located south of Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, was home to Japan's first international port, and until Naniwa no Tsu (Naniwa Port) was constructed, it was the country's international point of contact. The Japanese envoy to the Sui and T'ang Dynasties of China departed there, and it was also Japan's portal to the Silk Road. Importantly, Buddhism was also introduced to Japan (via China and Korea) through this port.

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