The heart of Japan’s western Kansai region, the city of Osaka is about 500 kilometers from Tokyo, two and a half hours away on the fastest Shinkansen train. Around 500 years ago, Osaka took its first steps toward becoming the great metropolis it is today, when the samurai lord Hideyoshi Toyotomi built Osaka Castle. As the city developed its own culture and flourished as a trade hub, it became second only to Edo (now Tokyo) in major metropolitan status; Osaka’s influence on Japanese food culture is so significant that the city is nicknamed “the nation’s kitchen,” and regional cuisine from all over Japan can be found in Osaka.