The Role of Osaka in the History of Japan

Osaka was perfectly situated to serve this role, as the gateway in essence to Kyoto and would do so for the next 1000 years. The authorities of the Imperial government set up warehouses for ships coming from the inland sea. This area was never farmed out to be managed as a shoen or localized tax-free estate but instead managed directly by part of the Imperial bureaucracy. Under the rule of Japan's emperors and later under the rule of the Shoguns, religion and the state were deeply intertwined.