This list is incomplete. Many changes are missing.
Osaka before 1881
1868 (Boshin war/Meiji restoration) – Osaka is established as prefecture (-fu) in succession to the shogunate administration in Osaka (bugyō→saibansho).
August 1868 (sixth month, Meiji 1) –
Sakai (previously shogunate city Sakai and shogunate domain in Izumi province) is established/separated from Osaka as prefecture (-ken).
1869 –
Kawachi (previously shogunate lands in Kawachi province) is established/separated from Osaka as prefecture (-ken).
1869 –
Settsu (previously shogunate lands in Settsu province; later renamed →Toyosaki) is established/separated from Osaka as prefecture (-ken).
1871/72 (Abolition of domains and first wave of prefectural mergers) – The prefectures
Takatsuki and
Asada are merged into Osaka. After consolidation, Osaka covers the Eastern part of Settsu province.
1871/72 (Abolition of domains and first wave of prefectural mergers) – The prefectures
Hakata,
Kishiwada, Yoshimi and
Tannan are merged into Sakai. After consolidation, Sakai encompasses all of Izumi and Kawachi provinces without exclaves/enclaves.
1887 – Nara prefecture is split off from Osaka prefecture.
District mergers
This list is incomplete. Some mergers are missing.
1878–80 (Reactivation of districts as administrative units, establishment of urban districts) – Osaka is subdivided into four urban districts (-ku) and seven [rural] districts (-gun) from ancient Settsu province. Sakai consists of one urban district and four [rural] districts from ancient Izumi province, 16 districts from Kawachi and 15 districts from Yamato (becomes Nara in 1887).
This list is incomplete. Most mergers are missing.
Establishment of modern municipalities 1889/1896
After the modern municipalities (cities, towns and villages) were introduced and the Great Meiji mergers performed in 1889 and after the 1896
#District mergers, Osaka consisted of:
2 [district-independent] cities (-shi)
Four urban districts (Higashi-ku, Nishi-ku, Minami-ku, Kita-ku) become part of the new
Osaka City(Ōsaka-shi) in 1889.
The urban district Sakai (Sakai-ku) becomes
Sakai City(Sakai-shi) in 1889.
On February 1, 2005 - The town of
Mihara (from
Minamikawachi District) was merged into the expanded city of Sakai. Since then, Sakai has been split into wards of which
Mihara-ku is one.