How a Tiny Osaka Town Became One of Kansai’s Happiest Places

Despite its small dimension, the city has earned excessive reward for being “a calm, family-friendly place,” with many residents citing its robust sense of neighborhood and supportive atmosphere for elevating kids.

The newest Kansai Happiness Ranking launched by Daito Trust Construction, based mostly on responses from roughly 150,000 Kansai residents to the query “Are you happy living where you are?”, has been printed yearly since 2021. While the highest two spots—Ashiya and Nishinomiya—stay unchanged, Tajiri’s sharp rise stands out among the many area’s municipalities.

Located close to Kansai International Airport, Tajiri is Osaka’s second-smallest municipality by space. Around its solely practice station, Nankai Tetsudo’s Minami-Sano Station, the absence of enormous buying malls or high-rise buildings provides the city a peaceable, small-town environment. Residents say that’s a part of its attraction: “It’s easy to get around on foot or by bike, and raising children here feels safe and convenient,” one mom mentioned.

The city has additionally launched distinctive welfare packages. Starting this fiscal 12 months, households with kids as much as highschool age obtain a bag of rice—round 4 kilograms—each two months, in addition to premium buying vouchers. These initiatives are funded largely by property tax income from Kansai International Airport, a part of which lies inside Tajiri’s jurisdiction and covers over half of the city’s complete space, offering a secure monetary base.

Officials imagine these community-centered insurance policies have strengthened residents’ sense of safety and satisfaction. “We want to keep building on what works and aim even higher,” one native chief mentioned. With its small inhabitants permitting for versatile and speedy administrative selections, Tajiri’s intently related neighborhood seems to have turned compactness itself right into a supply of happiness.

Source: Television OSAKA NEWS