Overview
- The Japan Innovation Party decided on a four special‑ward design on August 6 and will present the proposal to the prefecture‑city statutory council on August 7.
- Only Ishin is taking part in the statutory council, so the party’s plan is expected to be formally adopted within that council process.
- The four wards are organized around Shin‑Osaka, Umeda, Namba and Tennoji with boundary changes from the 2020 blueprint and will each hold about 0.53 million to 0.88 million residents.
- Ishin based its choice on public opinion polls and questionnaires of city‑elected members and now aims to hold a residents' referendum on the plan next spring on the same day as the governor election.
- The plan revisits a four‑ward approach that voters narrowly rejected in 2020, leaving uncertain public support and making the upcoming referendum the key test of voter acceptance and the city’s future governance and finances.