Professional Japanese Interpretation Services

Japanese Interpreter Osaka | Professional Interpretation & Translation Services

The Living Spirit of Osaka Merchants (Shōnin Seishin): A Deep History and Practical Guide for Doing Business in Kansai 2026–2027

By Makoto Matsuo – Founder, Osaka Language Solutions

If you’ve ever sat across from a Kansai business partner and felt something different — warmer, faster, more human, sometimes harder to pin down — that’s not an accident.

That’s Shōnin Seishin — the merchant spirit of Osaka and Kansai — alive and well in 2026, more than 600 years after it first took root in the free city of Sakai.

I was born and raised in Osaka. I grew up hearing “Mōkarimakka?” as a greeting instead of stiff “O-genki desu ka?”. I learned early that in Kansai, a joke during negotiation isn’t disrespect — it’s the fastest way to see whether someone has a heart you can trust.

And after more than a decade helping international executives, investors, and companies navigate Kansai business (from post-Expo IR partnerships to pharma GMP audits and deep-tech joint ventures), I can tell you with certainty:

The people who succeed here are not the ones who master “Japanese business etiquette.” They are the ones who master Kansai business culture.

This guide is my attempt to share that living spirit with you — not as an academic textbook, but as a practical map from someone who still lives it every day.

We’ll walk through the history (from Sakai’s medieval autonomy to today’s biotech and IR boom), see how the merchant values of pragmatism, speed, mutual benefit, and warmth have survived every era, and — most importantly — explore what this means for you in 2026–2027 when you sit down at the table with a Kansai partner.

Because understanding Shōnin Seishin is not just cultural knowledge. It is the difference between a deal that closes quickly with real trust… and one that quietly fades away.

Let’s begin where it all started — in the free city of Sakai.

The Medieval Crucible: Sakai and the Birth of Autonomous Commercialism

If you want to understand why Kansai business still feels different — warmer, faster, more human — you have to go back to a time when Osaka didn’t even exist yet.

That time is the medieval period, and the place is Sakai — a free city that stood almost completely on its own during the chaotic Muromachi (1336–1573) and Sengoku (1467–1590) eras.

Sakai was never ruled by a single daimyo the way most Japanese cities were. Instead, it was governed by a council of thirty-six wealthy merchant families called the egōshū — a kind of merchant oligarchy that ran the city like a small republic. They built moats, hired mercenaries, collected taxes, and issued legal notices — all without a military lord looking over their shoulder.

Foreign visitors in the 1500s compared Sakai to the independent maritime cities of Italy — Venice, Genoa, or Florence. And in many ways, it was: a place where commerce, not swords, decided who held power.

This wasn’t just politics. It was the birth of something deeper: the idea that merchants could govern themselves, protect their own interests, and thrive through trade rather than force.

Sakai’s location made it possible. Sitting on the edge of Osaka Bay, it became the gateway for trade with Ming Dynasty China, Portugal, Spain, and later the Netherlands. Silk, porcelain, guns, spices — everything flowed through Sakai.

And with trade came technology. In 1543, the first firearms arrived in Japan via Portuguese traders — right into Sakai. Within a generation, the city became the nation’s leading center for matchlock gun production. Warlords from across Japan sent orders to Sakai smiths. The city that once traded tea and silk was now supplying the tools of war.

But Sakai’s merchants never let war define them. At the same time they were making guns, they were also perfecting something far more peaceful: the tea ceremony (chanoyu).

Sen no Rikyū, born in Sakai in 1522, took the simple act of sharing tea and turned it into a profound social ritual. In his tiny tea rooms, the rigid hierarchies of the Sengoku period were temporarily suspended. Samurai, merchants, even warlords like Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi sat on the same tatami, drank from the same bowl, and spoke as equals — at least for that moment.

This is where the merchant spirit really took shape: the belief that human connection, mutual respect, and shared experience could create more value than force or title alone.

The tea room was the original “meeting room” where business and politics happened without the usual barriers. It was pragmatic, intimate, and deeply human — exactly the qualities that still define Kansai negotiations today.

But freedom comes at a price. In 1568, Oda Nobunaga marched into Sakai demanding submission. The city resisted — and paid dearly. By 1582, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had fully brought Sakai under central control. Many of the most talented merchants and artisans quietly moved north to the new castle town of Osaka, carrying their spirit with them.

That move — from Sakai to Osaka — is the real beginning of the modern Kansai merchant story. The egōshū council was gone, but the values weren’t: self-reliance, pragmatism, trade over force, and a quiet belief that good relationships create more lasting wealth than any army.

And those values? They never left. They just waited for the right moment to re-emerge — stronger than ever in 2026–2027.

The Edo Period – Tenka no Daidokoro and the Rationalization of Trade

When the Sengoku chaos finally ended and Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan in 1603, Osaka didn’t fade away — it transformed.

The new shogunate designated Osaka as tenryō — direct shogunal territory — free from any local daimyo. This simple decision gave Osaka something priceless: breathing room to become the commercial heart of the nation.

They called it Tenka no Daidokoro — the Nation’s Kitchen.

Every domain in Japan sent its annual rice tax to Osaka. It arrived in huge warehouses (kurayashiki) owned by powerful merchant families. From there, rice was sold, traded, loaned, and turned into the lifeblood of the entire economy.

And right in the middle of this rice economy, something extraordinary happened: the world’s first organized futures market was born at the Dojima Rice Exchange.

Merchants didn’t just trade physical rice — they traded “rice coupons” (choaimai) representing future harvests. This was sophisticated financial engineering centuries before Wall Street existed. It required an incredible level of trust (shin’yo), credit, and mutual accountability — values that are still the backbone of Kansai business today.

This is where the merchant spirit really matured. The great houses — Mitsui, Sumitomo, Konoike — didn’t survive by luck or force. They survived by following strict family precepts (kakun) that were passed down like sacred texts.

Here are a few that still echo in modern Osaka:

Sumitomo Founder’s Precepts (Monjuin Shigaki) “In business, prioritize trust over the pursuit of profit. Never chase easy gains.”

Mitsui House Laws “The long-term prosperity of the house depends on simplicity, frugality, and placing the harmony of the family above all else.”

And the most famous of all — a principle that came out of nearby Omi but was quickly adopted across Osaka:

Sanpo Yoshi — “Good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society.”

That’s not just a slogan. It’s a worldview: profit is virtuous only when everyone benefits. Short-term greed destroys long-term wealth.

This practical, relationship-first philosophy turned Osaka into the financial center of Japan. By the mid-Edo period, the city was home to the largest concentration of wealth and commerce in the country. While Edo (Tokyo) was the seat of political power, Osaka was the engine room.

And the merchant spirit learned something crucial during these centuries: Trust is faster than force. A handshake with someone you respect can move mountains quicker than any daimyo’s sword.

That lesson never left us. In 2026–2027, when you sit down with a Kansai partner — whether for an IR stakeholder meeting, a pharma GMP audit, or a deep-tech joint venture — you are still sitting in the shadow of the Dojima Rice Exchange. The same values are at play: speed after trust is built, mutual benefit above all, and a quiet belief that good relationships create more lasting value than any contract clause.

The next chapter takes us to the Meiji Restoration — when Osaka’s merchants had to reinvent themselves once again, this time against the rise of modern Tokyo.

The Meiji Transformation: Godai Tomoatsu and the Industrial Soul

The end of the Edo period in 1868 could have been the end of Osaka’s merchant story.

The Tokugawa shogunate fell. The new Meiji government moved the capital to Tokyo (formerly Edo), and the old rice-based economy that had made Osaka the Nation’s Kitchen suddenly lost its foundation. Many feared Osaka would become a provincial backwater.

But the merchant spirit didn’t die — it adapted. And no one embodied that adaptation more than Godai Tomoatsu.

Godai was born a low-ranking samurai in Satsuma (now Kagoshima), but he was never really a samurai at heart. He studied Western learning, traveled to Europe and America, and returned convinced that Japan’s future lay in commerce and industry — not in swords or status.

In 1869, he arrived in Osaka and immediately set to work rebuilding the city’s commercial soul for the modern age.

He founded:

• The Osaka Chamber of Commerce (1878) — giving merchants a unified voice
• The Osaka Stock Exchange (1878) — bringing modern finance to the old rice-trading heartland
• The Osaka Commercial Training Institute (1885) — now Osaka Metropolitan University — to train the next generation in practical business skills

Godai’s philosophy was simple but revolutionary: commerce is a form of national service. Merchants weren’t just chasing profit — they were building Japan’s future.

This was the moment the old merchant spirit received a new mission: to drive Japan’s industrial revolution. Osaka became the “Manchester of the Orient” — a nickname earned through textiles, shipbuilding, and machinery. By the early 20th century, companies like Toyobo, Kanebo, and Matsushita (later Panasonic) were born or grew dramatically in Osaka.

The city briefly surpassed Tokyo in population and economic power. The merchant class had done it again: turned crisis into opportunity through pragmatism, speed, and mutual benefit.

But the real legacy of Godai and the Meiji merchants is this: they proved that Shōnin Seishin could evolve. The same values that once traded rice coupons at Dojima now built factories, banks, and universities. Profit was still important, but it had to serve something bigger — society, nation, and long-term harmony.

That spirit never disappeared. In 2026–2027, when you negotiate with a Kansai company — whether it’s for a deep-tech partnership, an energy transition project, or an IR-related development — you are still dealing with the descendants of those Meiji merchants. They still value speed after trust is built. They still believe in Sanpo Yoshi (good for seller, buyer, and society). They still see business as a human endeavor first, not a bureaucratic one.

The next chapter takes us through the 20th century — the war, the miracle, the bubble, the lost decades — and how Osaka’s merchant soul survived every challenge to emerge stronger in Reiwa.

The 20th Century: War, Miracle, Bubble, and the Reiwa Reset

The 20th century tested Osaka’s merchant spirit like no other period in history.

Two world wars, firebombings that left much of the city in ashes, the post-war miracle, the 1980s bubble, the long decades of stagnation — through every crisis, the core values survived: pragmatism, speed, mutual benefit, and a stubborn belief that human relationships outlast any economic storm.

The War and the Ashes (1937–1945)

World War II hit Osaka hard. The city was Japan’s second-largest industrial center, and Allied air raids in 1945 destroyed over 30% of the urban area. The warehouses of the old merchant houses, the textile mills, the family offices — much of it was gone.

But the spirit didn’t burn. Many merchant families rebuilt quietly after the surrender, using the same principles that had carried them through Sakai’s sieges centuries earlier: frugality, trust, and long-term thinking. They didn’t complain about the destruction. They started again — smaller, smarter, faster.

The Post-War Miracle: Osaka Leads the Recovery (1950s–1970s)

The Korean War (1950–1953) brought a sudden boom in special procurement orders from the U.S. military. Osaka’s surviving factories switched to producing trucks, textiles, and machinery overnight. The city became the engine of Japan’s economic miracle.

This is when the modern giants we know today took root or exploded in size:

• Matsushita Electric (later Panasonic) — Konosuke Matsushita’s “management philosophy” was pure Shōnin Seishin: serve society through business, treat employees as family, pursue profit through harmony.
• Sharp — From humble beginnings making belt buckles, it grew into a global electronics leader.
• Sumitomo and Mitsui — the old Edo houses reinvented themselves as zaibatsu conglomerates, then keiretsu groups, always keeping the family precept of “trust first, profit second.”

By the 1960s, Osaka was once again the economic powerhouse. The 1970 Expo (Asia’s first world’s fair) symbolized the city’s optimism — “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.” The merchant spirit had turned ashes into a global showcase.

The Bubble and the Lost Decades (1980s–2010s)

The late 1980s bubble economy inflated land and stock prices to absurd levels. Many Osaka companies over-expanded. When the bubble burst in 1990, the pain was deep: bankruptcies, headquarters relocations to Tokyo, and a sense that Osaka was losing its edge.

The “Lost Decades” were tough. But the merchant houses that survived did so the old-fashioned way: simplicity, frugality, long-term thinking, and protecting the “ie” (house/family/company) above all.

This period of reflection forced a quiet reset. Osaka began asking itself: “How do we return to our roots while embracing the future?”

The Reiwa Era Revival: Back to the Merchant Spirit (2019–2027)

The transition to Reiwa in 2019 coincided with a renewed pride in Kansai identity. The 2025 Expo became the catalyst — not just an event, but a declaration: Osaka and Kansai are ready to lead again.

Today, in 2026–2027, we see the full return of Shōnin Seishin in modern form:

• Deep Tech & Biotech — Companies like EX-Fusion (laser nuclear fusion), Microwave Chemical (energy-efficient chemical production), and GramEye (AI medical diagnostics) are applying the old values: rapid trial-and-error (“yatteminahare”), social implementation, and mutual benefit.
• IR & Tourism — The MGM Osaka project is merchant pragmatism at scale: turning land into long-term economic engines through partnerships.
• Circular Economy — Textile recycling alliances in Izumiotsu echo the Edo-era waste-minimizing mindset (shimatsu).

The merchant spirit didn’t disappear during the lost decades — it waited. And now it is roaring back, stronger and more global than ever.

The next section brings us to the present and future: how these 600+ years of history show up in the daily reality of doing business in Kansai in 2026–2027.

The Present & Future: How Shōnin Seishin Lives in Kansai Business 2026–2027

We’ve traveled more than 600 years — from the free city of Sakai, through the rice warehouses of Edo, the factories of Meiji, the ashes of war, the miracle of recovery, the bubble, the lost decades, and the Reiwa reset.

Now we arrive at today: 2026–2027.

And here’s the beautiful truth: The merchant spirit never left Osaka. It just waited for the right moment to step forward again — stronger, more global, and more needed than ever.

Shōnin Seishin in 2026–2027: The Core Values Still Alive

1. Pragmatism & Speed (“Yatteminahare” – Just Try It)
   • Modern example: EX-Fusion (laser nuclear fusion startup from Osaka University) didn’t wait for perfect theory. They built prototypes fast, tested, failed, iterated — classic merchant trial-and-error.
   • Business implication: Kansai partners often prefer “let’s prototype it now” over endless planning meetings. If you’re too slow or too bureaucratic, you’ll lose momentum.
2. Mutual Benefit (Sanpo Yoshi – Good for All Three Sides)
   • Modern example: Microwave Chemical’s partnership with Osaka Gas for chemical recycling. They didn’t just sell technology — they built a system where the seller wins, the buyer wins, and society (carbon reduction) wins.
   • Business implication: When negotiating in Kansai, always frame proposals as win-win-win. “Hard price” bargaining is respected — as long as it’s fair and long-term focused.
3. Warmth & Human Connection (Naniwa Bushi)
   • Modern example: In IR stakeholder meetings around Yumeshima, local leaders still open with light Osaka-ben banter. It’s not small talk — it’s a deliberate test of character.
   • Business implication: Rush the rapport, and you’ll feel resistance. Invest in the personal (meals, casual follow-ups, remembering names), and doors open faster.
4. Trust First, Profit Second (Shin’yo)
   • Modern example: GramEye (AI infectious disease diagnostics) grew through partnerships built on trust, not aggressive sales. They shared prototypes early, listened, adjusted — and the deals followed naturally.
   • Business implication: In Kansai, trust is currency. One honest mistake forgiven is worth more than ten perfect contracts with a stranger.

The New Challenges & The Merchant Spirit’s Answer (2026–2027)

The world has changed — deep tech, AI, global supply chains, carbon neutrality goals — but the merchant spirit has already adapted:

• Deep Tech & Biotech Boom → The old “try it fast” mindset powers startups like EX-Fusion and Immunosens.
• IR & Tourism → Yumeshima’s transformation is pure merchant pragmatism: turn land into long-term economic engines through partnerships.
• Circular Economy → Textile recycling in Izumiotsu echoes Edo-era waste-minimizing (shimatsu).
• Global Competition → Kansai firms still win by building real relationships — not just signing contracts.

Practical Advice for Foreign Executives in 2026–2027

If you’re coming to Kansai for business right now, here’s what the 600-year-old merchant spirit would tell you:

1. Lead with warmth — Start with “Mōkarimakka?” or a small Osaka reference. It’s not casual — it’s a trust signal.
2. Embrace speed after trust — Once rapport is built, move fast. “Yatteminahare” is still the fastest way to progress.
3. Frame everything as Sanpo Yoshi — Show how your proposal benefits the seller, buyer, and society.
4. Never rush nemawashi — Allow time for informal pre-alignment. Pushing too hard in the first meeting often backfires.
5. Follow up personally — A quick, warm thank-you note within 24 hours (with a local touch) does more than any formal email.

And most importantly: Bring someone who truly understands this spirit — not just the language, but the heart behind it. Because in Kansai, business isn’t about transactions. It’s about building something lasting — together.

That’s the living legacy of Shōnin Seishin in 2026–2027. And that’s why, after all these centuries, Osaka merchants are still winning.

Practical Implications for Foreign Executives in 2026–2027

So here we are — 2026–2027. The history of Sakai, Dojima, Godai Tomoatsu, the miracle recovery, the bubble, the reset — all of it is still alive every single day in Kansai boardrooms, factories, and negotiation tables.

And if you’re reading this, chances are you’re about to sit across from a Kansai partner — maybe for an IR stakeholder meeting, a deep-tech joint venture, a pharma GMP audit, or a manufacturing tech transfer.

Here’s what the 600+ years of Shōnin Seishin would quietly tell you if it could speak directly:

1. Lead with warmth — it’s not small talk, it’s the fastest trust test

In Osaka, the first 5–10 minutes are sacred. “Mōkarimakka?” isn’t just “How’s business?” — it’s a gentle probe: “Are you someone I can relax with? Do you have a heart?”

Skip this, and you’ll feel the energy shift. Rush it with pure business, and you’ve already lost half the room.

Practical tip: Start with a smile, a light Osaka reference (“I heard the takoyaki here is still the best in Japan”), or even just “Ookini” (thank you in Osaka-ben). It costs nothing and buys you instant warmth.

2. Embrace speed after trust — “Yatteminahare”

Once the relationship feels solid, Kansai partners move fast. They hate unproductive ceremony. They love “just try it” (yatteminahare).

If you spend three meetings building the perfect logical framework, they might already be quietly moving on to someone who said “Let’s prototype it next week.”

Practical tip: After rapport is built, propose concrete next steps quickly — even small pilots or trials. Show you value action over endless planning.

3. Always frame as Sanpo Yoshi — good for all three sides

Kansai merchants still live by this:

• Good for the seller
• Good for the buyer
• Good for society

If your proposal looks like a zero-sum win for you, they’ll feel it instantly — and the warmth will cool.

Practical tip: In every pitch or negotiation, explicitly show the mutual benefit: “This helps your team reduce costs by 30%, gives us stable long-term supply, and advances carbon neutrality for everyone.”

4. Never skip nemawashi — pre-alignment is sacred

Consensus in Kansai happens mostly before the meeting, not during. If you bring a big proposal cold into the room, even if it’s brilliant, you’ll likely meet polite resistance.

Practical tip: Invest in informal pre-meetings, side calls, or casual lunches. Ask open questions: “What would make this project feel right for your team?” A good nemawashi turns the formal meeting into a celebration of already-aligned ideas.

5. Follow up personally — the relationship lives after the meeting

A formal thank-you email is fine in Tokyo. In Kansai, it feels cold.

Send something quick, warm, and personal within 24 hours — reference a joke from the meeting, a shared interest, or a local Osaka detail.

Practical tip: “Thank you for the warm discussion yesterday — I’m still smiling about your takoyaki recommendation. Looking forward to next steps!”

6. Bring someone who really understands — don’t go in alone

Here’s the honest truth from someone who lives this every day: Even if you speak Japanese fluently, the cultural layer is subtle and deep. A missed Osaka-ben signal, a flattened tone, or a rushed nemawashi can silently close doors.

That’s why the smartest foreign executives I work with never come alone. They bring a Kansai-fluent interpreter who doesn’t just translate words — they translate heart, intent, and trust.

Because in Kansai, business isn’t about transactions. It’s about people. It’s about building something that lasts.

And after more than 600 years, the merchant spirit still knows the fastest way to do that.

Final Conclusion + Strong CTA

We’ve walked a long road together — from the free city of Sakai in the 1400s, through the rice warehouses of Dojima, the factories of Meiji, the ashes of war, the miracle of recovery, the bubble, the lost decades, and now here we are in 2026–2027.

And through every single era, one thing has never changed: Osaka’s merchant spirit — Shōnin Seishin — is still alive, still breathing, still winning.

It’s in the way a Kansai partner smiles when he says “kentou shimasu” and you know it’s a gentle no — but delivered with warmth that leaves the door open for next time. It’s in the quick decision to “yatteminahare” once trust is built. It’s in the quiet belief that real profit comes from mutual benefit — Sanpo Yoshi — not from squeezing the other side. It’s in the small, personal follow-up that says “this is about people, not just business.”

In 2026–2027, as Kansai becomes even more global — with the IR opening in 2030, deep-tech startups scaling, pharma clusters expanding, and international partnerships multiplying — this spirit is your greatest advantage.

But here’s the honest truth from someone who lives it every single day: Even the most experienced foreign executives can miss these subtle signals. A tone flattened by AI, a warmth lost in literal translation, a nemawashi moment rushed — these small things quietly close doors that could have stayed wide open.

That’s why the smartest leaders I work with never walk into Kansai alone. They bring someone who doesn’t just speak the language — they speak the heart behind it. Someone who understands that in Osaka, business isn’t about winning the deal today. It’s about building something that lasts for years.

That’s what I’ve been doing for more than a decade at Osaka Language Solutions: Helping global executives, investors, and companies navigate Kansai with the kind of cultural fluency that turns friction into flow, hesitation into handshake, and opportunity into partnership.

If you’re preparing for your next meeting, audit, negotiation, or partnership in Kansai — whether it’s IR-related, pharma, manufacturing, deep tech, or anything else — let me help you get it right.

Take the next step today — completely risk-free:

1. Revisit the full history & practical tips in this guide — bookmark it, share it with your team, use it as your Kansai cultural compass.
2. Schedule your free, no-obligation LRAF consultation — in just 30–45 minutes, I’ll listen to your upcoming engagement, identify the specific cultural, linguistic, and business risks, and recommend the perfect Tier S/A interpreter match (with Kansai fluency and sector expertise) to make sure you walk in prepared and walk out stronger. No pressure, no sales pitch — just honest, insider guidance from someone who was born and raised in this city.

Because in Kansai, the deal isn’t won in the meeting room. It’s won in the moments of real human connection — the ones that have been happening here for over 600 years.

Let’s make sure your next one is one of them.

Thank you for reading this far. It’s been an honor to share this piece of Osaka’s living history with you.

I look forward to helping you succeed here — together.

Makoto Matsuo
Founder/CEO & President, Osaka Language Solutions
Premium Japanese Interpretation & Translation Services
Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Bridging Worlds Since Day One

References

1. Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition official reports. Paid/general attendance: 25,578,986 visitors; total (including staff/stakeholders): 29,017,924 (final figures, October 2025). Source: https://www.expo2025.or.jp (official archives)
2. Asia Pacific Institute of Research (APIR) & Kansai Tourism Bureau. Post-Expo economic ripple effect estimated at ¥3.05 trillion (private-sector analysis, December 2025).
3. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan. Adjusted Expo 2025 economic impact up to ¥3.6 trillion (government estimates, late 2025–early 2026).
4. MGM Osaka official project updates. IR construction status (all elements underway as of late 2025), ¥1.27–1.51 trillion investment, targeted autumn 2030 opening (January 2026). Source: https://mgmosaka.co.jp/en
5. Osaka Language Solutions proprietary cultural & business analyses (2025–2026). Living impact of Shōnin Seishin values (pragmatism, speed, mutual benefit, warmth) on modern Kansai business practices, including IR, deep tech, and pharma partnerships.
6. Historical primary sources & scholarship (various periods):
   • Sakai egōshū council records (Muromachi/Sengoku period) — referenced in Japanese historical studies (e.g., Wakita Osamu’s work on Sakai autonomy).
   • Dojima Rice Exchange futures trading — documented in “The Rice Market of Osaka” (historical economic texts).
   • Sen no Rikyū & tea ceremony — primary records from chanoyu literature.
   • Kakun (family precepts) of Sumitomo, Mitsui, Konoike — original texts preserved in company archives & published collections.
   • Sanpo Yoshi principle — originated with Omi merchants, widely adopted in Osaka (see “Three-Way Satisfaction” in Japanese business ethics studies).
7. Modern Kansai business & startup reports (2025–2026):
   • EX-Fusion, Microwave Chemical, GramEye, Immunosens — startup profiles & interviews (Osaka Innovation Hub, Nikkei Asia).
   • Izumiotsu textile recycling alliances (JEPLAN + Osaka Gas) — sustainability case studies (METI reports).