The settlement of medieval Kizu, which is identified as Naniwa Ward, Osaka City, is famous for being the site of fierce battles in the Osaka Hongan-ji War between Nobunaga Oda and Osaka Hongan-ji, but today the terrain has undergone a major transformation. It is difficult to know what it looked like in the past. Therefore, based on the recently announced research on the restoration of the topography and environment based on the compilation of excavation surveys of the Kizu area, by adding information such as maps of the early modern period and the place names of the Kizu area that can be found in historical documents, we will be able to identify the period from the medieval period to the early modern period, further investigation was conducted on the topographical transformation around Kizu, and it was speculated that the geographical conditions of Kizu changed from near the seaside to inland. In addition, in order to know the social situation of medieval Kizu, I examined the activities of the Hongan-ji sect in Kizu. As a result, I pointed out that there were two branch temples and influential direct followers in this area in the 16th century at the latest, and that Kizu-no-so was in close contact with Osaka Hongan-ji. It is believed that the above situation surrounding Kizu was the precondition for becoming a fierce battlefield in the Osaka Hongan-ji War.

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The author, based on the situation of the concentration of remains and artifacts in the south bank of the Okawa River and the area around Shitennoji Temple on the results of recent researches on the Naniwa Palace Site and the presumed Naniwa-kyo Capital area, mentioned that the distribution of remains and artifacts in the former area expanded to the west over time, and that development progressed further north to watersheds of the old Nakatsu River and rivers from the Hokusetsu Mountains such as Mikuni River from results of the excavation. From the viewpoint that the bustle in the Naniwa area after the latter half of the Nara period already shifted from the palace area on the Uemachi Upland to this area, the author examined the estimated location of Naniwa Port Site and the Settsu provincial Capital, referring to related historical documents. The fact that the important ritual rites of Naniwa, such as Yasoshima-matsuri and the Rituals related to dismissal of Saio, which could be traced back to at least the Nara period, survived as rituals of royal authority, although their forms changed, showed that ancient Naniwa always developed with the sea in mind. Based on this understanding, the author questioned the positioning of Naniwa Palace Site and Capital Site as “Sub-Capital”.

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Based on the “Shopping guidebooks on Osaka” of Edo and Meiji Era, distribution and change of the confectionery shops were considered. The following trends were shown; although distribution of the confectionery shops in the second half of the 18th century inclined toward the Kitasenba (North Senba), in the 19th century, it changed so that it might be distributed over whole Osaka. And the confectionery shops of the 18th century asked the Kitasenba with much wealthy for the customer. After the Bunsei era (the 19th century), the amount of supply of sugar increased, confectionery spread and the general public could also get confetti, candied food, etc. It was surmised that the confectionery shops spread to whole Osaka, when the consumer of confectionery was expanded also except the wealthy.

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