OSAKA -- At first glance, major Osaka news stories over the past year would give even Santa Claus a bout of depression.
Unemployment at record highs, nearly 15,000 homeless on the streets, the city's humiliating defeat in the race for the 2008 Olympics in July, and, of course, Kansai International Airport, which continues to sink both literally and financially.
But despite all of the bad news, many in Osaka are smiling. The reason has to do with a belief in what is being called in local business circles the USJ effect.
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