Umeda (Japanese: 梅田) is a major commercial, business, shopping and entertainment district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, where the city's main northern railway termini (Ōsaka Station, Umeda Station) are located. The district's name means "plum field".

In Umeda, there was a historical grave site called Umeda Haka (Umeda Grave), it was one of the seven largest cemeteries of Osaka from the Edo period (1603–1868) until the first twenty years of the Meiji period (1868–1912). In 2020, survey teams for the Umekita redevelopment project discovered ancient burial remains of over 1,500 people. Experts say these remains were of commoners, not the aristocracy. They used several burial styles, both cremated as well as buried with enclosed wooden caskets, barrel-shaped open containers and earthenware coffins called kameganbo (turtle caskets). They found burial items such as pipes, clay dolls, rokusenmon (a set of six coins to pay passage across the Sanzu River which separates the world of the living and the afterlife) and juzudama (rosary-style prayer beads). A stone wall separated a mass grave with skeletons that were only covered by soil. These are suspected to have died in a plague.

Until the 1870s, the area which is now Umeda was agricultural land. The area was reclaimed and filled in by the prefectural government in the 1870s to support the creation of the first Osaka Station. The word "Umeda" was previously written with different kanji characters; 埋田 (English: "buried field") to reflect this history. The name was changed to 梅田 (English: "plum field") without altering the pronunciation, likely due to negative connotations with the previous characters.^{[citation needed]}

The original Osaka Station, a two-story red brick building, was opened in 1874, along with the first railway connecting Osaka and Kobe cities, and in 1876 an additional line to Kyoto. This was essentially the establishment of Umeda as a district. As industry in the area increased at the turn of the century, the station required expansion, so in 1901 the first station was demolished, and a larger station was built in the location where Osaka Station exists in a different form today. Hanshin Umeda station was constructed in 1906, followed by Hankyu Umeda Station in 1910, the Umeda subway station and Midosuji subway line in 1933 and Kitashinchi station in 1997. The current incarnation of Osaka Station was built in 1979, and underwent extensive renovation and reconstruction between 2005 and 2011, including the addition of the North Gate Building, a glass roof covering the tracks, and vast additional retail space providing shops, restaurants, sports centers and movie theatres to the area. For the 2011 re-opening, the station was re-branded Osaka Station City.

The construction of Umeda Sky Building in 1993 and the re-branding of Osaka Station City in 2011 transformed the Umeda area from a business district to a retail and tourist attraction.

Umeda makes up a large part of the Kita Ward of Osaka city. Before 2019, the Kita Ward Electorate could elect three representatives to the Osaka Municipal Assembly. In 2018, the Kita electoral district was represented by Takayama Mia from the Osaka Restoration Association, Maeda Kazuhiko from the Liberal Democratic Party and Yamamoto Tomoko from Komeito.

The number of representatives from Kita was increased to four prior to the April 2019 Japanese unified local elections. The 2019 election saw all three incumbent representatives re-elected, along with Osaka Restoration Association newcomer Kuramoto Takayuki.

Umeda officially only covers JR West Osaka Station and the immediate area to its south and west, although "Umeda" is often used to describe much of the surrounding area, and is commonly used as a catch-all to refer to the downtown area of northern Osaka City.