Hirakata (枚方市, Hirakata-shi) is a city in northeastern Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

Eriko Aoki, author of "Korean children, textbooks, and educational practices in Japanese primary schools," stated that the city's location in proximity to both Osaka City and Kyoto contributed to its population growth of ten times its previous size from around 1973 to 2013.

The place name of "Hirakata" is very old, appearing in the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki and other ancient texts.

Hirakata has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 32 members.

Hirakata, together with neighboring Katano, contributes four members to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of Osaka 11th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

In early March 1939, a site associated with the arms industry blew up, killing 500 people.

[10] In the post-war era, the former munitions plants were transformed into industrial parks, or public housing complexes to support Hirakata's growth as a commuter town for Osaka and Kyoto.