The fact that Sakai Prefecture was incorporated into Osaka Prefecture in 1881 was seen as part of the reorganization of prefectures after Haihan-chiken, yet, from the national level, the work had already been completed; therefore, it was more about the merge in the midst of the problem associated with partition of prefectures that were too big (in reality, after the merge of Sakai Prefecture, there have been no cases where the administrative divisions of Japan have been abolished, except for the reorganization of Hokkaido and the temporary abolition of the Okinawa Prefecture due to the military polices implemented by the US military after the Pacific War).
明治14年に大阪府に編入されたことは廃藩置県後の県の整理の一環と見られるが、全国的に見ればその作業は完了しており、逆に大き過ぎる県の分割の方に問題が移りつつあった中での合併であった（現実に堺県の合併以後、北海道の再編と太平洋戦争後のアメリカ合衆国軍の軍政施行によって一時廃止された沖縄県以外に都道府県が廃止された例はない）。