Amagasaki

Amagasaki 尼崎
—  Core city  —
尼崎市 · Amagasaki
Amagasaki Cultural Zone
Flag
Location of Amagasaki in Hyōgo
Amagasaki
Coordinates: 34°44′N 135°24′E
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Hyōgo
Government
• Mayor	Kazumi Inamura (since December 2010)
Area
• Total	49.77 km2 (19.22 sq mi)
Population (April 1, 2008)
• Total	460,261
• Density	9,244/km2 (23,940/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
- Tree	Dogwood
- Flower	Oleander
Phone number	06-6489-6880
Address	1-23-1 Higashinanamatsu-chō, Amagasaki-shi, Hyōgo-ken 660-8501
Website	City of Amagasaki

Amagasaki (尼崎市, Amagasaki-shi) is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1916. Its population is around 460,000, below its peak of over 554,000 in 1971.^{[citation needed]}

History

During the Edo period, the Amagasaki Domain had its administrative headquarters at Amagasaki Castle here.

Notable residents

Amagasaki is the hometown of comedy duo Downtown stars Masatoshi Hamada and Hitoshi Matsumoto. It is also the hometown of Formula 1 driver Kamui Kobayashi, author Koushun Takami and Heath, bassist of X Japan.

Transportation

Railways

• West Japan Railway Company
  • Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) Amagasaki Station (JR) - Tachibana Station
  • Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line) Amagasaki Station (JR) - Tsukaguchi Station (JR) - Inadera Station
  • JR Tōzai Line Amagasaki Station (JR)
• Hankyu Railway
  • Kobe Line Sonoda Station - Tsukaguchi Station (Hankyu) - Mukonoso Station
  • Itami Line Tsukaguchi Station (Hankyu)
• Hanshin Electric Railway
  • Main Line Kuise Station - Daimotsu Station - Amagasaki Station (Hanshin) - Deyashiki Station - Amagasaki Center Pool mae Station - Mukogawa Station
  • Hanshin Namba Line Daimotsu Station - Amagasaki Station (Hanshin)

A commuter train derailed on the Fukuchiyama Line near Amagazaki on April 25, 2005, resulting in more than 100 dead and 550 injured. See Amagasaki rail crash for details.

Roads

• Route 2, Route 43, Route 171
• Expressways
  • Meishin Expressway
  • Hanshin Expressway Kobe Route (3)
  • Hanshin Expressway Wangan Route (5)
• Yamate Road

Politics of Amagasaki

• Amagasaki mayoral election, 2002

Economy

Amagasaki is a major part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. Local businesses include manufacturers such as Osaka Titanium Technologies. The value of manufactured goods shipments in Amagasaki was 1,288 billion yen in 2004. See also Hanshin Industrial Region.

Sister cities

• Augsburg, Germany - since April 7, 1959
• Anshan, China - since February 2, 1983 (friendship city)

External links

Media related to Amagasaki, Hyogo at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (Japanese)
• Rediscover Amagasaki (English)