Amagasaki

Amagasaki 尼崎市
Core city
Amagasaki Cultural Zone
Flag Emblem
Location of Amagasaki in Hyōgo Prefecture
Amagasaki Location in Japan
Coordinates: 34°44′N 135°24′E
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Hyōgo Prefecture
First official recorded	4th century AD
City Settled	April 1, 1916
Government
• Mayor	Kazumi Inamura (Greens Japan)
Area
• Total	49.77 km2 (19.22 sq mi)
Population  (April 1, 2017)
• Total	450,765
• Density	9,100/km2 (23,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	1-23-1 Higashinanamatsu-chō, Amagasaki-shi, Hyōgo-ken 660-8501
Website	www.city.amagasaki.hyogo.jp
Symbols
Flower	Oleander
Tree	Dogwood

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.

As of April 2017, the city has an estimated population of 450,765 and a population density of 9,100 persons per km². The total area is 49.77 km² (19.22 sq mi).

History

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

Neighboring municipalities

• Hyōgo Prefecture
  • Itami
  • Nishinomiya
• Osaka Prefecture
  • Osaka (Nishiyodogawa-ku, Yodogawa-ku)
  • Toyonaka

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, Chiyu, the bassist of SuG, author Koushun Takami and Heath, bassist of X Japan. Hideki Irabu, an ex-MLB pitcher and Toshiaki Nishioka, a former world champion boxer, are also from this area.

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 Amagasaki on April 25, 2005, resulting in more than 100 dead and 550 injured.

JR Amagasaki Station

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

• 2002 Amagasaki mayoral election

On 22 November 2010 Kazumi Inamura became the first popularly elected Greens Japan Mayor as well as the youngest popularly-elected female mayor of the city with 54% of the vote.

Economy

Amagasaki is a major part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. Businesses headquartered in the city 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.

Education

The city has a North Korean school, Amagasaki Korean Elementary and Middle School (尼崎朝鮮初中級学校). It previously had a second school, Amagasaki East Korean Elementary School (尼崎東朝鮮初級学校).

Sister cities

• Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany - since April 7, 1959
• Anshan, Liaoning, China - since February 2, 1983 (friendship city)
• Kami, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (Formerly Mikata) - since 1974 (friendship city)

Notable people from Amagasaki

• Mitsue Aoki (manga artist)
• Chikamatsu Monzaemon (dramatist of the Edo period)
• Chiyu (bassist of the band Sug)
• Cobra (punk rock band)
• Downtown (comedy duo)
  • Hitoshi Matsumoto
  • Masatoshi Hamada (Originally from Naniwa-ku, Osaka)
• Gero (singer)
• Heath (bassist of the band X Japan)
• Kunio Hiramatsu (politician)
• Kojin Karatani (philosopher)
• Toshiki Kashu (actor)
• Ryuto Kazuhara (vocalist of boy band Generations from Exile Tribe)
• Keichū (Kokugaku scholar from the Edo period)
• Yoshitada Konoike (politician)
• Maggy (fashion model)
• Ryo Matsuda (actor)
• Shōta Matsushima (actor)
• Kaho Minami (actress)
• Akihiro Murata (shogi player) - Originally from Uozu, Toyama
• Nagisa (comedian of comedy duo Amako Inter)
• Ramo Nakajima (novelist)
• Ai Okawa (fashion model, former idol from Idoling!!!)
• Kazuo Shiraga (modern artist)
• Mitsuyoshi Takasu (broadcast writer)
• Keiko Tobe (manga artist)
• Rena Uehara (singer) - Born in Amagasaki, based in Osaka
• Yu Yagami (manga artist)
• Seiichi Yamamoto (musician) - Born in Amagasaki, based in Osaka
• Kinuyo Yamashita (video game music composer)
• Shota Yasuda (guitarist of boy band Kanjani Eight)
• Ai Yazawa (manga artist)

Athletes

• Ritsu Doan (football player)
• Yutaka Enatsu (baseball player) - Originally from Nara Prefecture
• Megu Hirose (softball player)
• Daisuke Hosokawa (swimmer)
• Takahiro Ikeyama (baseball player)
• Hideki Irabu (former baseball player) - Originally from Hirara, Okinawa (currently Miyakojima, Okinawa)
• Norihito Kaneto (baseball player)
• Ayumi Karino (softball player)
• Kamui Kobayashi (auto racing driver)
• Naoki Miyanishi (baseball player) - Originally from Nishinomiya, Hyogo
• Minoru Murayama (former baseball player) - Originally from Kita-ku, Kobe
• Takahiko Nomaguchi (baseball player)
• Kengo Nomoto (basketball player)
• Daisuke Oku (football player)
• Hiroaki Saiuchi (baseball player)
• Tochinowaka Michihiro (former sumo wrestler)
• Andy Wu (professional wrestler)

External links

• Media related to Amagasaki, Hyogo at Wikimedia Commons
• Amagasaki City official website (in Japanese) English machine translation is available on the site.