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]
As of April 2017, the city has an estimated population of 450,765 and a population density of 9,100 persons per km2.[1] 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
- Osaka Prefecture
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, is 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.
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
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.[2]
Economy
Amagasaki is a major part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. Businesses headquartered in the city include manufacturers such as Osaka Titanium Technologies.[3] The value of manufactured goods shipments in Amagasaki was 1,288 billion yen in 2004.[4]
See also Hanshin Industrial Region.
Education
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The city has a North Korean school, Amagasaki Korean Elementary and Middle School (尼崎朝鮮初中級学校).[5] It previously had a second school, Amagasaki East Korean Elementary School (尼崎東朝鮮初級学校).[5]
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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Yu Yagami (manga artist)
- Seiichi Yamamoto (musician)
- 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)
- Megu Hirose (softball player)
- Daisuke Hosokawa (swimmer)
- Takahiro Ikeyama (baseball player)
- Hideki Irabu (former baseball player)
- Norihito Kaneto (baseball player)
- Ayumi Karino (softball player)
- Kamui Kobayashi (auto racing driver)
- Naoki Miyanishi (baseball player)
- Minoru Murayama (former baseball player)
- Takahiko Nomaguchi (baseball player)
- Kengo Nomoto (basketball player)
- Daisuke Oku (football player)
- Hiroaki Saiuchi (baseball player)
- Tochinowaka Michihiro (former sumo wrestler)
References
- ^ "Official website of Amagasaki City" (in Japanese). Japan: Amagasaki City. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ "Kazumi Inamura receives 54% of the vote to become the first Green mayor elected in Japan". Global Greens. 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ^ "Company Outline." Osaka Titanium Technologies. Retrieved on March 28, 2014.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b ウリハッキョ一覧. Chongryon. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.()
External links
- Media related to Amagasaki, Hyogo at Wikimedia Commons
- Amagasaki City official website (in Japanese) English machine translation is available on the site.