270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

, Japan. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 455,555 in 223,812 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 9000 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Amagasaki is located in far southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, next to

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. It has the fourth largest population in Hyōgo Prefecture after

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...

, and

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 1985 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218,948 households and a population density ...

. Residential areas account for most of the rest of the coastal areas, industrial areas along the Meishin Expressway and

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Fukuchiyama Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Osaka and Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Fukuchiyama, Japan. Within JR West's "Urban Network" covering the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan region, the line from Osaka to S ...

, commercial areas around Hanshin Amagasaki Station and JR Amagasaki Station, and its population density is the highest among municipalities in Hyogo Prefecture. Ground subsidence caused by the pumping up of groundwater by factories has reduced one-third of the city's area to sea level, causing flooding damage due to storm surges.

Neighboring municipalities

Hyōgo Prefecture *

Itami is a cities of Japan, city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83,580 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Itami is located in south-east ...

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

( Nishiyodogawa-ku, Yodogawa-ku) *

Toyonaka is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 399,263 in 179651 households and a population density of 5700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City and a part of the ...

Climate

Amagasaki has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Amagasaki is 15.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1475 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Amagasaki peaked around the 1970s has been decreasing steadily since.

History

The area of Amagasaki was part of ancient Kawabe District of Settsu Province and has been inhabited since ancient times, with the traces of

Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

settlements and many

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s found within the city limits. From the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, the area was known for its port of Daimotsuura. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, Amagasaki prospered as the

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

of Amagasaki Domain undertake Aoayama and subsequently the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

s. The town of Amagasaki was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was elevated to city status on October 1, 1916. The 1934 Muroto typhoon caused 145 fatalities and much of the city was destroyed by air raids on June 1 and June 15, 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The 1995

Great Hanshin earthquake The Great Hanshin Earthquake (, ) occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region of Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 o ...

also caused considerable damage and 49 fatalities. Amagasaki was designated a special city on April 1, 2001 with increased local autonomy. A commuter train derailed on the Fukuchiyama Line near Amagasaki on April 25, 2005, resulting in more than 100 dead and 550 injured. On April 1, 2009, Amagasaki was elevated to the status of a

core city In urban planning, a historic core city or central city is the municipality with the largest 1940 population in the present metropolitan area (metropolitan statistical area). This term was retired by the US census bureau and replaced by the term ...

Government

Amagasaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 42 members. Amagasaki contributes seven members to the Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is in the Hyōgo 8th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

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 The is one of the largest industrial regions in Japan. Its name comes from the ''on''-reading of the kanji used to abbreviate the names of Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸), the two largest cities in the megalopolis. The GDP of this area (Osaka ...

. 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.

Education

Amagasaki has 42 public elementary schools and 17 public middle schools operated by the city government, 11 public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Board of Education, and two combined private middle/high schools. In addition, the city also operates one special education school for the handicapped. The College of Industrial Technology, a junior college, and the Sonoda Women's University, a women's four-year college with associated junior college are located in the city. The city has a North Korean school, .() It previously had a second school, .

Transportation

Railways

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

( JR Kobe Line) * -

( JR Takarazuka Line) * - -

- JR Tōzai Line * - - Hankyu Railway Logo

Hankyu - Kobe Line * - - Hankyu Railway Logo

Hankyu - Itami Line *

Hanshin Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company owned by Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group that links Osaka and Kobe. It also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. The first character for Kobe (神戸) and the second character for Osaka (大阪) combine to form ...

Hanshin Main Line The is a railway line operated by the private railway company Hanshin Electric Railway in Japan. It connects the two cities of Osaka and Kobe, between and stations respectively. Outline The Main Line of Hanshin is the southernmost railw ...

* - - - - -

- Hanshin Namba Line * -

Highways

Meishin Expressway * Hanshin_Urban_Expwy_Sign_0003

Hanshin Expressway The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. History Operated by , it opened in 1962. Portions of the Hanshin Expressway about east of Fukae Station collapsed during the Kobe earthquake on 17 January 1995 ...

Kobe Route * Hanshin_Urban_Expwy_Sign_0005

Bayshore Route (Port of Osaka-Kobe) * * *

Sister cities

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany, since April 7, 1959 *

Anshan Anshan ( zh, s=鞍山, p=Ānshān, l=saddle mountain) is an inland prefecture-level city in central-southeast Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about south of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, it was Liaoning' ...

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, China, since February 2, 1983 (friendship city) *

Kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, friendship city since 1974 (formerly Mikata)

Local attractions

* Tano Site, Yayoi period settlement trace, National Historic Site * Amagasaki Castle

Notable people from Amagasaki

* Chiyu (ex. bassist of the band Sug and solo singer) * Mitsue Aoki (

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

artist) * Chikamatsu Monzaemon (

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

of the

) *

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

(punk rock band) *

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

(comedy duo) **

Hitoshi Matsumoto is a Japanese comedian and filmmaker. He was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is one half of the comedy duo Downtown (owarai), Downtown, alongside Masatoshi Hamada, and is one of the most popular comedians in Japan. Matsumoto has directe ...

Masatoshi Hamada , nicknamed , is a Japanese comedian best known as the ''tsukkomi'' half of the owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. Hamada is married to Natsumi Ogawa, with whom he has two children. Early life Hamada was born near Daikokucho S ...

(Originally from Naniwa-ku, Osaka) *

Gero Gero I ( 900 – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great (),Thompson, 486. Also se was a nobleman from East Francia who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he ...

(singer) *

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

(bassist of the band

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...

) * Kunio Hiramatsu (politician) * Kojin Karatani (philosopher) * Toshiki Kashu (actor) * Ryuto Kazuhara (vocalist of boy band Generations from Exile Tribe) * Keichū (

Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period. scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of ...

scholar from the

) * Yoshitada Konoike (politician) * Maggy (fashion model) * Ryo Matsuda (actor) * Shōta Matsushima (actor) * Kaho Minami (actress) * Akihiro Murata ( shogi player) - Originally from

Uozu, Toyama is a Cities of Japan, city in the eastern part of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,224 in 16,811 households and a population density of 210 persons per km2. Its total area was . Geography Uozu lies in be ...

* Ramo Nakajima (novelist) * Ai Okawa (fashion model, former idol from Idoling!!!) * Kazuo Shiraga (modern artist) * Keiko Tobe (manga artist) * Rena Uehara (singer) - Born in Amagasaki, based in

* Yu Yagami (manga artist) *

Seiichi Yamamoto is a Japanese musician. He was a guitarist for the noise rock band Boredoms, and has released records both as a solo artist and with several other musicians and bands. He has also composed the soundtracks to several films. Discography Solo proj ...

(musician) - Born in Amagasaki, based in

* Kinuyo Yamashita (video game music composer) * Shota Yasuda (guitarist of boy band

Kanjani Eight , previously known as is a five-member Japanese boy band from Japan's Kansai region. They are managed by the multimedia talent agency Starto Entertainment (formerly Johnny & Associates) and signed to Infinity Records. The group was formed in ...

) * Ai Yazawa (manga artist)

Athletes

* Ritsu Doan (

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player) *

Yutaka Enatsu is a former Japanese pitcher regarded as one of the best Japanese people, Japanese strikeout pitchers of all-time. In , he recorded 401 strikeouts, which is still the world record. Enatsu was a big player in the Black Mist Scandal (Japanese base ...

(

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player) - Originally from

Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...

* Megu Hirose (

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player) * Daisuke Hosokawa (

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

) *

Takahiro Ikeyama Takahiro Ikeyama (池山隆寛, born December 17, 1965, in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder. A slugging shortstop, Ikeyama played for the Yakult Swallows his entire career, from 1984 to 2002. Ikeya ...

(

player) * Hideki Irabu (former baseball player) - Originally from Hirara, Okinawa (currently Miyakojima, Okinawa) * Norihito Kaneto (baseball player) * Ayumi Karino (softball player) *

Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver and motorsport executive, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, Toyota and in Super Formula for KC Motorgroup, KCMG. Kobayashi competed in Formula One from to . In end ...

(

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

driver) * Jay Litherland (swimmer) * Tochinowaka Michihiro (former sumo wrestler) * Naoki Miyanishi (baseball player) - Originally from

Nishinomiya, Hyogo file:西宮市役所.jpg, 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall file:Nishinomiya city center area Aerial photograph.1985.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 1985 file:Hirota-jinja Nishinomiya04s.jpg, 270px, Hirota Shrine is a Cities of Japan ...

* Minoru Murayama (former baseball player) - Originally from

Kita-ku, Kobe is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 241.84 km2, and a population of 226,402 (2008). ''Kita'' in Japanese means North. Kita-ku is the biggest ward in Kobe and occupies the northeastern part of the city. Arima Onsen is locat ...

* Takahiko Nomaguchi (baseball player) * Kengo Nomoto (

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player) * Daisuke Oku (

player) * Hiroaki Saiuchi (baseball player) *

Andy Wu Andy Qu may refer to: * Andy Wu (actor), a Taiwanese actor * Andy Wu (wrestler), a Japanese wrestler {{hndis, Wu, Andy ...

(

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

)

References

External links

*
Amagasaki City official website
English machine translation is available on the site. {{Authority control Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan