270px, Amagasaki Castle
270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center
270px, Amagasaki Station
is an industrial
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
located in
Hyōgo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...
, Japan. , the city had an estimated
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 455,555 in 223812 households, and a
population density
Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
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 designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
. It has the fourth largest population in Hyōgo Prefecture after
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
,
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
270px, Hirota Shrine
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 48 ...
. 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, and ...
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
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
*
Nishinomiya
270px, Nishinomiya City Hall
270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center
270px, Hirota Shrine
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 48 ...
Osaka Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...
*
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
(
Nishiyodogawa-ku
is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan.
Education
It has a North Korean school, Osaka Fukushima Korean Elementary School ( 大阪福島朝鮮初級学校).
Economy
Nishoyodogawa has the headquarters of Ezaki Glico and Daifuku.[Yodogawa-ku
is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. It is located in the north of the city.
Economy
Nissin Foods has its corporate headquarters in Yodogawa-ku. The company moved to its current headquarters in 1977, when the construction of the building was com ...]
)
*
Toyonaka
is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on October 15, 1936.
Geography Climate
Toyonaka has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The averag ...
Climate
Amagasaki has a
Humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(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 January, 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 1970s has been decreasing steadily since .
History
The area of Amagasaki was part of ancient
Kawabe District of
Settsu Province
was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or .
Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...
and has been inhabited since ancient times, with the traces of
Yayoi period
The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age.
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...
settlementsand many
kofun
are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』 ...
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 Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
, the area was known for its port of Daimotsuura. During the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, 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
250px, Reconstructed Amagasaki Castle tenshu
was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Settsu Province in what is now the southeastern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It had its administrative h ...
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 th ...
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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The 1995
Great Hanshin earthquake
The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had ...
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 core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city i ...
.
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, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
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 one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
of the
Diet of Japan
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
.
Politics of Amagasaki
*
2002 Amagasaki mayoral election Amagasaki, Hyōgo held a mayoral election on November 17, 2002. Aya Shirai, backed by the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) and the local group Amagasaki Residents Group for Democratic City Administration defeated the incumbent Yoshio Miyata, who had ...
On 22 November 2010
Kazumi Inamura
is a Japanese politician. She has been mayor of Amagasaki since 13 December 2010. She is member of the Greens Japan political party and was its co-president from 2008 to 2010. She was a student at the University of Kobe during the 1995 Great Ha ...
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 a ...
. Businesses headquartered in the city include manufacturers such as
Osaka Titanium Technologies
is a Japanese non-ferrous metal manufacturing company based in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is the world's second largest producer of titanium sponge after VSMPO-Avisma.
It produces titanium products using the Kroll process, and also ...
. 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
is a private junior college in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan. The Japan Iron and Steel Federation Corp considered it necessary to provide specialized training to engineers who would work in the iron and steel industry in 1962. It consists of four ...
, 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
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, and ...
- Tōkaidō Main Line
The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...
(JR Kobe Line
The is the nickname of portions of the Tokaido Main Line and the Sanyo Main Line, between Osaka Station in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture and Himeji Station in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture. The line, along with the JR Kyoto Line and the Biwako Line, form ...
)
* -
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, and ...
- 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 ...
(JR Takarazuka Line
The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting Osaka and Fukuchiyama, Japan. Within JR West's "Urban Network" covering the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan region, the line from Osaka to Sasayamaguchi is also ...
)
* - -
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, and ...
- JR Tōzai Line
is one of several commuter rail lines and services in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line, whose name literally means "east-west", runs underground through central Osaka and conne ...
* - -
Hankyu
, trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...
- Kobe Line
* - -
Hankyu
, trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...
- Itami Line
270px, Gogadzuka Kofun
270px, Aerial view of Itami city center
270px, Konoike inari shihi
270px, Arioka Castle ruins
) is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83580 households and ...
*
Hanshin Electric Railway
is a Japanese private railway company of 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 the c ...
- Hanshin Main Line
{{BS-map
, title=Route map
, title-bg=orangered
, title-color=white
, collapsible=yes
, collapse=yes
, map=
{{BS, , , Lines are of Hanshin unless noted, }
{{BS5, , hBHF, , , tBHF, , , {{STN, Osaka/{{STN, Kitashinchi}
{{BS5, , hSTR, exKBHFa, tKACC ...
* - - - - -
Hanshin Electric Railway
is a Japanese private railway company of 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 the c ...
- Hanshin Namba Line
The is a railway line operated by the private railway operator Hanshin Electric Railway connecting Amagasaki Station in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and Ōsaka Namba Station in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
History
The , the pre ...
* -
Highways
*
Meishin Expressway
*
Hanshin Expressway
The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. 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. These section ...
Kobe Route
The , signed as Route 3, is one of the routes of the Hanshin Expressway system serving the Keihanshin area in Kansai, Japan. It is an intercity route that travels in an east to west direction from Osaka to Kobe, with a total length of .
Rou ...
*
Hanshin Expressway
The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. 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. These section ...
Bayshore Route (Port of Osaka-Kobe)
The , signed as Route 5, is one of the routes of the Hanshin Expressway system serving the Keihanshin area. It is an intercity route that travels in an east to west direction from Suminoe-ku, Osaka to Tarumi-ku, Kobe. It has a total length of . ...
*
*
*
Sister city relations
* Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
, Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, Germany - since April 7, 1959
* Anshan
Anshan () 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's third most populous city with a population ...
, Liaoning
Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...
, China - since February 2, 1983 (friendship city)
* Kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (Formerly Mikata) - since 1974 (friendship city)
Local attractions
* Tano Site, Yayoi period settlement trace, National Historic Site
*Amagasaki Castle
was a flatland type Japanese castle located in the city of Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The castle was the headquarters of Amagasaki Domain, which ruled this portion of northern Settsu Province under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo Perio ...
Notable people from Amagasaki
* Mitsue Aoki (manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
artist)
* Chikamatsu Monzaemon
was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatis ...
(dramatist
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
of the Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
)
* Chiyu (bassist of the band Sug)
* Cobra (punk rock band)
* Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers 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 distric ...
(comedy duo)
** Hitoshi Matsumoto
, commonly known as , is a Japanese film director and one of Japan's most popular comedians and TV hosts. He is one half of the comedy duo Downtown alongside Masatoshi Hamada. Like Hamada, Matsumoto was born and raised in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefect ...
** Masatoshi Hamada
is a Japanese comedian best known as the '' tsukkomi'' half of the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. His nickname is . Hamada is married to Natsumi Ogawa, with whom he has two children.
Early life
Hamada was born near ...
(Originally from Naniwa-ku, Osaka
is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. It has an area of 4.37 km², and a population of 51,567.
General information
Largely a residential area itself, Naniwa-ku is adjacent to and has in recent years blurred into the Namba district, wh ...
)
* Gero
Gero I ( – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great ( la, magnus),Thompson, 486. Also se was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expande ...
(singer)
* Heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
(bassist of the band X Japan
was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...
)
* Kunio Hiramatsu
was the mayor of Osaka in Japan. He was elected in 2007 with centre-left support from the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), People's New Party and the Social Democratic Party, defeating the centre-right supported incumbent Jun'ichi Seki by 50,00 ...
(politician)
* Kojin Karatani
is a Japanese philosopher and literary critic.
Biography
Karatani entered the University of Tokyo in 1960, where he joined the radical Marxist Communist League, better known as "The Bund," and participated in the massive 1960 Anpo protests aga ...
(philosopher)
* Toshiki Kashu
is a Japanese actor, best known for his role as Shouichi Tsugami, the main character of the Kamen Rider series ''Kamen Rider Agito''.
Biography
He graduated from the Hyōgo Prefectural Amagasaki North High School. Although he was originally a m ...
(actor)
* Ryuto Kazuhara (vocalist of boy band Generations from Exile Tribe
Generations from Exile Tribe (Japanese: ジェネレーションズ・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE and formerly known as Generations) is a seven-member Japanese dance and vocal group formed ...
)
* Keichū
(1640 – April 3, 1701) was a Buddhist priest and a scholar of Kokugaku in the mid Edo period. Keichū's grandfather was a personal retainer of Katō Kiyomasa but his father was a ''rōnin'' from the Amagasaki fief. When he was 13, Keichū left h ...
(Kokugaku
''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label=Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label=Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refo ...
scholar from the Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
)
* Yoshitada Konoike
was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature), formerly Minister of State for Disaster Mnagement. A native of Amagasaki, Hyōgo and graduate of Waseda Univers ...
(politician)
* Maggy (fashion model)
* Ryo Matsuda
, born September 13, 1991, in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese actor who is represented by the talent agency, Cast Corporation.
Biography
During high school, Matsuda appeared in the stage play, ''Urasuji3'', and decided to beco ...
(actor)
* Shōta Matsushima
is a Japanese actor. He is currently under contract with Amuse, Inc.
is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and so on.
Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commerc ...
(actor)
* Kaho Minami
is a Japanese actress of Korean descent active in film, television and commercials.
Life and career
Kaho Minami was born on January 20, 1964, in Amagasaki in Hyogo, Japan, and is of third-generation Korean descent. She graduated from Toho Ga ...
(actress)
* Akihiro Murata
is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6-dan.
Early life
Murata was born on July 14, 1986, in Uozu, Toyama. He learned how to play shogi when he was about five years old from his father. In 1998, Murata took the entrance exam for the J ...
(shogi player
A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players.
There are two categories of professional playe ...
) - 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 ...
* Nagisa (comedian of comedy duo Amako Inter)
* Ramo Nakajima
was a Japanese cult novel writer, essayist, and copywriter. He also appeared frequently on Japanese TV as an actor. He was born in Amagasaki City, Hyōgo Prefecture.
He received eighth place in his entrance exam to the prestigious Nada High ...
(novelist)
* Ai Okawa
, born July 17, 1993) is a Japanese idol, fashion model, actress and a former member of female idol group Idoling!!!.
Life and career
Ai Okawa was born on July 17, 1993, in Amagasaki, Hyogo
270px, Amagasaki Castle
270px, Aerial view of Amaga ...
(fashion model, former idol from Idoling!!!
was a Japanese TV show with attached female idol group created by Fuji TV. The concept of the group was to watch as the girls grow as idols and experience various things. Idoling's main source of exposure was their TV show, which aired several ...
)
* Kazuo Shiraga
was a Japanese abstract painter and the first-generation member of the postwar artists collective Gutai Art Association (Gutai). As a Gutai member, he was a prolific, inventive, and pioneering experimentalist who tackled a range of media: in add ...
(modern artist)
* Keiko Tobe (manga artist)
* Rena Uehara
is a female Japanese singer-songwriter originally from Hyogo, Japan and now residing in Osaka. She is known for performing theme songs for OVAs of ''Utawarerumono'' and ''To Heart 2''. She has also done the opening for ''White Album 2
...
(singer) - Born in Amagasaki, based in Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
* Yu Yagami
is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the manga ''Those Who Hunt Elves'', which was adapted as an anime series. His works ''Those Who Hunt Elves'', '' Dokkoida?!'', '' Go West!'', and '' Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify'' have been ...
(manga artist)
* Seiichi Yamamoto
is a Japanese musician. While perhaps most famous for his role as guitarist for the noise rock band Boredoms, he has released multitudes of records both as a solo artist and with several other musicians and bands, in addition to composing the so ...
(musician) - Born in Amagasaki, based in Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
* Kinuyo Yamashita
is a Japanese composer and musician known for her contributions in video games. Her best known soundtrack is Konami's '' Castlevania'', which was also her debut work. She was co-credited with Satoe Terashima under the pseudonym James Banana for ...
(video game music composer)
* Shota Yasuda (guitarist of boy band Kanjani Eight
is a five-member Japanese boy band from Japan's Kansai region. They are managed by the multimedia talent agency Johnny & Associates and signed to Infinity Records. The group was formed in 2002 and made their CD debut in 2004 as "Johnny's modern ...
)
* Ai Yazawa
is a Japanese manga author. While most of Yazawa's manga is published in Japan by Shueisha, publishers of ''Ribon'' and ''Cookie'' (''Nana'' was serialized in the latter), series like ''Paradise Kiss'' have appeared in non-Shueisha magazines su ...
(manga artist)
Athletes
* Ritsu Doan Ritsu may refer to:
* Vinaya, the Japanese term for the Buddhist regulatory framework
* Risshū (Buddhism), a name of a Japanese school of Buddhism strictly following this framework
* the historical Japanese term for a criminal code as part of the ...
(football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player)
* Yutaka Enatsu
is a former Japanese pitcher regarded as one of the best Japanese strikeout pitchers of all-time. In , he recorded 401 strikeouts, which is still the world record.
Enatsu was a bit player in the Black Mist Scandal which embroiled Japanese baseb ...
(baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player) - Originally from Nara Prefecture
is a 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 northwest, Wakayama P ...
* Megu Hirose
(born April 23, 1981 in Hyōgo Prefecture) is a Japanese softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professi ...
(softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
player)
* Daisuke Hosokawa
(born April 18, 1982 in Amagasaki, Hyōgo) is a Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identif ...
(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 (baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player)
* Hideki Irabu
was a Japanese professional baseball player of American and Japanese mixed ancestry. He played professionally in both Japan and the United States. Irabu played for the Lotte Orions / Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professiona ...
(former baseball player) - Originally from Hirara, Okinawa
, ( Miyako: ''Pїsara'') was a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on the island of Miyako. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 33,861 and a density of 521.58 persons per km². The total area was 64.92 km².
History
Hirara ...
(currently Miyakojima, Okinawa
is a Cities of Japan, city in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, located on the Miyako Islands. As of 2012, it had a population of 54,908. The current mayor is Kazuyuki Zakimi, who took office on January 25, 2021.
History
The modern city of Miyakoji ...
)
* Norihito Kaneto (baseball player)
* Ayumi Karino
(born 6 November 1984 in Hyogo Prefecture) is a Japanese softball player who won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), we ...
(softball player)
* Kamui Kobayashi
is a Japanese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) and in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG . He previously competed in Formula One, Formula E, the GP2 Series, and the ...
(auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
driver)
* Naoki Miyanishi
is a Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league c ...
(baseball player) - Originally from Nishinomiya, Hyogo
270px, Nishinomiya City Hall
270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center
270px, Hirota Shrine
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 48 ...
* Minoru Murayama
was a professional baseball player for the Osaka Tigers (later Hanshin Tigers) in Nippon Professional Baseball. His number ''11'' is retired with the Tigers. A pitcher with Hanshin from 1959 to 1972, he recorded a career 2.09 ERA and 192 care ...
(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 which occupies the northeastern part of the city. Arima Onsen
is an onsen, o ...
* Takahiko Nomaguchi (baseball player)
* Kengo Nomoto
, nicknamed Nomoken, is a Japanese professional basketball player who plays for the Gunma Crane Thunders of the B.League in Japan. The small forward also represented the Japan national basketball team in 2014 and 2016. He tested positive for the ...
(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 (appr ...
player)
* Daisuke Oku
was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.
Club career
Oku was born in Amagasaki on February 7, 1976. After graduating from high school, he joined Júbilo Iwata in 1994. He debuted in 1996. He became a regular player fro ...
(football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player)
* Hiroaki Saiuchi (baseball player)
* Tochinowaka Michihiro
Tochinowaka Michihiro (born Dae Won Lee on April 6, 1988) is a former sumo wrestler from Hyogo, Japan. His father is a Zainichi Korean and his mother is a Korean immigrant. He made his professional debut in 2007 and steadily rose through the r ...
(former sumo wrestler)
* Andy Wu
is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name who worked for Wrestle-1 until its closure in 2020. He is currently a freelancer.
Professional wrestling career
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–2013)
Andy Wu debuted for All Ja ...
(professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
)
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