Amagasaki

Lore & Background

The area of Amagasaki has been inhabited since ancient times, with Yayoi period settlements and kofun burial mounds found within its limits. During the Heian period, it was known for the port of Daimotsuura. In the Edo period, Amagasaki prospered as the castle town of Amagasaki Domain, ruled successively by the Aoayama and Matsudaira clans. The modern town was established on April 1, 1889, and it was elevated to city status on October 1, 1916.

The city suffered significant disasters in the 20th and early 21st centuries. 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. The 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake caused considerable damage and 49 fatalities. On April 25, 2005, a commuter train derailed on the Fukuchiyama Line near Amagasaki, resulting in more than 100 dead and 550 injured.

Amagasaki was designated a special city on April 1, 2001, and elevated to core city status on April 1, 2009. In 2010, Kazumi Inamura became the first popularly elected Greens Japan mayor and the youngest popularly elected female mayor of the city, winning 54% of the vote.

Reader's Guide

Amagasaki's significance lies in its role as a key component of the Hanshin Industrial Region, with major manufacturers such as Osaka Titanium Technologies headquartered there. The value of manufactured goods shipments reached 1,288 billion yen in 2004. The city's geography is marked by ground subsidence from industrial groundwater pumping, reducing one-third of its area to sea level and causing storm surge flooding. Its transportation network is extensive, including JR West lines, Hankyu and Hanshin railways, and the Meishin Expressway.

Culturally, Amagasaki is the birthplace or home of numerous notable figures, including dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon, philosopher Kojin Karatani, manga artist Ai Yazawa, and auto racing driver Kamui Kobayashi. The city also hosts the Tano Site, a Yayoi period settlement designated a National Historic Site, and Amagasaki Castle. Its sister city relationship with Augsburg, Germany, dates to 1959.