Nishinomiya

Nishinomiya (西宮) is a city of about 485,000 (2022) in Hyogo prefecture, Japan, between Kobe and Osaka

Understand
The city is the setting for much of the Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓, hotaru no haka), which is based on a novel by Akiyuki Nosaka. There was heavy damage throughout the city from the Great Hanshin Earthquake on January 17, 1995. This city is also the setting for the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱). While taking pictures of Nishinomiya-Kita High School (where much of the anime is set) from the outside is perfectly legal, entering the gates to take pictures inside is not. Hankyu Imazu line is the setting for Hankyu Railway movie (阪急電車 片道15分の奇跡), where stations from Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station to Takarazuka Station appear in the movie.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

By plane
Nishinomiya has access to three airports: Kansai International Airport, Kobe Airport , and Osaka International Airport. Despite its name, Osaka International Airport is a domestic airport. There is bus service to and from the airport for ¥700 to Hanshin Koshien (甲子園) Station. Kansai International Airport also has bus service for ¥1700 (or ¥3000 round trip) to and from JR Nishinomiya, Hankyu Nishinomiya-kitaguchi, and Hanshin Nishinomiya stations.

By train
The Shinkansen (新幹線) is another option when traveling from other parts of Japan. Nishinomiya can be reached from either Shin-Kobe or Shin-Osaka stations. A one-way reserved ticket on the Nozomi from Tokyo to Osaka costs ¥14,050. A one-way reserved ticket on the Hikari Railstar from Hiroshima to Kobe costs ¥9740. Visitors can then take the subway or train to get to the city. To get from Shin-Kobe to Nishinomiya, take the ¥200 subway to Sannomiya and then either JR, Hanshin, or Hankyu train lines into Nishinomiya. Depending on the train stop, the ticket will only cost a couple of hundred yen.

Get around
There are three main train lines running through Nishinomiya: JR, Hanshin (阪神), and Hankyu (阪急). They run parallel to each other and go from east to west, with the Hanshin and Hankyu lines connected by the short Imazu Minami line between Hanshin Imazu station and Nishinomiya-kitaguchi (西宮北口). Hanshin and Hankyu buses also run throughout the city, though it can be difficult to travel from north to south.

See




Do


Hanami. Go to Shukugawa Park (夙川公園) end of March/early April for Nishinomiya's most popular hanami location. There are over 2300 cherry blossom trees along the Shukugawa River that stretches all the way from Hanshin Koroen Station to Hankyu Kurakuen-guchi station. Get off at either of these train stations or Hankyu Shukugawa Station to enjoy the festival.



Mukogawa Cycling Road. This is a 7.1-km-long cycling road along the Mukogawa River from the JR line to Hanshin line. It's a nice place to enjoy cycling free of cars. Bikes can be rented for the day at hotels in the area.

National High School Baseball Championship (全国高等学校野球選手権大会). Every summer in August, Japan's national high school baseball tournament is held at Koshien Stadium. Games are free so it's an excellent opportunity to participate in this popular national event!

Learn
The leafy main campus of Kwansei Gakuin University (関西学院 Kansei Gakuin), one of Japan's oldest private universities, is in Uegahara, on the north side of Nishinomiya. The oldest buildings on campus date back to 1929 and are in a Spanish Mission style that resembles California more than Kansai.

Buy




Go next

 * Amagasaki
 * Ashiya
 * Kobe
 * Takarazuka
 * Itami
 * Akashi
 * Kawanishi
 * Inagawa
 * Osaka