Nishiwaki, Hyōgo


Nishiwaki is a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It was founded on April 1, 1952.
The city calls itself "The Navel of Japan." Located at the crossing of the 135° East meridian and the 35° North parallel, the city's Nihon no Heso Park marks the center of the nation. JR West operates Nihon Heso Station on the Kakogawa Line.
As of May 1, 2017, the city had an estimated population of 41,336, with 16,858 households, and a population density of 310 persons per km². The total area is 132.47 km².
On October 1, 2005, the town of Kurodashō was merged into Nishiwaki.

Mascots

Nisshi is Nisshi's sister and wears pink clothes.
Heso-no-Kanchan was made to promote a historical drama, Gunshi-Kanbe, which had been broadcast in 2014.
"Kanchan" was designed after the model of Kanbe's appearance in his childhood.

Transportation

Railway

Nishiwaki has been the sister city of Renton, Washington, U.S.A since 1969. Since then there have been mutual exchanges between the cities, most notably the annual middle school exchange program which began in 1989. The initial delegation from the US included actress Casey Strand.