Nishinari-ku

Nishinari-ku, Osaka

Nishinari-ku, Osaka

Ward of Osaka, Japan

Nishinari-ku (西成区) is one of the 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. It contains some shopping and entertainment areas, such as Tamade. It lies directly south of the Namba transport hub and extends further south toward Sumiyoshi Park. It is served by the Nankai Railway lines as well as the Yotsubashi and Sakaisuji subway lines. Nishinari-ku is also home to a number of shitamachi ("lower-town") shopping streets, increasingly a rarity in fast-developing urban Japan. Kamagasaki in Nishinari-ku is home to many day-laborers and most of the homeless people in Osaka.[1]

Location of Nishinari-ku in Osaka City
The rooftops in Nishinari

Crime and safety

Airin Riot in 1961

Nishinari has a historical reputation for being "sketchy and dangerous",[2] but it is currently undergoing gentrification.[2]

Two designated yakuza groups, the Sakaume-gumi and the Azuma-gumi, are based in Nishinari.[3]

Transport

West Japan Railway Company

Osaka Metro

Nankai Railway

Hankai Railway

  • Hankai Line: Minamikasumicho Station, Imaike Station, Imafune Station, Matsudacho Station, Kitatengachaya Station, Shotenzaka Station, Tenjinnomori Station, Higashitamade Station, Tsukanishi Station

Education

Public elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Osaka City Board of Education. The public high schools are operated by the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education.

Notable people

Nishinari Ward Office

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Johnston, Eric, "NISHINARI WARD: In Osaka, a place the homeless call home: Nishinari draws in the forsaken of the nation", Japan Times, December 8, 2009, p. 3.
  2. [2]
    "Nishinari, the slum of Osaka, now at risk of gentrification after becoming a tourist hotspot". January 18, 2020.
  3. [3]
    "2010 Police White Paper Chapter 2 : Furtherance of Organized Crime Countermeasures", 2010, National Police Agency (in Japanese)
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