It looks like Kansai TV’s “Chacha Ire Monday,” broadcast on Tuesday, May 21 from 19:00, featured a bragging showdown between Himeji vs Nishinomiya vs Amagasaki.
Chacha Ire Monday | Kansai TV Broadcasting Kantele Official website
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What is Chacha Ire Monday?
“Chacha Ire Monday” is a program featuring regular appearances by Koji Higashino, Hiroyuki Yamamoto, and Tamotsu Kuroda of Messenger. It highlights things around Kansai that are locally popular or unique to certain areas.
Locals Kept Sharing Their Nishinomiya Bragging Points
Here’s a long bullet-point list of the things about Nishinomiya that were brought up and bragged about.
Things Introduced on the Show
- Stylish
- Easy to live in
- Located between Osaka (Umeda) and Kobe (Sannomiya), with both about 15 minutes away by train
- Upscale residential areas such as Shukugawa and Kurakuen
- In the 2019 Kansai “Most Desirable Places to Live” ranking, Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi ranked No. 1 and Shukugawa ranked No. 5, both in the top 5
- Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi has ranked No. 1 for seven years in a row in the “Most Desirable Places to Live” ranking
Related to Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens
- A shopping center directly connected to Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station
- Popular with a wide range of visitors, including women and families
- Since opening in November 2008, total visitor numbers have reached around 200 million
- Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens was renewed and upgraded this year over a three-year period
- The rooftop garden, Sky Garden, was also renewed with newly installed artificial turf
Famous People from Nishinomiya
- Katsuhisa Namase
- Shinichi Tsutsumi
- Norika Fujiwara
- Rika Kihira
- Mana Ashida
- Aimyon
Local Nishinomiya Residents’ Bragging Points
- Everyone seems refined
- Even when you look at the moms, many of them seem elegant
- Nature is close by, but it’s also urban
- There’s Granny Smith Apple Pie (featured in the gourmet segment, Gardens Gate Building 2F)
- Elementary and junior high school sports events let students step onto the dirt at Koshien
Related to Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens
- Since Gardens opened, I don’t go to Umeda anymore
- You can play in the water at Sky Garden for free
- Before Gardens opened, people used to go to Kobe or Osaka
- Now that there’s a movie theater and a large electronics store too, there’s no need to go anywhere else
Nishinomiya’s Appeal According to Amagasaki Residents
- It’s easy to visit with kids. It’s spacious, and children can play there. (Gardens)
- Nishinomiya is beautiful!
Nishinomiya Spots to Brag About
- Shukugawa Park (cherry blossoms, fireflies near Kurakuen-guchi, hydrangeas)
- Koshien Stadium (the sacred ground of the Hanshin Tigers and high school baseball)
- KidZania (where children can experience different jobs)
- Meishin Expressway (the starting point of the upward route)
- Nishinomiya Shrine (Ebessan, and also the origin of the city’s name)
Comments from the Guests
Koji Higashino
- There are hotels
- The cherry blossoms are beautiful
- The houses are stylish too
- The people walking around are stylish
- Even just walking around town feels stylish
Hitomi Nakamura
- I’d like to go there with my mom friends
Messenger Kuroda
- Only happy people should be allowed to live there
- Isn’t it hard for young people to live there?
- The area in front of Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station is incredibly expensive (for condos)
Hachimitsu Tsukitei
- When looking for a home, the transportation access is good
- But prices have also gone up quite a bit (real estate)
Population and Area
The show also showed population and area, so here they are in table form.
| Population | Area | |
|---|---|---|
| Nishinomiya | 480,000 | 100.18 km² |
| Amagasaki | 450,000 | 50.72 km² |
| Himeji | 530,000 | 534.35 km² |
There isn’t that much difference in population, but the areas are quite different.
Himeji is more than 10 times the size of Amagasaki and over 5 times the size of Nishinomiya.
Map
On a map, it looks like this↓
The same goes for Nishinomiya, but I guess most of that area is probably mountains.
Still, it looks like Nishinomiya City is sitting on top of Ashiya.
Final Thoughts
In recent years, the impact of Gardens on Nishinomiya has been huge. We want to keep digging up Nishinomiya’s appeal here on Nishi2, going beyond just Koshien, Shukugawa, and Nishinomiya Shrine!
