“Iwano Sports,” located in front of Nishida Park in Sun Seven under the Hankyu elevated tracks, has closed.
(This information was provided by Kyana. Thank you!)
Here it is↓
It looks like the shop closed at the end of February, after being in business for 50 years since 1969.
Here it is on the map↓
The address is 6-15 Nishida-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.
What’s Around Iwano Sports
If you go this way, you’ll find places like Co-op, leading toward the Osawa Nishinomiya Line.
If you go in the opposite direction, you’ll find the hands-on coffee shop Miyamame Coffee, Kyo no Oyatsu, and more, leading toward Route 171.
There was a photo like this posted.
It’s a photo of Iwano Sports from around when it first opened. It says, “Its history moves on to the next step.”
It’s incredibly sad to see this place, so full of memories, disappear.
With that in mind, the owner’s grandchild is apparently turning it into a new place that all kinds of people can use, including as a gallery, workshop space, and weekly rotating space.
The grandmother who supported Iwano Sports all these years. She looked happy that her grandchild, who runs an Italian goods shop in Osaka, will be starting something new in this space. They called her “Baaban”~
Apparently the grandchild also designed the flyer shown earlier. So talented~
Iwano Sports has closed as a sports shop, but since Nishida Park is right in front, they plan to continue selling things like soft baseballs.
They’ll also be selling dodgeballs, soccer balls, and more~ They’ll keep supporting park play in Nishinomiya!
Finally
On Tuesday, April 25, the shop’s founding anniversary, they’ll be holding a small Iwano Sports cultural festival called “The Yasui Area and Iwano Sports Around 1969.” From what we heard, it sounds like they’ll be displaying some wonderfully nostalgic Showa-era photos from the archives, and it feels like something fun is going to happen. Their official Instagram showed them getting ready~ Nishi2 is cheering on this new challenge too~.
