I Visited the Mambo Tunnel Near JR Koshienguchi Station

One of Nishinomiya’s best-known landmarks, and a classic example of an unusual local sight, is the Manbo Tunnel.

Since it’s a memorable place for Chiyo from Miyaogao’s The Natural Killers, the Nishitsu members ended up coming here.

ザ・ナチュラルキラーズのちよさん【宮がお】

2019年1月9日

This is the south side of Manbo Tunnel↓

Here’s the map↓

The address is around Futamicho, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture.

It’s even listed on Google Maps as Manbo Tunnel (Koshienguchi)!

This is the north side of Manbo Tunnel↓

It feels like you might get sucked right in. Somehow it reminds me of the tunnel from the anime “Spirited Away.”

Because it’s narrow, the sign asks people to detour to the east-side passage at Koshienguchi Station.

We measured the height↓

The height is about 133 cm.
So adults can’t pass through the tunnel while standing upright.

FY2017 School Health Statistics Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, Policy Division, Research and Statistics Planning Office

The average height of a fourth-grade elementary school student is 133 cm. You can pass through normally up to around fourth grade. That’s Manbo Tunnel.

Even Nishitsu @ Mii, the shortest member of Nishitsu at 153 cm, looks like this.

If you have lower back pain, it’s probably impossible.

So how wide is it?

About 150 cm.

We had Nishitsu @ Leader and Nishitsu @ Mii try walking side by side.

Can they make it?

Ah, maybe not.

For adults, it’s safest to go through one at a time.

By the way, it took about “15 seconds” to walk through the tunnel.

Just in case, we also tried seeing how many seconds it would take if we ran.

9 seconds. It doesn’t save that much time.

And if you run while crouching, you feel like you might fall over.

Definitely don’t do it.

You can get the feeling that you’ve traveled back in time.

According to the website “Kikikajiri Nishinomiya Rekishi Sanpo,” the north side of this tunnel was completed in 1896, and the south side in 1926.

The semicircular section on the north side was made of brick and stone during the double-track construction in 1896, and the square tunnel on the south side seems to have been extended during the quadruple-track construction in 1926.

Manbo Tunnel – Kikikajiri Nishinomiya Rekishi Sanpo

On the south side, going this way takes you to the south exit of JR Koshienguchi.

Going the opposite way takes you to Koshienguchi SL Park and the area under the Nakatsuhama Line overpass.

On the south side of the tunnel, this area is one-way and doesn’t lead out to any major roads, so there were hardly any cars passing through.

That said, during our stay of about 20 minutes from 10 a.m., more than 20 pedestrians and cyclists used the tunnel.

In reality, it’s probably a tunnel that’s indispensable to daily life.