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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.

Crime and safety

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

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

Transport

West Japan Railway Company

• Osaka Loop Line: Shin-Imamiya Station

Osaka Metro

• Midōsuji Line: Dobutsuen-mae Station
• Sakaisuji Line: Dobutsuen-mae Station, Tengachaya Station
• Yotsubashi Line: Hanazonocho Station, Kishinosato Station, Tamade Station

Nankai Railway

• Nankai Main Line: Shin-Imamiya Station, Tengachaya Station, Kishinosatotamade Station
• Kōya Line: Shin-Imamiya Station, Haginochaya Station, Tengachaya Station, Kishinosatotamade Station
• Shiomibashi Line: Kizugawa Station, Tsumori Station, Nishi-Tengachaya Station, Kishinosatotamade Station

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

• Yoshie Kashiwabara, singer
• Yashiki Takajin, singer and television personality
• Kiichi Kunimoto, mixed martial artist

See also

• Kamagasaki, Day Laborers' District
• Tobita Shinchi, brothel district

References

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. ^ "Nishinari, the slum of Osaka, now at risk of gentrification after becoming a tourist hotspot". January 18, 2020.
3. "2010 Police White Paper Chapter 2 : Furtherance of Organized Crime Countermeasures", 2010, National Police Agency (in Japanese)

External links

• Official website of Nishinari (in English)

v t e Osaka Prefecture
Osaka (capital)
Osaka	Wards Abeno Asahi Chūō Fukushima Higashinari Higashisumiyoshi Higashiyodogawa Hirano Ikuno Jōtō Kita Konohana Minato Miyakojima Naniwa Nishi Nishinari Nishiyodogawa Suminoe Sumiyoshi Taishō Tennōji Tsurumi Yodogawa
Sakai	Wards Higashi Kita Naka Nishi Mihara Minami Sakai
Core cities	Higashiōsaka Hirakata Neyagawa Suita Takatsuki Toyonaka Yao
Special cities	Ibaraki Kishiwada
Cities	Daitō Fujiidera Habikino Hannan Ikeda Izumi Izumiōtsu Izumisano Kadoma Kaizuka Kashiwara Katano Kawachinagano Matsubara Minoh Moriguchi Ōsakasayama Sennan Settsu Shijōnawate Takaishi Tondabayashi
Districts	Minamikawachi District Chihayaakasaka Kanan Taishi Mishima District Shimamoto Senboku District Tadaoka Sennan District Kumatori Misaki Tajiri Toyono District Nose Toyono
List of mergers in Osaka Prefecture; Note: ☆ - Cities to become core cities

34°38′6″N 135°29′40″E / 34.63500°N 135.49444°E / 34.63500; 135.49444

• Wards of Osaka
• Yakuza