Nishinomiya

Nishinomiya (西宮市, Nishinomiya-shi?) is a city located in Hyōgo, Japan, between the cities of Ōsaka and Kōbe. On April 1, 2005, the city of Nishinomiya celebrated its 80th anniversary. It is best known as the home of Kōshien Stadium, where the Hanshin Tigers baseball team plays home games and where Japan's annual high school baseball championship is held. It is also the location of Kwansei Gakuin University, a private university founded by American missionaries in the nineteenth century. Nishinomiya is an important commercial and shipping city in the Kansai region with the third largest population in Hyōgo Prefecture.