Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station (西宮北口駅, Nishinomiya-kitaguchi-eki, station number: HK-08) is a railway station of Hankyu Railway in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station 西宮北口駅 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Hankyu Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station track 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other names | Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens (阪急西宮ガーデンズ前) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operated by | Hankyu Corporation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Station code | HK-08 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | July 16, 1920 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It is one of the main stations in Nishinomiya City, with Hanshin Nishinomiya Station and JR Nishinomiya Station.
Lines
The platforms of Hankyu Imazu Line to Takarazuka Station, northbound, and Imazu Station, southbound are separated, and so there are no through trains from Takarazuka to Imazu.
Layout

- Kobe Line: 2 island platforms and 2 side platforms serving 2 tracks each.
■ Exit | from trains at Line 1 | |
1, 2 | ■ Kōbe Line | for Shukugawa, Kōbe (Kobe-sannomiya, Rokko, Shinkaichi) and the Sanyo Railway Main Line |
3, 4 | ■ Kōbe Line | for Ōsaka (Umeda), Itami, Kyōto and Kita-Senri |
■ Exit | from trains at Line 4 |
- Imazu Line (south): an elevated side platform serving a track.
5 | ■ Imazu Line (south) | for Imazu |
- Imazu Line (north): 3 dead-end platforms serving 2 tracks.
■ Exit | from trains at Line 6 | |
6 | ■ Imazu Line (north) | for Nigawa, Takarazuka, Kawanishi-noseguchi and Minoo (during the rush hour) |
7 | ■ Imazu Line (north) | for Nigawa, Takarazuka, Kawanishi-noseguchi and Minoo |
■ Exit | from trains at Line 7 |
History
The station opened on July 16, 1920 when the Kobe Main Line opened.[1] The Imazu Line opened the next year.
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station was damaged by the Great Hanshin earthquake in January 1995. Restoration work on the Kobe Line took 7 months to complete.[2]
Station numbering was introduced on 21 December 2013, with Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi being designated as station number HK-08.[3]
Past layout

There were four 90-degree diamond crossings served by the Kobe Line and the Imazu Line until they were removed in 1984 to build the new station building. The crossings were located in the south of the platforms for the Imazu Line, between the westbound platforms and the eastbound platforms for the Kobe Line.
- Kobe Line westbound platforms: on the east side of the Imazu Line, an island platform serving 2 tracks with a side platform for arrivals in the south.
■ Exit | from trains at Line 1 | |
1, 2 | ■ Kōbe Line | for Kōbe (Kobe-sannomiya, Rokko, Shinkaichi) and the Sanyo Railway Main Line |
- Kobe Line eastbound platforms: on the west side of the Imazu Line, an island platform serving 2 tracks with a side platform for arrivals in the north.
3, 4 | ■ Kōbe Line | for Ōsaka (Umeda), Itami, Kyoto and Kita-Senri |
■ Exit | from trains at Line 4 |
- Imazu Line: on the north side of the Kobe Line, a side platform and a dead-end platform serving 4 tracks, one of which tracks was removed in 1977.
5 | ■ Imazu Line | for Imazu |
6, 7 | ■ Imazu Line | for Nigawa, Takarazuka, Kawanishi-noseguchi and Minoo |
8 | ■ Imazu Line | for Takarazuka (Used during the rush hour until 1977) |
Surroundings
- Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens (formerly Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium)
- Hyogo Performing Arts Center
- ACTA Nishinomiya
- Koshien Gakuin
- Koshien Junior College
Buses
South Terminal | |
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Hankyu Bus Co. | |
Bus stop 1 |
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Bus stop 2 |
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Bus stop 3 |
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Hanshin Bus Co. | |
Bus stop 1 |
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North Terminal | |
airport limousine | |
for Kansai International Airport | operated by Hankyu Bus Co., Hanshin Bus Co., Osaka Airport Transport Co., Kansai Airport Transportation Enterprise Co. and Nankai Bus Co. |
for Osaka International Airport | operated by Hanshin Bus Co. and Osaka Airport Transport Co. |
See also
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station. |
- Orix Buffaloes - The Hankyu Braves, predecessors of the Orix Buffaloes, were based at Nishinomiya Stadium and Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station was the nearest station. In those days, train conductors called the station name as "Nishinomiya-kitaguchi, Nishinomiya Stadium-mae". Now there is Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens opened on November 26, 2008 on the vacant lot where the stadium used to be, and the station name is announced "Nishinomiya-kitaguchi, Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens-mae".
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - "Kitaguchi station" in this anime was modeled on this station.
References
- Hankyu Corporation (April 2001). 阪急ステーション [Hankyu Stations] (in Japanese). Osaka: Hankyu Corporation. p. 118. ISBN 4-89485-051-6.
- 曽根, 悟 (October 2010). "週刊 歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 大手私鉄" [Weekly History of all Railway Lines: Major private railways]. Weekly Asahi Encyclopedia (in Japanese). No. 12 (Hanshin Electric Railway Hankyu Electric Railway 2): 27–29. ISBN 978-4-02-340142-6.
- "「西山天王山」駅開業にあわせて、「三宮」「服部」「中山」「松尾」4駅の駅名を変更し、全駅で駅ナンバリングを導入します" ["Sannomiya" "Hattori" "Nakayama" "Matsuo" along with the opening of "Nishiyama Tennozan" station. We will change the station names of 4 stations and introduce station numbering at all stations.] (PDF). Hankyu Corporation Online. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2022.