Kishiwada

Kishiwada City developed around the castle town of the Kishiwada Domain and has concentrated branch offices of Osaka Prefecture’s local agencies and corporate branches. Cotton cultivation has been thriving since the Edo period, supporting spinning and weaving of cotton cloth and yarn. Even in modern times, textiles remained the industrial core, but from 1966 the city carried out coastal land reclamation on its own initiative, forming the Osaka Ironworks and Metal Industrial Complex. The city is also known for its glass and lens industries; at its peak around 1980, roughly 70 lens factories of various sizes operated in the city. In addition to glass and lenses, production of microscope slide glass and cover glass flourished, and at one time the city held more than 90% of Japan’s domestic market share for cover glass. In agriculture, alongside rice cultivation, onions, mizunasu eggplant, bamboo shoots, and mandarins are widely grown. Kishiwada is best known for the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival, held annually since 1703. It is said to have begun as an Inari festival performed by domain lord Okabe Nagayasu to pray for a bountiful harvest. The highlight is the ‘yarimawashi’—a high-speed, sharp corner turn performed by the danjiri floats.