house of the Diet of Japan. Economy From the middle of the Edo period (1792), the area has been noted for the production of a striped cloth per a technique introduced from Nishijin in Kyoto, called "Banshu weaving". In the latter half of the Meiji era became known nationwide, and still has a share of more than 70% of domestic yarn-dyed textiles. Other noted products include the production of Kobe beef. Education Nishiwaki has eight public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government and three public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Department of Education. Transportation Railway JR West - Kakogawa Line ] - - - - - - Highways International relations Sister cities Renton, Washington, U.S.A since 1969. Since then there have been mutual exchanges between the cities, most notably the annual middle school exchange program which began in 1989. (The US delegation was in Japan October 3–13, 1989.) The initial delegation from the US included (future) actress Casey Strand. Culture Mascots Nisshi (にっしー） was made to promote the city in 2010, and she wears a blue clothes made of "Banshu-Ori", which is a kind of textile and famous in Nisiwaki city. Sakura (さくら) is Nisshi's sister and wears pink clothes. Heso-no-Kanchan (へそのかんちゃん) was made to promote a historical drama, Gunshi-Kanbe (軍師官兵衛), which had been broadcast in 2014. "Kanchan" was designed after the model of Kanbe's appearance in his childhood. Noted people from Nishiwaki Tadanori Yokoo, graphic designer Yoshinori Tokura, physicist Iwaichi Fujiwara, army general Ogura Seiji,drummer flumpool References External links Nishiwaki City official website Cities in Hyōgo Prefecture Nishiwaki, Hyōgo