dead and 550 injured. On April 1, 2009, Amagasaki was elevated to the status of a core city. Government Amagasaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 42 members. Amagasaki contributes seven members to the Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is in the Hyōgo 8th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Politics of Amagasaki 2002 Amagasaki mayoral election On 22 November 2010 Kazumi Inamura became the first popularly elected Greens Japan Mayor as well as the youngest popularly-elected female mayor of the city with 54% of the vote. Economy Amagasaki is a major part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. Businesses headquartered in the city include manufacturers such as Osaka Titanium Technologies. The value of manufactured goods shipments in Amagasaki was 1,288 billion yen in 2004. Education Amagasaki has 42 public elementary schools and 17 public middle schools operated by the city government, 11 public high schools operated by the Hyōgo Prefectural Board of Education, and two combined private middle/high schools. In addition, the city also operates one special education school for the handicapped. The College of Industrial Technology, a junior college, and the Sonoda Women's University, a women's four-year college with associated junior college are located in the city The city has a North Korean school, . It previously had a second school, . Transportation Railways JR West - Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) - JR West - Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line) - - JR West - JR Tōzai Line - - Hankyu - Kobe Line - - Hankyu - Itami Line Hanshin Electric Railway - Hanshin Main Line - - - - - Hanshin Electric Railway - Hanshin Namba Line - Highways Meishin Expressway Hanshin Expressway Kobe Route Hanshin Expressway Bayshore Route (Port of Osaka-Kobe) Sister city relations Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany - since April 7, 1959 Anshan, Liaoning, China - since February 2, 1983 (friendship city) Kami, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (Formerly Mikata) - since 1974 (friendship city) Local attractions Tano Site, Yayoi period settlement trace, National Historic Site Amagasaki Castle Notable people from Amagasaki Mitsue Aoki (manga artist) Chikamatsu Monzaemon (dramatist of the Edo period) Chiyu (bassist of the band Sug) Cobra (punk rock band) Downtown (comedy duo) Hitoshi Matsumoto Masatoshi Hamada (Originally from Naniwa-ku, Osaka) Gero (singer) Heath (bassist of the band X Japan) Kunio Hiramatsu (politician)