Hankyu Bus
Discontinued Sections: [Takedao Line] JR Takedao Station – Nishitani Yume Plaza – Kamisosori, etc.
Discontinuation Date: Discontinued on October 1, 2026 (last service on the previous day)
Do direct trains from Osaka actually arrive and depart from here? From Takedao Station on the JR Fukuchiyama Line—located in a valley so deep it’s surprising—we take a bus deep into the mountains. That “Hankyu Bus Takedao Line” is soon to be completely discontinued.
Actually, for a long time, this bus service was known not as “Hankyu Bus” but as “Hankyu Den-en Bus,” and before that, it was “Nishitani Motor Company.” It has a history of being established to meet the needs of the people in this area (Nishitani Village), thanks to modest financial contributions from residents along the route.
Until the middle of the Taisho era, Nishitani Village had no roads suitable for cars, and although it was a hub that maintained a herd of as many as 286 oxen to transport crops, residents were reportedly forced to travel on foot to Mita and Takarazuka. However, when Takedao Station on the Hankaku Railway opened at the southern tip of the district in 1899 (Meiji 32), demands grew for a bus route to run through Nishitani Village, which stretched long from north to south… Yet there was no road suitable for vehicles leading to the station.
Finally, some roads were widened, and as a first step, he purchased a used Chevrolet from Kobe for 2,000 yen (equivalent to at least 1 million yen). However, although it ran on flat ground, the engine broke down in Takedao, and he reportedly “dumped the broken-down car into a pond” (from the History of Takarazuka City). That is just how steep the slopes in Nishitani Village and Takedao were.
Subsequently, Nishitani Motor Company finally opened for business in 1924 (Taisho 13) with a fleet of three or four vehicles, including Chevrolets and Fords. However, the roads leading to Takedao Station were too narrow for buses to enter, so passengers had to walk from “Takedao Tsuji”—located 3 km before the station—to the station itself, a situation that continued until the year after the company opened. Even so, the villagers must have been overjoyed.
Despite initial concerns about its financial stability, the company has remained profitable thanks to a mutual shareholding arrangement among volunteers from the village’s 10 districts. Following an investment by Hankyu Bus after World War II, Nishitani Motor Company changed its name to “Hankyu Denen Bus,” a subsidiary, in 1997 (Heisei 9). The fact that it continued to maintain a certain degree of independence afterward was likely due in part to its status as a bus company with considerable clout.
However, as the 100th anniversary approached, both ridership and the number of trips declined, and “Hankyu Den-en Bus” was absorbed into “Hankyu Bus.” Service to Takarazuka and Sanda cities was discontinued, the bus depot was closed, and the company found itself running an annual deficit of over 30 million yen even with government subsidies. Thus, the routes formerly operated by Nishitani Motor Company were inevitably discontinued just over 100 years after they first began service.
As an alternative following the discontinuation of the service, the “Nishitani Trial Bus” will begin operation, running on a fixed schedule only in the mornings and evenings, while operating on a reservation-only basis during other times (open to non-residents as well).
© Source travel watch