AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- It's hard to believe that the smoggy, traffic-laden industrial zone stretching from the Hanshin Line's Amagasaki Station to the shores of the Inland Sea was once a thriving sweet-potato belt.

A five-minute walk south of the station now ends at the thundering eight-lane National Route 43, with the Hanshin expressway running overhead.

The heavy truck traffic leaves a diesel cloud that reaches across the industrial zone to the sea.