Kawanishi is located in far eastern Hyōgo Prefecture, about 5 km north of Osaka Itami Airport.

It reached peak production the 17th century, which is why this area was tenryō territory under the direct administration of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period.

On August 1 1954 it merged with the villages of Higashitani (東谷村) and Tada (多田村) to become the city of Kawanishi.

Kawanishi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 26 members.

In 1884, Mitsubishi established Japan's first noted water plant in Kawanishi, this later became Mitsuya Cider.