is one of the 18 wards of the city of

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

of 93,027 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematicall ...

of 13,210 persons per km². The total area was 7.04 km².

Geography

Nishi Ward is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, near the geographic center of the city of Yokohama. It is the smallest of the wards of the city in terms of area, but it includes Yokohama's major commercial hub, extending from the Yokohama Station area through the new Minato Mirai 21 complex, which is home to the Yokohama Landmark Tower, the second tallest building in Japan. The ward consists of lowlands through which the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parall ...

and

Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

pass. The northernmost, southernmost, and western areas are uplands. The Minato Mirai complex is built on reclaimed land, as was the Yokohama Station area..

Surrounding municipalities

* Hodogaya Ward *

Kanagawa Ward is one of the 18 Wards of Japan, wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 230,401 and a population density, density of 9,650 persons per km2. The total area was 23.88 km ...

* Naka Ward *

Minami Ward Minami (kanji 南, hiragana みなみ) is a Japanese word meaning " south". Places Japan There are several Minami wards in Japan, most of them appropriately in the south part of a city: * Minami, Tokushima, a village in Tokushima Prefectu ...

History

Part of the domains of the

Miura clan Miura may refer to: Places * Miura, Kanagawa *Miurakaigan Station * Miura District, Kanagawa *Miura Peninsula * Ganadería Miura, the home of the Miura fighting bull line People * Miura (surname) * Miura clan, Japanese descended clan of the Ta ...

during and after the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first '' shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, the area of present-day Nishi Ward was part of the ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedi ...

'' territory in

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami ...

controlled directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

, but administered through various ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' Howev ...

'' or direct retainers of the shōgun. Parts of the territories of Kanagawa-juku and Hodogaya-juku, post stations on the Tōkaidō are within the borders of the present Ward. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

, the area was divided between the new Tachibana and Kuraki Districts in

and further divided into numerous villages. Yokohama's wards were established on October 10, 1927, with this area becoming part of the Kanagawa and Naka Wards. On April 1, 1944, Nishi became an independent ward within the city of Yokohama.

Economy

Nishi Ward is a regional commercial center and the main business district of modern Yokohama. The world headquarters of Nissan is located in Nishi Ward. Other major companies headquartered in the ward include: *

JGC Corporation JGC Holdings Corporation, formerly , and before that , is a global engineering company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The company was founded on 25 October 1928. In 1976, it changed its original name from Japan Gasoline Co. to JGC Corp. In ...

* Sagami Railway *Okamura Corporation *Kiyoken Co. Ltd. * Ebara Foods Industry * Computer System Engineering Co., Ltd. * Chiyoda Corporation

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, ...

at one time operated a domestic flights only ticketing facility in the Sky Building of the

Yokohama City Air Terminal is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

(YCAT) in Nishi-ku. On March 31, 2011 the ticket counter closed.

Transportation

Railroads

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

–

Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...

, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Negishi Line, Yokohama Line ** *

Keihin Electric Express Railway (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. mean ...

Keikyū Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keikyu. The line connects the Tokyo wards of Minato, Shinagawa, Ōta, and the Kanagawa municipalities of Kawasaki, Yokohama and Yokosuka. The Keikyu Main Line began a ...

** - * Tokyu Corporation -

Tōkyū Tōyoko Line The is a major railway line connecting Tokyo ( Shibuya) to Yokohama. The line is owned and operated by the private railway operator Tokyu Corporation. The name of the line, ''Tōyoko'' (東横), is a combination of the first characters of ''Tō ...

** * Sagami Railway - Sagami Railway Main Line ** - - *

Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company The is a third-sector railway company funded by the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221, ...

–

Minatomirai Line The Minatomirai 21 Line (みなとみらい21線 ''Minato-mirai-21-sen''), commonly known as the Minatomirai Line (みなとみらい線 ''Minatomirai-sen''), is a subway line in Yokohama, Japan that runs from Yokohama Station to Motomachi-Ch ...

** – – *

Yokohama City Transportation Bureau The Yokohama City Transportation Bureau, legally the is the local government administrative agency in charge of public transport services in the city of Yokohama, Japan. Subway operations The Yokohama Municipal Subway consists of the following ...

– Blue Line ** –

Highways

* Shuto Expressway Kanagawa No. 1 * Shuto Expressway Kanagawa No. 2 * Routes 1 * Route 16

Prefecture roads

*Kanagawa Prefecture Road 13

Ferry

* The Port Service

Education

Three universities are located in Nishi Ward. The oldest is

Yokohama National University , abbreviated to or YNU, is a national university located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Founded in 1876, it became a national university in 1949, and currently comprises five graduate schools and four undergraduate faculties. The univ ...

, established in 1876. KU Port Square, part of the private Kanagawa University, established in 1928, lies within the ward. The third is Yashima Gakuen University. Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education operates . The operates public elementary and junior high schools. Junior high schools: * Karuizawa (軽井沢) * Nishi (西) * Oimatsu ( 老松) * Okano ( 岡野) Elementary schools: * Azuma (東) * Hiranuma ( 平沼) * Inaridai (稲荷台) * Ipponmatsu ( 一本松) * Minato Mirai Honcho ( みなとみらい本町) * Miyagaya ( 宮谷) * Nishimae (西前) * Sengendai (浅間台) * Tobe (戸部) Additionally the zones of Fujimidai Elementary School ( 富士見台小学校) and Honcho Elementary School ( 本町小学校), with their campuses outside of Nishi-ku, include portions of Nishi-ku.

Local attractions

* Minato Mirai 21 * Hara Model Railway MuseumHara Model Railway Museum
Retrieved 10 July 2012. * Nogeyama Zoo * Yokohama Museum of Art

Events

Each June, Nishi Ward hosts the Yokohama Kaikō Festival to commemorate the opening of the city's port. In August, the Yokohama Carnival takes place near Yokohama Station.

Noted people from Nishi Ward

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a freelancer. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as twice hol ...

, professional wrestler * Reni Takagi, idol singer

References

* Kato, Yuzo. ''Yokohama Past and Present''. Yokohama City University (1990).

External links

Nishi Ward Office
* {{Authority control Wards of Yokohama