Chiyoda (千代田区, Chiyoda-ku) is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.[1]
It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kanda and Kōjimachi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Chiyoda ward exhibits contrasting Shitamachi and Yamanote geographical and cultural division. The Kanda area is in the core of Shitamachi,[2] the original commercial center of Edo-Tokyo. On the other hand, the western part of the Kōjimachi area typically represents a Yamanote district.
Chiyoda consists of the Imperial Palace and a surrounding radius of about a kilometer. As of June 2020, the ward has an estimated population of 66,575, and a population density of 5,709 people per km², making it by far the least populated of the special wards. The total area is 11.66 km², of which the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park, National Museum of Modern Art, and Yasukuni Shrine take up approximately 2.6 km², or 22% of the total area.
Chiyoda is an economical powerhouse, the small area East of the palace in the districts of Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho (colloquially "Daimaruyu") houses the headquarters of 19 Fortune 500 companies, is the source of roughly 10% of the combined revenue of all Japanese companies[3] and produced in 2017 the equivalent of around 1/4th of the GDP of the country.[4] With a day population of around 850,000, its day/night population ratio is by very far the highest of all municipalities in Japan.
Chiyoda is also the political center of the country,[5] Chiyoda, literally meaning "field of a thousand generations", inherited the name from the Chiyoda Castle (the other name for Edo Castle, today's Imperial Palace). With the seat of the Emperor in the Imperial Palace at the ward's center, many government institutions, such as the National Diet, the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Supreme Court, ministries, and agencies are also located in Chiyoda, as are Tokyo landmarks such as Tokyo Station, Yasukuni Shrine and the Budokan. The neighborhood Akihabara is also located in Chiyoda, as are twenty embassies and consulates.
History
Chiyoda has been a site of a number of historical events.
- In 1860, the assassination of Ii Naosuke took place outside the Sakurada Gate of the Imperial Palace.
- In 1932, assassins attacked and killed prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi.
- In 1936, an attempted coup d'état, the February 26 Incident, occurred.
- In 1960, Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma was assassinated in Hibiya Hall.
- In 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo carried out the Tokyo subway sarin attack.
Geography
At the tip of Musashino plateau, Chiyoda is located at the very heart of former Tokyo City in eastern mainland Tokyo. The central area of the ward is furthermore occupied by the Imperial Palace. The east side of the ward, bordering Chūō, is the location of Tokyo Station. The south side, bordering Minato, encompasses Hibiya Park and the National Diet Building. It is almost exclusively occupied by administrations and agencies. The west and northwest are primarily upper class residential; the Yasukuni Shrine is also there. To the north and northeast are several residential neighborhoods and the Akihabara commercial district.
Politics and government
Local government
Chiyoda is run by a directly elected mayor and a city assembly of 25 elected members. The current mayor is Masami Ishikawa, an independent.
Metropolitan representation
For the Metropolitan Assembly, Chiyoda forms a single-member electoral district. It had been represented by Liberal Democrats for 50 years until the landslide 2009 election when then 26-year-old Democratic newcomer Zenkō Kurishita unseated 70-year-old former Metropolitan Assembly president and six term assemblyman, Liberal Democrat Shigeru Uchida.[6] In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist and two independents.
The Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda.[7]
National representation
For the national House of Representatives, Chiyoda, together with Minato and Shinjuku, forms the prefecture's 1st electoral district since the electoral reform of the 1990s. The district is currently represented by Constitutional Democrat Banri Kaieda.
The ward is also home to the National Diet, the Supreme Court of Japan and the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan and is the political nerve center of Japan.
International representation
Chiyoda ward is home to several embassies and consulates.
- The Embassy of the United Kingdom is in Ichibancho in Chiyoda.[8]
- The Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay in Japan is in Ichibancho.
- The Embassy of Belgium has been located in the Kojimachi area since 1902 and at its location in Nibancho since 1928. During the reconstruction project from 2007 to 2009, the Belgian embassy was temporarily in Shiba
It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kanda and Kōjimachi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Chiyoda ward exhibits contrasting Shitamachi and Yamanote geographical and cultural division. The Kanda area is in the core of Shitamachi,[2] the original commercial center of Edo-Tokyo. On the other hand, the western part of the Kōjimachi area typically represents a Yamanote district.
Chiyoda consists of the Imperial Palace and a surrounding radius of about a kilometer. As of June 2020, the ward has an estimated population of 66,575, and a population density of 5,709 people per km², making it by far the least populated of the special wards. The total area is 11.66 km², of which the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park, National Museum of Modern Art, and Yasukuni Shrine take up approximately 2.6 km², or 22% of the total area.
Chiyoda is an economical powerhouse, the small area East of the palace in the districts of Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho (colloquially "Daimaruyu") houses the headquarters of 19 Fortune 500 companies, is the source of roughly 10% of the combined revenue of all Japanese companies[3] and produced in 2017 the equivalent of around 1/4th of the GDP of the country.[4] With a day population of around 850,000, its day/night population ratio is by very far the highest of all municipalities in Japan.
Chiyoda is also the political center of the country,[5] Chiyoda, literally meaning "field of a thousand generations", inherited the name from the Chiyoda Castle (the other name for Edo Castle, today's Imperial Palace). With the seat of the Emperor in the Imperial Palace at the ward's center, many government institutions, such as the National Diet, the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Supreme Court, ministries, and agencies are also located in Chiyoda, as are Tokyo landmarks such as Tokyo Station, Yasukuni Shrine and the Budokan. The neighborhood Akihabara is also located in Chiyoda, as are twenty embassies and consulates.
Chiyoda has been a site of a number of historical events.
- In 1860, the assassination of Ii Naosuke took place outside the Sakurada Gate of the Imperial Palace.
- In 1932, assassins attacked and killed prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi.
- In 1936, an attempted coup d'état, the February 26 Incident, occurred.
- In 1960, Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma was assassinated in Hibiya Hall.
- In 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo carried out the Tokyo subway sarin attack.
Geography
Grounds of the Tokyo Imperial PalaceAt the tip of Musashino plateau, Chiyoda is located at the very heart of former Tokyo City in eastern mainland Tokyo. The central area of the ward is furthermore occupied by the Imperial Palace. The east side of the ward, bordering Chūō, is the location of Tokyo Station. The south side, bordering Minato, encompasses Hibiya Park and the National Diet Building. It is almost exclusively occupied by administrations and agencies. The west and northwest are primarily upper class residential; the Yasukuni Shrine is also there. To the north and northeast are several residential neighborhoods and the Akihabara commercial district.
Politics and government
Musashino plateau, Chiyoda is located at the very heart of former Tokyo City in eastern mainland Tokyo. The central area of the ward is furthermore occupied by the Imperial Palace. The east side of the ward, bordering Chūō, is the location of Tokyo Station. The south side, bordering Minato, encompasses Hibiya Park and the National Diet Building. It is almost exclusively occupied by administrations and agencies. The west and northwest are primarily upper class residential; the Yasukuni Shrine is also there. To the north and northeast are several residential neighborhoods and the Akihabara commercial district.
Politics and government
Local governmentmayor is Masami Ishikawa, an independent.
Metropolitan representation
For the Metropolitan Assembly, Chiyoda forms a single-member electoral district. It had been represented by Liberal Democrats for 50 years until the landslide 2009 election when then 26-year-old Democratic newcomer Zenkō Kurishita unseated 70-year-old former Metropolitan Assembly president and six term assemblyman, Liberal Democrat Shigeru Uchida.[6] In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist and two independents.
The Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda.[7]
National representation
For the national House of Representatives, Chiyoda, together with Minato and Shinjuku, forms the prefecture's 1st electoral district since the electoral reform of the 1990s. The district is currently
For the Metropolitan Assembly, Chiyoda forms a single-member electoral district. It had been represented by Liberal Democrats for 50 years until the landslide 2009 election when then 26-year-old Democratic newcomer Zenkō Kurishita unseated 70-year-old former Metropolitan Assembly president and six term assemblyman, Liberal Democrat Shigeru Uchida.[6] In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist and two independents.
The Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda.[7]
National represe
The Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda.[7]
For the national House of Representatives, Chiyoda, together with Minato and Shinjuku, forms the prefecture's 1st electoral district since the electoral reform of the 1990s. The district is currently represented by Constitutional Democrat Banri Kaieda.
The ward is also home to the National Diet, the Supreme Court of Japan and the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan and is the political
The ward is also home to the National Diet, the Supreme Court of Japan and the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan and is the political nerve center of Japan.
Chiyoda ward is home to several embassies and consulates.
- The Embassy of the United Kingdom is in Ichibancho in Chiyoda.[8]
- The Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay in Japan is in Ichibancho.
- The On December 31, 2001, Chiyoda had 6,572 buildings which were four stories or taller.[1]
Some of the districts in Chiyoda are actually not inhabited, either because they are parks (Hibiya Koen), because they consist only of office buildings (Otemachi or Marunouchi), and/or because they are extremely small. The area on the eastern side of Akihabara Station is the location of several districts that cover at most a few buildings. Kanda-Hanaokachō is, for example, limited to the Akihabara Station and the Yodobashi Camera department store. Understanding the address system in the Kanda area can be particularly troublesome for non-locals.
Districts and neighborhoods
Kōjimachi Area
- Kōjimachi Area (麹町地区), former Kōjimachi Ward (Kōjimachi-ku)
- Kojimachi, a former merchant area along the Shinjuku-Dori avenue, upper-class residential with a couple of offices.
- The Banchō area (nowadays consisting of six neighborhoods, from Ichibancho to Rokubanchō, and historically including Fujimi as well as the western sides of Kudanminami and Kudankita), an upper class residential area, home of the embassies of Belgium, Paraguay, Luxemburg, the UK, Israel and the Apostolic Nunciature.
- Chiyoda - "1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku" is the official address of the Imperial Palace
- Fujimi, location of the Residence of the Philippine Ambassador to Tokyo, Chongryon, as well as several educational facilities
- Akihabara Station is the location of several districts that cover at most a few buildings. Kanda-Hanaokachō is, for example, limited to the Akihabara Station and the Yodobashi Camera department store. Understanding the address system in the Kanda area can be particularly troublesome for non-locals.
The list below consists of the many smaller neighborhoods of the Kanda area, for which a modernization of the addressing system has not been enforced yet except Kanda-Sarugakuchō and Kanda-Misakichō. All officially start with the prefix "Kanda-", but it is sometimes omitted in daily life. Note that Iwamotochō and Kanda-Iwamotochō are different districts (as is the case for Kajichō and Kanda-Kajichō)
- Kanda-Aioichō
- Kanda-Awajichō
- Kanda-Izumichō
- Kanda-Iwamotochō
- Kanda-Ogawamachi
- Kanda-Kajichō
- Kanda-Kitanorimonochō
- Kanda-Konyachō
- Kanda-Sakumagashi
- Kanda-Sakumachō
- Kanda-Sarugakuchō
- Kanda-Jinbōchō
- Kanda-Sudachō
- Kanda-Surugadai
- Kanda-Tachō
- Kanda-Tsukasamachi
- Kanda-Tomiyamachō
- Kanda-Nishikichō
- Kanda-Nishifukudachō
- Kanda-Neribeichō
- Kanda-Hanaokachō
- Kanda-Higashikonyachō
- Kanda-Higashimatsushitachō
- Kanda-Hirakawachō
- Kanda-Matsunagachō
- Kanda-Mikurachō
- Kanda-Misakichō
- Kanda-Mitoshirochō
Economy
Shueisha headquarters
[1]0verflow,[13] Asahi Glass,[14] Bungeishunjū,[15] Calbee,[16] Creatures Inc.,[17] Datam Polystar,[18] DIC Corporation,[19] Dowa Holdings,[20] Furukawa Electric,[21] HAL Laboratory,[22] Hakusensha,[23] Jaleco,[24] The Japan FM Network Company,[25] Japan Freight Railway Company,[26] Japan Post Holdings,[27] JFE Holdings,[28] Kadokawa Corporation,[29] KDDI,[30] Konica Minolta,[31] Kyowa Hakko Kirin,[32] Lixil Group Corporation,[33] Maeda Corporation,[34] Mitsubishi Estate,[35] MCDecaux,[36] Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group,[37] Mizuho Financial Group,[38] Nabtesco,[39] Nakano Corporation,[40] New Otani,[41] Nikken Sekkei,[42] Nippon Cable,[43] Nippon Flour Mills,[44] Nippon Paper Industries,[45] Nippon Soda,[46] Nippon Suisan Kaisha,[47] Nitto Boseki,[48] NTT docomo,[49] Orient Watch Company,[50] Seibu Kaihatsu,[51] Seven & i Holdings,[52] Shin-Etsu Chemical,[53] Shogakukan,[54] Shueisha,[55] SMC Corporation,[56] Sony Music Entertainment Japan,[57] Tanaka Kikinzoku Group,[58] Toho,[59] Toho Zinc,[60] Tokio Marine Nichido,0verflow,[13] Asahi Glass,[14] Bungeishunjū,[15] Calbee,[16] Creatures Inc.,[17] Datam Polystar,[18] DIC Corporation,[19] Dowa Holdings,[20] Furukawa Electric,[21] HAL Laboratory,[22] Hakusensha,[23] Jaleco,[24] The Japan FM Network Company,[25] Japan Freight Railway Company,[26] Japan Post Holdings,[27] JFE Holdings,[28] Kadokawa Corporation,[29] KDDI,[30] Konica Minolta,[31] Kyowa Hakko Kirin,[32] Lixil Group Corporation,[33] Maeda Corporation,[34] Mitsubishi Estate,[35] MCDecaux,[36] Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group,[37] Mizuho Financial Group,[38] Nabtesco,[39] Nakano Corporation,[40] New Otani,[41] Nikken Sekkei,[42] Nippon Cable,[43] Nippon Flour Mills,[44] Nippon Paper Industries,[45] Nippon Soda,[46] Nippon Suisan Kaisha,[47] Nitto Boseki,[48] NTT docomo,[49] Orient Watch Company,[50] Seibu Kaihatsu,[51] Seven & i Holdings,[52] Shin-Etsu Chemical,[53] Shogakukan,[54] Shueisha,[55] SMC Corporation,[56] Sony Music Entertainment Japan,[57] Tanaka Kikinzoku Group,[58] Toho,[59] Toho Zinc,[60] Tokio Marine Nichido,[61] Tokuyama Corporation,[62] Tokyo FM,[25] Toppan Printing,[63] Ushio, Inc.,[64] Yamazaki Baking Company,[65] Vie de France,[66] YKK Group,[67] and Yomiuri Shimbun are headquartered in Chiyoda.[68] Mazda has an office in Chiyoda.[69]
Foreign companies with Japanese divisions in Chiyoda include Aeroméxico,[70] AMI Japan (subsidiary of American Megatrends),[71] Chloé Japan,[72] Hewlett-Packard Japan,[73] LVMH,[74] Ropes & Gray,[75] Sidley Austin,[76] Sunoco,[77] and Swiss International Air Lines.[78]
Former operations
Japanese companies which formerly had their headquarters in Chiyoda include All Nippon Airways,[79] Bandai Visual,[80] Galaxy Airlines,[81] Japan Airlines,[82] Japan Asia Airways,[82] Mitsui Chemicals,[83] Nippon Cargo Airlines,[84] Taito Corporation,[85] and Yamato Life.[86] In 1998 Fujitsu operated a branch office in Chiyoda.[87] At one point, Cantor Fitzgerald had an office in Chiyoda.[88]
Attractions
Tokyo station with a multitude of subways, railways and long-distance services.Points of historical interest
Kudan lighthouse
Kanda Festival
Education
Primary and secondary schools
As of 1 May 2003[update]Kudan lighthouse
Kanda Festival
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Primary and secondary schools
[update], Chiyoda has eight elementary schools, with 2,647 students, and five junior high schools with 1,123 students.[1] Public elementary, junior high schools and Kudan middle school in Chiyoda are operated by the Chiyoda City (the Chiyoda Ward) Board of Education. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.Public schools
- Prefectural high schools
- Municipal secondary (junior-senior high) schools
- Kōjimachi Area (麹町地区), former Kōjimachi Ward (Kōjimachi-ku)
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