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 T ...

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. Kanag ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. 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 usi ...

of 221,536 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 11,150 persons per km². The total area was 19.87 km².

Geography

Kōnan is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, and south of the geographic center of the city of Yokohama.

Surrounding municipalities

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 Prefectur ...

* Isogo Ward * Sakae Ward * Totsuka Ward

History

The area around present-day Kōnan Ward was part of Kuraki District 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, ...

until the end of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, and was ''

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 Encyclopedia' ...

'' territory 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 during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, 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 ...

''. 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 ...

, the area was transferred to the new

, and during the cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, Kamiooka village and several other villages were established. On October 1, 1927 the area was annexed by the neighboring city of Yokohama, becoming part of Naka Ward. The Shōnan Electric Railway, the predecessor to the

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 as ...

began operations from April 1, 1935 leading to the rapid urbanization of the area. In a major administrative reorganization of October 1, 1969, Kōnan was separated from Naka Ward, and became an independent Ward within Yokohama. The population exceeded 100,000 in ay 1970, and 200,000 in June 1984.

Economy

Kōnan Ward is largely a regional commercial center and

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for central Yokohama and Tokyo.

Transportation

Railroads

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. ...

** *

JR East 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 ...

Negishi Line The Negishi Line ( ja, 根岸線, ) is a Japanese railway line which connects Yokohama and Ōfuna stations. It is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Freight trains also operate on this line, and it is essential for the southern ...

** Kōnandai Station * Yokohama City Transportation Bureau – Blue Line ** – – –

Highways

* Route 16

Education

College: * Yokohama Women's Junior College Prefectural high schools are operated by the

Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education The is the board of education for Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. The board consists of six members; one of them is elected as the chair, and one of them is appointed by the board as the superintendent. The board administers municipal education and ...

. Prefectural senior high schools: * * * Municipal junior-senior high schools are operated by the . * - Includes a senior high school and an attached junior high school. Private high schools: * (Kōnandai campus) The municipal board of education also operates public elementary and junior high schools. Municipal junior high schools: *Higashinagaya ( 東永谷) *Higiriyama (日限山) *Hino-minami (日野南) *Kaminagaya (上永谷) *Kōnan (港南) *Kōnandai-Dai-ichi (No. 1) (港南台第一) *Maruyamadai ( 丸山台) *Sasage ( 笹下) *Serigaya (芹が谷) *JHS Attached to Minami HS ( 南高等学校附属) Former junior high schools: *Noba ( 野庭) - Closed in 2020. Elementary schools:
From this link
/ref> *Higiriyama (日限山) *Hino (日野) *Hino-minami (日野南) *Hishita ( 日下) *Kami-Ōoka ( 上大岡) *Kōnandai-Dai-ichi (No. 1) (港南台第一) *Kōnandai-Daini (No. 2) (港南台第二) *Kōnandai-Daisan (No. 3) (港南台第三) *Kotsubo (小坪) *Maruyamadai ( 丸山台) *Minamidai (南台) *Nagano (永野) *Nagaya ( 永谷) *Noba-Suzukake ( 野庭すずかけ) *Sakuraoka (桜岡) *Serigaya ( 芹が谷) *Serigaya-minami (芹が谷南) *Shimonagaya ( 下永谷) *Shimonoba (下野庭) *Sōbuyama ( 相武山) *Yoshihara (吉原) Additionally, Fujinoki Elementary School (藤の木小学校), Shiomidai Elementary School (汐見台小学校), and Yōkōdai-Daisan (No. 3) Elementary School (洋光台第三小学校), outside of Konan-ku, have attendance zones including parts of Konan-ku.

Noted people from Kōnan

Akiko Fukushima Akiko Fukushima ( ja, 福嶋晃子, born 29 June 1973) is a Japanese professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Fukushima won 24 times on the LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the ...

, professional golfer *

Reiko Takashima is a Japanese actress. Career Takashima starred in Shinji Aoyama's 1999 film, '' EM Embalming''. She has also appeared in films such as '' K-20: Legend of the Mask'', ''Railways'' and ''Space Battleship Yamato''. Filmography Film * ''Like a Ro ...

, actress *

Daisuke Sakata is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career He first played for Yokohama Flügels youth team but became a Yokohama F. Marinos youth player when both teams merged in 1999. He was promoted to the top team ...

, professional football player *

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...

, record producer *

Kouhei Kadono is a Japanese author, best known for the ''Boogiepop'' series which has received multiple manga adaptations, a live action film, and two television anime. Biography Born on December 12, 1968, Kadono graduated from Hosei University. In 1998 ...

, author *

Hironori Kusano is a Japanese singer and former member of the J-pop group NEWS, as part of Johnny's Entertainment, Inc., which he joined in February 2001. Biography As a Johnny's Jr., Kusano had also been in other Jr. subgroups including J2000, J-support, a ...

, idol singer *

Jackie Sato , better known as was a professional wrestler from Yokohama, Japan. In the 1970s, while wrestling for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), she formed the tag team, the Beauty Pair, with Maki Ueda. Following in the steps of Mach Fumiake, the Bea ...

, professional wrestler

References

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

External links

Kōnan Ward Office

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konan-ku, Yokohama Wards of Yokohama