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 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 parallel ...

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 number ...

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 * Naka Ward * Minami Ward

History

Part of the domains of the Miura clan 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 b ...

, 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 Encyclopedia' ...

'' 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 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 ...

'' or direct retainers of the shōgun. Parts of the territories of Kanagawa-juku and

Hodogaya-juku was the fourth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in Hodogaya-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Occasionally, it is also written as . History Hodogaya-juku was established in 1601, an ...

, 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 ...

, 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 , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

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, as w ...

at one time operated a domestic flights only ticketing facility in the Sky Building of the Yokohama City Air Terminal (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, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Negishi Line, Yokohama Line ** * Keihin Electric Express Railway - Keikyū Main Line ** - *

Tokyu Corporation The is a Japanese multinational '' keiretsu'' (conglomerate) holding company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its main operation is , a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area. History The oldest predecessor ...

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 ''Tōky ...

** * Sagami Railway - Sagami Railway Main Line ** - - * Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company –

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-Chū ...

** – – * Yokohama City Transportation Bureau – 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, established in 1876. KU Port Square, part of the private

Kanagawa University , abbreviated to is a private university in Japan. The main campus is located in Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. History The university was founded in 1928 by as . It was an evening school for the working youth. In ...

, established in 1928, lies within the ward. The third is

Yashima Gakuen University is a private distance learning university in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 2004. External links Official website Educational institutions established in 2004 Private universities and colleges i ...

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 ...

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 Museum The is a model railway museum in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan, which opened on 10 July 2012. Managed by Mitsui Fudosan, the museum houses the extensive collection of model trains built and amassed by the Japanese model railway enthusiast . The muse ...

Hara 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, professional wrestler *

Reni Takagi is a Japanese idol and a member of the girl group Momoiro Clover Z. She is the former leader of the group, before leadership was passed to Kanako Momota, and her signature color in the group is purple. Takagi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture ...

, idol singer

References

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

External links

Nishi Ward Office
* {{Authority control Wards of Yokohama