is one of the seven

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

of the city of Kawasaki in

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 has 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 a ...

of 211,221 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 10,310 persons per km². The total area is 20.49 km².

Geography

Tama Ward is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, in the far northeastern corner of the city of Kawasaki, bordering on Tokyo. It is bordered to the north by the

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The river ...

Surrounding municipalities

Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki is one of the 7 wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 215,158 and a density of 13,150 persons per km². The total area is 16.38 km². Geography Takatsu Ward is lo ...

Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki is one of the 7 wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 217,251 and a density of 11,670 persons per km². The total area was 18.61 km². Geography Miyamae Ward is l ...

Asao-ku, Kawasaki is one of the 7 wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 167,792 and a density of 7,210 persons per km². The total area was 23.28 km². Geography Asao Ward is locate ...

* Setagaya-ku, Tokyo * Chōfu, Tokyo *

Komae, Tokyo is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It is one of 30 municipalities in the western portion of Tokyo known as the Tama Area. , the city had an estimated population of 83,218, and a population density of 13,000 per ...

Inagi, Tokyo 270px, Inagi City Hall is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons per km². The total area of the city was . ...

History

The area around present-day Tama Ward has been inhabited for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

along the banks of the Tama River and at other locations in the Ward. Under the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (� ...

system, it was divided between Tachibana District, Tama District and Tsutsuki 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, S ...

. By the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

it was part of a ''

shōen A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, ...

'' controlled by the Inage clan. By 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 ...

, it was controlled by their descendants, the Ozawa clan, and in the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

by the Terao clan. During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, the area was a contested territory between the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

and the

Later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply Hōjō (北条) but in order to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan with the ...

from

Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western por ...

, who emerged in control by 1530. The area was devastated by flooding when the Tama River shifted course to the north in 1590. After the defeat of the Hōjō at the Battle of Odawara, the territory came under the control of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

. It was administered as ''

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.'' However ...

''. From 1725, the 52 villages of the area were a designated zone for

Falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

by the Tokugawa shōguns, but suffered from repeated natural disasters: an earthquake in 1782, floods in 1786, famine in 1787, floods in 1790, 1791 and 1809 and earthquake in 1855. 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 divided into several villages within Tachibana District and Tsuzuki District, Kanagawa on April 1, 1889. These areas were annexed by the neighboring city of Kawasaki from 1938–1939. The area became Tama Ward with the division of the city of Kawasaki into wards from April 1972. In July 1982, Asao Ward was separated from Tama Ward. A new Ward Office was completed in 1997.

Economy

Tama 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 Kawasaki and Tokyo. Several factories producing chemical, glass, and electronics are located in the ward, and there is some residual agriculture (primarily horticulture and market vegetables).

Transportation

Rail

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 are ...

Nambu Line The Nambu Line ( ja, 南武線,) is a Japanese railway line which connects Tachikawa Station in Tachikawa, Tokyo and Kawasaki Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. For most of its length, it parallels the Tama River, the natural border between Tokyo an ...

** Shukugawara -

Noborito is a neighborhood in Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan just across the southwestern border of Tokyo on the Tama River and about 18 minutes south of Shinjuku on the Odakyu Odawara Line Express. In 1927, Odakyu Line and Nanbu Line ...

Nakanoshima is a 3 km long and 50 hectares narrow sandbank in Kita-ku, Osaka city, Japan, that divides the Kyū-Yodo into the Tosabori and Dōjima rivers. Many governmental and commercial offices (including the city hall of Osaka), museums and other ...

- Inadazutsumi * Keiō Corporation –

Keiō Sagamihara Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Keio Corporation, connecting Hashimoto Station (Kanagawa), Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture and Chōfu Station (Tokyo), Chōfu Sta ...

** Keiō-Inadazutsumi Station *

Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its ''Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company fo ...

–

Odakyū Odawara Line The is the main line of Japanese private railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway. It extends 82.5 km from Shinjuku in central Tokyo through the southwest suburbs to the city of Odawara, the gateway to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. It is ...

** - - -

Highways

Prefecture roads

* Kanagawa Prefectural Road 3 * Kanagawa Prefectural Road 9 * Kanagawa Prefectural Road 13 * Kanagawa Prefectural Road 124

Local attractions

* Nihon Minka-en Museum * Taro Okamoto Museum of Art *

Yomiuriland Yomiuriland (よみうりランド, ''Yomiurirando'') is an amusement park in Inagi, Tokyo, Japan that first opened in 1964. It is situated on hillsides, and features rides such as roller coasters and water flumes. It is home to Yomiuri Giants ...

* Fujiko F. Fujio Museum

Education

Tertiary: *

Senshu University is a private university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Campuses *Kanda, Tokyo, Kanda Campus (Main campus): 3-8 Kandajimbo-cho, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8425 :The Kanda Campus is situated in Jimbocho, a college community in central Tokyo. This urban ca ...

– Ikuta campus *

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

– Ikuta campus *

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighb ...

– Nishiikuta campus Primary and secondary * Caritas Girls' Junior and Senior High School (private)

Notable people from Tama Ward

Koji Miyoshi is a Japanese football player who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Royal Antwerp and the Japanese national team. Career On 20 August 2019, Miyoshi joined Belgian First Division A side Royal Antwerp on loan for a year from K ...

, Football player *

Shigefumi Matsuzawa is a Japanese politician and a current member of the House of Councillors for the Kanagawa at-large district in the Diet of Japan. A native of Kawasaki, Kanagawa and graduate of Keio University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, h ...

, politician *

Hikaru Nishida is a Japanese pop singer and actress. She was born in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and made her singing debut on April 6, 1988 with the release of the single "Fifteen", named after her age at the time. Nishida is affiliated with Manase ...

, actress *

Yūji Oda is a Japanese actor and singer. He is one of Japan's 11 most popular male entertainers, according to an NHK survey taken in 2004.Mark D. West ''Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan'' 2008 - Page 179 "Fukunaga, the boy band ...

, actor *

Takayuki Ohira is a Japanese engineer and the creator of the Megastar, a planetarium projector which was recorded in Guinness World Records as the planetarium projector that can project the highest number of stars in the world. Ohira has also designed the Seg ...

, engineer, inventor

References

External links

Tama Ward Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tama-Ku, Kawasaki Wards of Kawasaki, Kanagawa