is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The ward refers to itself in English as Ōta City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of

Ōmori is a district located a few kilometres south of Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan accessed by rail via the Keihin-Tohoku Line, Keihin Tohoku line, or by road via Japan National Route 15, Dai Ichi Keihin. Ōmorikaigan, the eastern area of Ōmori, can be ...

and Kamata following

Tokyo City was a Cities of Japan, municipality in Japan and capital of Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943), Tokyo Prefecture (or ''Tokyo-fu'') which existed from 1 May 1889 until the establishment of Tokyo Metropolis on 1 July 1943. The historical boundari ...

's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The southernmost of the 23 special wards, Ōta borders the special wards of

Shinagawa is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per ...

Meguro is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character ...

and

Setagaya is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orchid, and its tree is the '' Ze ...

to the north, and

Kōtō is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2025, the ward has an estimated population of 543,730, and a population density of . The total ...

to the east. Across the

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Government of Japan, Japanese government. It is long, an ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

is the city of Kawasaki, forming the boundaries to the south and west. Ōta is the largest special ward in Tokyo by area, spanning 59.46 square kilometres (22.96 sq mi). As of 2024, the ward has an estimated population of 744,849, making it the third largest special ward by population, with a population density of 12,041 inhabitants per square kilometre (31,190/sq mi). Notable neighborhoods and districts of Ōta include Kamata, the administrative center of the ward where the Ward Office and central Post Office is located, and Den-en-chōfu(田園調布), known for its wealthy residents and luxury homes.

Haneda Airport , also known as and sometimes abbreviated to ''Tokyo-Haneda'', is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of J ...

, the busiest airport in Japan by passenger traffic is located in the ward.

History

The ward was founded on March 15, 1947, merging the old wards of

and Kamata. The ward's name originates from the combination of letters of the two merging wards, Ōmori (大森) and Kamata (蒲田), combined into 大田 (Ōta). The ward was previously second behind Setagaya in terms of being the largest special ward in Tokyo by area, but due to

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

in the

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

for the expansion of the Haneda Airport(羽田空港), Ōta overtook Setagaya for first place. Haneda Airport, now one of the two main domestic and international airports serving the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Ibaraki Prefecture, ...

(the other one being Narita Airport in Narita, Chiba) was first established as Haneda Airfield in 1931 in the town of Haneda, Ebara District of Tokyo Prefecture. Following Japan's surrender in 1945, the airfield was turned into the Haneda Army Air Base under the control of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. In the same year, Allied occupational authorities ordered the expansion of the airport, evicting people from the surroundings on 48 hours' notice. With the end of the occupation, the Americans returned part of the facility to Japanese control in 1952, completing the return in 1958. Haneda Airport first handled international traffic for Tokyo for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Following the opening of Narita Airport in 1978, almost all international flights (with the exception of Taiwanese airlines) moved its operations to Narita Airport. International flights resumed in 2010 following the construction of a new International terminal.

Geography

Districts and neighborhoods

;Former

Ward ;Former Kamata Ward

Politics and government

Ōta is run by a city assembly of 50 elected members. The current mayor is Akimasa Suzuki since 2023, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party. Ōta is represented in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly by the Ōta district with seven representatives, while it is represented in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

by the Tokyo 3rd and Tokyo 4th single-member districts.

Ōta Ward Assembly

As of April 2024, the current composition of the assembly is: Governing parties: (30 seats) * Liberal Democratic Party (15 seats) * Komeito (11 seats) * Tomin First no Kai (2 seats) * Democratic Party for the People (1 seat) * Independent (1 seat) Opposition parties: (11 seats) * Japanese Communist Party (5 seats) * Constitutional Democratic Party (4 seats) *

Reiwa Shinsengumi is a Progressivism, progressive and left-wing populist List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan founded by actor-turned-politician Taro Yamamoto in April 2019. The party was formed by left-wing members of the Liberal Party ( ...

(1 seat) * Fair Democracy (1 seat) Non-aligned parties (9 seats) * Ishin no Kai (5 seats) * Sanseito (1 seat) * Rise up Japan (1 seat) * Independent (2 seats)

Elections

* 2007 Ōta local election

Landmarks

* Ikegami Honmon-ji, a Buddhist temple of the

Nichiren Shū was a Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism based on the ''Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declar ...

. * Ōmori Shell Mound site * Senzoku Pond, where Nichiren is said to have washed his feet. The grave of Katsu Kaishū is nearby. * Tamagawadai Park * Tokyo Wild Bird Park * Omori Nori Museum

Transportation

Air

Rail

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

** Keihin-Tōhoku Line:

, Kamata Stations * Keikyū Corporation ** Main Line: Heiwajima, Ōmorimachi, Umeyashiki, Keikyū-Kamata, Zōshiki, Rokugōdote Stations ** Airport Line: Keikyū-Kamata, Kojiya, Ōtorii, Anamori-inari, Tenkūbashi, Haneda Airport Terminal 3, Haneda Airport Terminal 1·2 Stations * Tokyu Corporation ** Tamagawa Line: Tamagawa, Numabe, Unoki,

Shimomaruko is a district of Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. As of December 1, 2015, the population in the district is 23,004. The postal code is . Facilities Image:Canon headquarters Ota, Tokyo distant.jpg, Main office of Canon Inc. Canon Inc. (; Hepburn: ) ...

, Musashi-nitta, Yaguchinowatashi, Kamata Stations ** Ikegami Line: Nagahara, Senzoku-ike, Ishikawa-dai, Yukigaya-ōtsuka, Ontakesan, Kugahara, Chidorichō, Ikegami, Hasunuma, Kamata Stations ** Ōimachi Line: Kita-Senzoku, Ookayama Stations ** Tōyoko Line: Den-en-chōfu, Tamagawa Stations ** Meguro Line: Ookayama, Den-en-chōfu, Tamagawa Stations *

Toei Subway The is one of two subway systems in Tokyo, Japan, the other being the Tokyo Metro. The Toei Subway lines were originally licensed to the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (the predecessor of Tokyo Metro) but were constructed by the Tokyo Metropolita ...

** Asakusa Line: Magome, Nishi-magome Stations *Tokyo Monorail ** Haneda Airport Line: Ryutsu Center, Shōwajima, Seibijō, Tenkūbashi, Haneda Airport Terminal 3, Shin Seibijō, Haneda Airport Terminal 1, Haneda Airport Terminal 2 Stations

Highways

Shuto Expressway The is a network of Toll road, tolled expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are Grade separation, grade separated and have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that require cauti ...

**No. 1 Haneda Route (Edobashi JCT - Iriya) **B Bayshore Route (Namiki - Kawasaki-ukishima JCT) *

National highways National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in Eng ...

** Route 1 ** Route 15 ** Route 133 ** Route 357

Economy

The following companies have their headquarters in Ōta. * ANA Wings (subsidiary of

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...

) * Alps Electric *

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Corporate Profile
." ''

''. Retrieved on January 13, 2009. * Disco Corporation, manufacturer of semiconductor production equipment * Ebara * Ikegami Tsushinki, manufacturer of broadcast equipment * Skymark Airlines * Takasago International Corporation, a flavours and fragrances company * Toyoko Inn

Former operations

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

, best known for video game franchises such as ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'', ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of alien ...

'', and ''

Ace Combat is an Arcade video game, arcade-style Combat flight simulation game, combat flight simulation video game series by Project Aces, an internal development team of Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. Debuting in 1995 with ''Air Combat'' fo ...

'', were headquartered in Ota. The company moved its operations there in 1985, using the funds generated from the successful

Family Computer The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the U ...

port of ''

Xevious is a 1983 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released in Japan by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious forces befor ...

'' to fund the construction of its office. The building was taken over by

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

after it absorbed Namco in 2006, and later by an unrelated Namco company that focused on video arcades and theme parks. The newer Namco company moved out of the building in 2014 and it was demolished two years later. Prior to the merger with

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

, Japan Air System had its headquarters at Haneda Airport in Ōta.COMPANY INFORMATION
" '' Japan Air System''. Retrieved on January 13, 2009. In 2000

was headquartered by Tokyo International Airport in Ōta. In 2002

Air Nippon was a regional airline based in the Shiodome City Center complex in Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways (ANA). Its main base was Haneda Airport, Tokyo International Airport. Code dat ...

was headquartered on the fifth floor of the at Haneda Airport in Ōta. The ANA subsidiary Air Nippon Network was also based at the airport. Before its dissolution, Galaxy Airlines was headquartered in the ARC Building on the airport grounds.

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

and its parent company

Sega Sammy Holdings (also known as the Sega Sammy Group or simply as Sega Sammy) is a Japanese global holding company and Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed from the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies ...

, best known for its ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'' franchise, was originally headquartered in Ōta. However, Sega Sammy Holdings announced in April 2017 that it would relocate its head office functions and domestic subsidiaries to Shinagawa-ku by January 2018. This was to consolidate scattered head office functions including Sega Sammy Holdings, Sammy Corporation, Sega Holdings, Sega Games, Atlus, Sammy Network, and Dartslive. After the relocation to Shinagawa was complete, Sega's previous headquarters in Ōta was later sold in February 2019 and will likely be torn down.

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales are reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces othe ...

was headquartered in Ōta from 1962 until 2008 when they moved their headquarters to Shinagawa.

Education

Colleges and universities

* Toho University Ōmori Campus *

Tokyo Institute of Technology The Tokyo Institute of Technology () was a public university in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. It merged with Tokyo Medical and Dental University to form the Institute of Science Tokyo on 1 October 2024. The Tokyo Institute of Technology was a De ...

Ōokayama Campus * Showa University Senzoku Campus * Tokyo University of Technology Kamata Campus

Public high schools

The following public high schools are located in Ōta, operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. * Den Enchofu High School (東京都立田園調布高等学校) * Kamata High School (東京都立蒲田高等学校) *Mihara High School ( 東京都立美原高等学校) * Omori High School (東京都立大森高等学校) *Ota Sakuradai High School ( 東京都立大田桜台高等学校) *Rokugoh Technical High School ( 東京都立六郷工科高等学校) *Tsubasa Sogo High School ( 東京都立つばさ総合高等学校) *Yukigaya High School ( 東京都立雪谷高等学校)

Private high schools

* Tokyo High School (東京高等学校) * Tokyo Jitsugyo High School ( 東京実業高等学校)

Elementary and junior high schools

Public elementary and junior high schools are operated by (大田区教育委員会).

Municipal junior high schools

Municipal elementary schools

International schools

* - North Korean school The Deutsche Schule Tokyo was previously located in Ōta before relocating to

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

in 1970.

Public libraries

Ōta operates several public libraries, including:

Sister cities

Chaoyang, Beijing Chaoyang District () is an urban list of administrative divisions of Beijing, district of Beijing. It borders the districts of Shunyi, Beijing, Shunyi to the northeast, Tongzhou, Beijing, Tongzhou to the east and southeast, Daxing, Beijing, Daxin ...

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

References

External links

Ōta City Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ota, Tokyo 1947 establishments in Japan Populated places established in 1947 Wards of Tokyo