is an area in Minato,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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 ...

. Built on a marshy area of foothills south of central Tokyo, its coverage roughly corresponds to that of the former Azabu Ward, presently consisting of nine official districts: Azabu-Jūban, Azabudai, Azabu-Nagasakachō, Azabu-Mamianachō, Minami-Azabu, Nishi-Azabu, Higashi-Azabu, Moto-Azabu and

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

. It is known as one of Tokyo's most expensive and upscale residential districts with many artists, business people, and celebrities residing there. It is also known for its large foreign population, due in part to a number of foreign

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...

present in the area.

History

The name Azabu literally means

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

cloth. Until the early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area was agricultural. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area was inhabited as far back as the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

. The Juban Inari shrine (formerly known as Takechiyo Inari) was constructed in AD 712, the temple of

Zenpuku-ji Zenpuku-ji (善福寺), also known as Azabu-san (麻布山), is a temple located in the Azabu district of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the oldest Tokyo temples, after Asakusa. History Founded by Kūkai in 824, Zenpuku-ji was originally a Shingon ...

in 824, and the Hikawa Shrine in 939 (on orders of Minamoto no Tsunemoto). The area became urbanized in the 17th century, after

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

established his seat of government in nearby

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

. Azabu soon became home to the Juban Horse Grounds, Edo's largest

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

market. In 1859, the first

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delegation in Japan was established at Zenpuku-ji. Azabu (including the adjacent district of

) was a ward of Tokyo from 1878 to 1947. During the industrialization of the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

, Azabu was connected to Tokyo by horse-drawn trams. The lowlands became light commercial areas, while the hilltops became prime residential areas. Later, during the Taishō period, Azabu was overrun with theaters, department stores, and red-light districts, becoming one of Japan's best-known entertainment districts. Much of Azabu was destroyed during the firebombing of Tokyo in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

, although a special bunker created for the privileged classes that lived there saved many lives, including

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

's. Azabu's commercial areas were not revived after the war, and the area is mainly a residential district today. Following the merger of Azabu Ward into Minato Ward in 1947, the Azabu ward office located in Roppongi was converted into a branch office of the Minato ward government.

Notable residents

This is the district of Tokyo where

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

artist Naoko Takeuchi resides, and the Azabu-Jūban area is the setting of her fictional ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

'' series. The internationally acclaimed vocalist

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatile music production, songwriting, and live performances. Hamasaki is the List of ...

resides in a

penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit traditionally on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel, or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally re ...

in Minami-Azabu. Azabu is also the location of many international embassies and consulates, as well as a large foreign population. Azabu-Jūban, with its unique cobbled high-street, also hosts the popular annual Azabu-Jūban

Matsuri Japanese festivals, or , are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. The origin of the word ''matsuri'' is related to the ; there are theories that the word ''matsuri'' is derived from meaning "to wait (for ...

, a food festival with a variety of local vendor stalls and carnival games which attract large crowds every summer.

Places in Azabu

*Embassies of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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and

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. *

, a temple which housed the first legation of the United States in Japan during the 19th century. * Mindan, a major Korean ethnic organization in Japan.

Companies based in Azabu

Fujifilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...

, located in Nishi-Azabu

Subway stations

* Akabanebashi Station (Toei Oedo Line) * Azabu-Jūban Station (Namboku Line, Toei Oedo Line) * Hiroo Station (Hibiya Line)

Education

Schools

The City of Minato (The Minato Ward) Board of Education operates local public elementary and junior high schools. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education operates local public high schools. * Roppongi High School, a public school, located in

(former district in Azabu Ward). * Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin, a private girls school, located in Roppongi (former district in Azabu Ward). * Azabu Junior and Senior High School, a private boys school, located in Moto-Azabu. *Hiroo Gakuen Junior and Senior High School, a private school, located in Minami-Azabu. *Kōryō Junior High School, a public school, located in Nishi-Azabu. *Azabu Elementary School, a public school, located in Azabu-Dai. *Nanzan Elementary School, a public school, located in Moto-Azabu. *Kōgai Elementary School, a public school located in Nishi-Azabu, which has "Nihongo Gakkyu (Japanese language class)" for foreign students and returnee. *Higashimachi Elementary School, a public school, located in Azabu-Jūban. *Honmura Elementary School, a public school, located in Minami-Azabu. * Nishimachi International School, a private school located in Moto-Azabu. * Tokyo International School, a private school located in Minami-Azabu. *Chateau School, a private pre school, located in Nishi-Azabu.
Ohana International School in Tokyo
a small preschool, located in the centre of Azabu-Jūban. *The Montessori School of Tokyo, a private school, located in Minami-Azabu.

Public libraries

* Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library, located in Arisugawa-no-miya-Kinen Kōen ( Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park), Minami-Azabu. *The Azabu Library exists in Azabu-Juban.

References

{{Original 15 wards of Tokyo Geography of Minato, Tokyo