is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the

Meiji period The was an era of 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 feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived there. Bunkyō is home to the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

's Kōdōkan, and the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

's Hongo Campus. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Hongo and Koishikawa wards 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 modern Bunkyo ward exhibits contrasting Shitamachi and Yamanote geographical and cultural division. The Nezu and Sendagi neighborhoods in the ward's eastern corner is attached to the Shitamachi area in Ueno. On the other hand, the remaining areas of the ward typically represent Yamanote districts. As of 2022, the ward has a population of 240,069 (including about 8,500 foreign residents), and a population density of . The total area is .

History

Bunkyo was formed in 1947 as a merger of Hongo and Koishikawa wards following

's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis.

Geography

Districts and neighborhoods

There are approximately twenty districts in the area and these are as follows: ; Koishikawa Area * Hakusan * Kasuga * Kohinata * Koishikawa * Kōraku * Mejirodai * Otowa * Ōtsuka * Sekiguchi * Sengoku * Suidō ; Hongō Area * Hongō * Honkomagome * Mukōgaoka * Nezu * Nishikata * Sendagi *

Yayoi The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

* Yushima

Politics and government

Bunkyo is governed by Mayor Hironobu Narisawa, an independent supported by the Liberal Democratic Party,

Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...

and Komeito. The city council has 34 elected members.

Economy

The publishing company

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

has its headquarters in the ward, and Kodansha International has its headquarters in the Otowa YK Building in the ward. The drugstore chain Tomod's has its headquarters in the ward. Penta-Ocean, the construction firm specializing in marine works and

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 ...

also has its headquarters in Bunkyo. The automobile manufacturer

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

has its Tokyo headquarters in the ward.

Demographics

By 2025, increasing numbers of Chinese immigrant families, of wealthy backgrounds, were moving to the ward to enroll their children in local elementary schools.

Cityscape

In 2025, real estate agency worker Bun Kaito stated that "The ward is also renowned for safety, often ranked as the safest in statistics."

Landmarks

* Chinzan-so Garden * Denzū-in Temple * Gokoku-ji Temple * Harimasaka Sakura Colonnade * Hatoyama Hall * Kisshō-ji * Kodansha Noma Memorial Museum * Kodokan Judo Institute * Koishikawa Botanical Garden * Koishikawa Kōrakuen * Nezu Shrine * Nippon Medical School * Rikugien Garden * Shin-Edogawa Garden * Tokyo Cathedral (St. Mary's Cathedral) *

* Tokyo Dome City * Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery *

Toyo University is a private university with the main Hakusan Station (Tokyo), Hakusan campus in Bunkyō, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The university operates multiple satellite campuses in the Kanto region, including. Asaka, Saitama, Asaka, Kawagoe, Saitama, Kawagoe, ...

* Tōyō Bunko "Oriental Library", Japan's largest Asian studies City Populationlibrary *

* Yanaka Cemetery * Yushima Seidō

Education

Bunkyo built up a reputation as having strong educational facilities, and this stems from institutions being established in 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 ...

in former samurai estates.

Universities and colleges

National

* Institute of Science Tokyo Yushima Campus * Ochanomizu University *

University of Tsukuba is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. The university has 28 college clusters and schools with around 16,500 students (as of 2014). The main Tsukuba ca ...

Ōtsuka Campus *

Hongō Campus

Private

* Atomi University * Juntendo University * Takushoku University * Chuo University Engineering department * Tokyo Woman's Christian University *

* Toyo Gakuen University * Nippon Medical School *

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 neighbo ...

* Bunkyo Gakuin University * Bunkyo Gakuin College * International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies

Primary and secondary schools

Nationally-operated high schools: * * Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. * * Koishikawa High School * * The metropolis operates the Koishikawa Secondary Education School. The metropolis operates the . Public elementary and junior high schools are operated by Bunkyo Board of Education. Municipal junior high schools: * No. 1 Junior High School ( 第一中学校) * No. 3 Junior High School ( 第三中学校) * No. 6 Junior High School ( 第六中学校) * No. 8 Junior High School (第八中学校) * No. 9 Junior High School (第九中学校) * No. 10 Junior High School (第十中学校) * Bunrin Junior High School (文林中学校) * Hongodai Junior High School ( 本郷台中学校) * Meidai Junior High School ( 茗台中学校) * Otowa Junior High School ( 音羽中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Aoyagi Elementary School (青柳小学校) * Hayashicho Elementary School (林町小学校) * Hongo Elementary School ( 本郷小学校) * Kagomachi Elementary School (駕籠町小学校) * Kanatomi Elementary School (金富小学校) * Kohinata Daimachi Elementary School ( 小日向台町小学校) * Komamoto Elementary School (駒本小学校) * Kubomachi Elementary School ( 窪町小学校) * Meika Elementary School ( 明化小学校) * Nezu Elementary School ( 根津小学校) * Otsuka Elementary School (大塚小学校) * Rekisen Elementary School ( 礫川小学校) * Sasugaya Elementary School ( 指ケ谷小学校) * Seishi Elementary School ( 誠之小学校) * Sekiguchi Daimachi Elementary School ( 関口台町小学校) * Sendagi Elementary School ( 千駄木小学校) * Shiomi Elementary School ( 汐見小学校) * Showa Elementary School ( 昭和小学校) * Yanagicho Elementary School ( 柳町小学校) * Yushima Elementary School ( 湯島小学校) Four of those elementary schools (Kubomachi, Seishi, Sendagi, and Showa) are known as "3S1K", as having a very prominent status. by 2025 many Chinese immigrant families, looking for strong educational facilities, moved to the attendance zones of those schools to enroll their children there.

Culture

In 2025 Kaito highlighted that Koishikawa-Kōrakuen made the ward attractive to Chinese families.

Museums

* Bunkyo Museum * Eisei Bunko Museum * Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame * Kodansha Noma Memorial Museum * Koishikawa Annex * Koishikawa Ukiyo-e Art Museum * Orugoru no Chiisana Hakubutsukan * Printing Museum, Tokyo * The University Museum, The University of Tokyo * Tokyo Waterworks Historical Museum * Yayoi Museum

Transportation

Train stations

Toei subway lines

* Toei Mita Line: Sengoku, Hakusan, Kasuga, Suidōbashi *

Toei Ōedo Line The is a rapid transit railway line of the municipal Toei Subway network in Tokyo, Japan. It commenced full operations on December 12, 2000; using the Japanese calendar this reads "12/12/12" as the year 2000 equals Heisei 12. The line is comple ...

: Iidabashi, Kasuga, Hongō Sanchōme

Tokyo Metro subway lines

* Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line: Sendagi, Nezu, Yushima * Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line: Shin-Ōtsuka, Myōgadani, Kōrakuen, Hongō Sanchōme, Ochanomizu * Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line: Gokokuji, Edogawabashi *

Tokyo Metro Namboku Line The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. The line runs between Meguro in Shinagawa and Akabane-Iwabuchi in Kita. The Namboku Line was referred to as Line 7 during the planning stages, thus the seldom-used off ...

: Kōrakuen, Tōdaimae, Honkomagome

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.5 Ikebukuro Route (Takebashi JCT—Bijogi JCT)

Sister cities

Bunkyō has a sister-city relationship with Kaiserslautern in the

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

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 ...

Notable people from Bunkyō

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

(

Nihongo is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. ...

: 宮崎駿, ''Miyazaki Hayao''), Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author,

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

and one of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli * Makiko Tanaka (

: 田中眞紀子, ''Tanaka Makiko''), Japanese politician and daughter of Kakuei Tanaka (former

Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

) * Osamu Noguchi (

: 野口修, ''Noguchi Osamu''), the creator of

Kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

* Kaito Ishikawa (

: 石川界人, ''Ishikawa Kaito''), Japanese voice actor * Yukio Hatoyama (

: 鳩山由紀夫, ''Hatoyama Yukio''), Japanese politician and former

* Shinichiro Kobayashi (

: 小林伸一郎, ''Kobayashi Shin'ichirō''), Japanese photographer * Teiichi Matsumaru (

: 松丸貞一, ''Matsumaru Teiichi''), Japanese football player * Hiroto Muraoka (

: 村岡博人, ''Muraoka Hiroto''), Japanese football player * Yu-ki Matsumura (Real Name: Noriyuki Matsumura,

: 松村憲幸, ''Matsumura Noriyuki''), Japanese actor and singer * Yūko Minaguchi (

: 皆口裕子, ''Minaguchi Yūko''), Japanese actress, voice actress and

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

* Yukio Tsuchiya (

: 土屋征夫, ''Tsuchiya Yukio''), Japanese football player (

Tokyo 23 FC Tokyo 23 Football Club (東京23フットボールクラブ, ''Tōkyō Ni-Jū San Futtobōrukurabu'') commonly known as Tokyo 23 FC (東京23FC, ''Tōkyō Ni-Jū San Efushi'') is a Japanese football (soccer), football club based in the Special wa ...

)

References

External links

*
Bunkyo City Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunkyo, Tokyo Wards of Tokyo