Honjo, Tokyo on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
is the name of a neighborhood in
Honjo-ku was one of the fifteen wards created in 1878 by the . Honjo was a low-lying district that was prone to frequent flooding. This made it an inexpensive place to live for the growing population crowding into Tokyo and Honjo was effectively a working-class neighbourhood with a number of workers and factories. It was a part of the industrial area described by historian Andrew Gordon as Nankatsu, extending from Honjo to the Arakawa Canal, most of which was not incorporated into Tokyo proper until 1932.
In 1905, the ward of Honjo had a population of 162,159; this increased to 247,533 just 12 years later. The population density in 1917 was over 100,000 people per square mile.
Honjo-ku was home to one of the wealthiest men in Japan in 1920,
Sumida, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Sumida City.
As of 1 April 2025, the ward has an estimated population of 287,766 and a population dens ...
, and in the now-defunct 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 ...
. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with the suburban Mukojima ward to form the modern Sumida ward.
Geography
As a ward, theSumida River
The is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi (in Kita-ku) and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers.
It passes through the Kita, Adachi, Arak ...
divided Honjo from the centre of the city.
History
The name Honjo may be a remnant of theshōen
A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4'').
Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...
system from the Kyōhō period. In the 17th century, Honjo was linked to the rest of 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 ...
by the Ryōgoku Bridge
The is a bridge in Tokyo built in 1659 spanning the Sumida River just upstream of its confluence with the Kanda River. Its name, meaning "two provinces", came from its joining Edo (the forerunner of Tokyo in Musashi Province) and Shimōsa Prov ...
that spanned the Sumida River.
As a ward
Honjo-ku was one of the fifteen wards created in 1878 by the . Honjo was a low-lying district that was prone to frequent flooding. This made it an inexpensive place to live for the growing population crowding into Tokyo and Honjo was effectively a working-class neighbourhood with a number of workers and factories. It was a part of the industrial area described by historian Andrew Gordon as Nankatsu, extending from Honjo to the Arakawa Canal, most of which was not incorporated into Tokyo proper until 1932.
In 1905, the ward of Honjo had a population of 162,159; this increased to 247,533 just 12 years later. The population density in 1917 was over 100,000 people per square mile.
Honjo-ku was home to one of the wealthiest men in Japan in 1920, Yasuda Zenjirō
was a Japanese entrepreneur from Toyama, Etchu Province (present-day Toyama Prefecture) who founded the Yasuda zaibatsu (安田財閥). He donated the to the University of Tokyo. He was a maternal great-grandfather of Yoko Ono via his daughte ...
.
Honjo was heavily impacted by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...
that occurred on 1 September. In Honjo, most of the people who died were killed by a fire near Ryōgoku Station
is a railway station in Yokoami, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei).
Lines
The station is served by the JR East Chūō-Sōbu Line and the Toei Oedo Line ...
that was being converted to a municipal park. The earthquake struck at a time when thousands of gas burners were in use in homes to cook midday meals. By 15 November, only one-third of the pre-quake population still lived in Honjo. Neighborhoods
The former Honjo ward contained the following modern districts: * Azumabashi * Chitose * Higashikomagata * Honjo * Ishiwara * Kamezawa * Kikukawa * Kinshi * Kotobashi * Midori * Mukojima * Narihira *Ryōgoku
is a district in Sumida, Tokyo. It is surrounded by various districts in Sumida, Chūō, and Taitō wards: Yokoami, Midori, Chitose, Higashi Nihonbashi, and Yanagibashi.
History
In 1659, the Ryōgoku Bridge was built, spanning the Sumida ...
(sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...
district)
* Taihei
* Tatekawa
* Yokoami
* Yokokawa
Places named after Honjo
* Honjo High School * Honjo-Azumabashi Station * Honjo Matsuzaka-cho ParkReferences
Bibliography
* {{coord, 35, 42, 13, N, 139, 48, 04, E, type:city_region:JP, display=title Neighborhoods of Tokyo