is one of the 18 wards of the city of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 93,027 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 13,210 persons per km². The total area was 7.04 km².

Geography

Nishi Ward is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, near the geographic center of the city of Yokohama. It is the smallest of the wards of the city in terms of area, but it includes Yokohama's major commercial hub, extending from the

Yokohama Station is a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth-busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year. Lines Yokohama Station is served by t ...

area through the new

Minato Mirai 21 , often known as simply Minato Mirai and abbreviated as MM (used on the minatomiri line station numbering; e.g. “MM 1”) is the central business district of Yokohama, Japan. Initially developed in the 1980s, Minato Mirai 21 was designed as a l ...

complex, which is home to the

Yokohama Landmark Tower The is the third tallest building and fifth tallest structure in Japan, standing high. Until surpassed by Abeno Harukas in 2014, it stood as the tallest building in Japan. It is located in the Minato Mirai 21 district of Yokohama city, ...

, the second tallest building in Japan. The ward consists of lowlands through which the

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

and Route 1 pass. The northernmost, southernmost, and western areas are uplands. The Minato Mirai complex is built on reclaimed land, as was the Yokohama Station area..

Surrounding municipalities

* Hodogaya Ward * Kanagawa Ward * Naka Ward *

Minami Ward Minami (kanji 南, hiragana みなみ) is a Japanese word meaning "south". Places Japan There are several Minami wards in Japan, most of them appropriately in the south part of a city: * Minami, Tokushima, a village in Tokushima Prefectu ...

History

Part of the domains of the

Miura clan The was one of the branch families descended from the Taira clan. They held large fiefs, and retained great political influence. They were one of the primary opponents of the Hōjō clan, Hōjō family of Shikken, regents in the mid-13th ce ...

during and after the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, the area of present-day Nishi Ward was part of the ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil war ...

'' territory in

Musashi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

controlled directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, but administered through various or direct retainers of the shōgun. Parts of the territories of

Kanagawa-juku was the third of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It was located in Kanagawa-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was close to Kanagawa Port. Many of its historical artifacts were destroyed by the G ...

and Hodogaya-juku, post stations on the Tōkaidō are within the borders of the present Ward. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the area was divided between the new Tachibana and Kuraki Districts in

and further divided into numerous villages. Yokohama's wards were established on October 10, 1927, with this area becoming part of the Kanagawa and Naka Wards. On April 1, 1944, Nishi became an independent ward within the city of Yokohama.

Economy

Nishi Ward is a regional commercial center and the main business district of modern Yokohama. The world headquarters of

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

is located in Nishi Ward. Other major companies headquartered in the ward include: *

JGC Corporation JGC Holdings Corporation, formerly , and before that , is a global engineering company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The company was founded on 25 October 1928. In 1976, it changed its original name from Japan Gasoline Co. to JGC Corp. In ...

Sagami Railway The , or , is a private railway company operating three lines in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of holding company Sōtetsu Holdings, Inc. Sōtetsu Holdings is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange; 6.58% of it is own ...

*Okamura Corporation *Kiyoken Co. Ltd. * Ebara Foods Industry * Computer System Engineering Co., Ltd. * Chiyoda Corporation

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 ...

at one time operated a domestic flights only ticketing facility in the Sky Building of the Yokohama City Air Terminal (YCAT) in Nishi-ku. On March 31, 2011 the ticket counter closed.

Transportation

Railroads

East Japan Railway Company 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 ...

–

Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the segment between and Kurihama sta ...

, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line,

Negishi Line The Negishi Line () is a Japanese railway line which connects Yokohama Station, Yokohama and Ōfuna Station, Ōfuna stations. It is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Freight trains also operate on this line, and it is essential f ...

Yokohama Line The Yokohama Line () is a Japanese railway line of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) connecting Higashi-Kanagawa Station in Yokohama, Kanagawa and Hachiōji Station in Hachiōji, Tokyo. The line forms part of what JR East refers to as t ...

** *

Keihin Electric Express Railway (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. ...

Keikyū Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keikyu. The line connects the Tokyo wards of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Shinagawa, Tokyo, Shinagawa, Ōta, Tokyo, Ōta, and the Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa municipalities o ...

** - *

Tokyu Corporation The , a contraction of and formerly until 2 September 2019, is a Japanese ''keiretsu'' or conglomerate headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. While a multinational corporation, its main operation is , a wholly-owned subsidiary operating railways i ...

Tōkyū Tōyoko Line The , a contraction of and formerly until 2 September 2019, is a Japanese ''keiretsu'' or conglomerate headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. While a multinational corporation, its main operation is , a wholly-owned subsidiary operating railways i ...

** *

Sagami Railway Main Line Sagami may refer to: * Sagami, an 11th-century ''waka'' poet *Sagami Province, an old province in Japan *Sagami River, a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi *Sagami Bay, a bay south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū *Sagami Line The is a railwa ...

** - - * Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company –

Minatomirai Line The Minatomirai 21 Line (みなとみらい21線 ''Minato-mirai-21-sen''), commonly known as the Minatomirai Line (みなとみらい線 ''Minatomirai-sen''), is a subway line in Yokohama, Japan that runs from Yokohama Station to Motomachi-Ch� ...

** – – *

Yokohama City Transportation Bureau The Yokohama City Transportation Bureau, legally the is the local government administrative agency in charge of public transportation, public transport services in the city of Yokohama, Japan. Subway operations The Yokohama Municipal Subway con ...

– Blue Line ** –

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 ...

Kanagawa No. 1 *

Kanagawa No. 2 * Routes 1 * Route 16

Prefecture roads

*Kanagawa Prefecture Road 13

Ferry

* The Port Service

Education

Three universities are located in Nishi Ward. The oldest is Yokohama National University, established in 1876. KU Port Square, part of the private Kanagawa University, established in 1928, lies within the ward. The third is Yashima Gakuen University.

Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education The is the board of education for Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. The board consists of six members; one of them is elected as the chair, and one of them is appointed by the board as the superintendent. The board administers municipal education an ...

operates . The operates public elementary and junior high schools. Junior high schools: * Karuizawa (軽井沢) * Nishi (西) * Oimatsu ( 老松) * Okano ( 岡野) Elementary schools: * Azuma (東) * Hiranuma ( 平沼) * Inaridai (稲荷台) * Ipponmatsu ( 一本松) * Minato Mirai Honcho ( みなとみらい本町) * Miyagaya ( 宮谷) * Nishimae (西前) * Sengendai (浅間台) * Tobe (戸部) Additionally the zones of Fujimidai Elementary School ( 富士見台小学校) and Honcho Elementary School ( 本町小学校), with their campuses outside of Nishi-ku, include portions of Nishi-ku.

Local attractions

* Hara Model Railway MuseumHara Model Railway Museum
Retrieved 10 July 2012. * Nogeyama Zoo * Yokohama Museum of Art

Events

Each June, Nishi Ward hosts the Yokohama Kaikō Festival to commemorate the opening of the city's port. In August, the Yokohama Carnival takes place near Yokohama Station.

Noted people from Nishi Ward

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Ch ...

, professional wrestler *

Reni Takagi is a Japanese idol and a member of the girl group Momoiro Clover Z. She is the former leader of the group, before leadership was passed to Kanako Momota, and her signature color in the group is purple. Takagi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture ...

, idol singer

References

* Kato, Yuzo. ''Yokohama Past and Present''. Yokohama City University (1990).

External links

Nishi Ward Office
* {{Authority control Wards of Yokohama