Chiyoda (Japanese: 千代田区, Hepburn: Chiyoda-ku, IPA:[tɕijoda]ⓘ), known as Chiyoda City in English,[2] is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. Located in the heart of Tokyo's 23 special wards, Chiyoda consists of the Imperial Palace and a surrounding radius of about a kilometer (1000 yards), and is known as the political and financial center of Japan. As of October 2020, the ward has a population of 66,680, and a population density of 5,709 people per km2 (14,786 per sq. mi.), making it by far the least populated of the special wards. The residential part of Chiyoda is at the heart of Yamanote, Tokyo's traditional upper-class residential area, with Banchō, Kōjimachi, and Kioichō considered the most exclusive neighbourhoods in the entire city. The total area is 11.66 km2 (4½ sq. mi.), of which the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park, National Museum of Modern Art, and Yasukuni Shrine take up approximately 2.6 km2 (1 sq. mi.), or 22%.
Chiyoda is known as the economic center of Japan; the districts of Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho east of the palace (an area colloquially known as "Daimaruyu") house the headquarters of 19 Fortune 500 companies, is the source of roughly 10% of the combined revenue of all Japanese companies,[3] and produced the equivalent of around a quarter of the country's GDP in 2017.[4] With a day population of around 850,000, its day/night population ratio is by far the highest of all municipalities in Japan. Tokyo Station, Tokyo's main inter-city rail terminal and the busiest train station in Japan in terms of scheduled trains, is also located in Chiyoda.
Chiyoda is also the political center of the country.[5] Chiyoda, literally meaning "field of a thousand generations", inherited the name from the Chiyoda Castle, the other name for Edo Castle, which is the site of the present-day Imperial Palace. With the seat of the Emperor in the Imperial Palace at the ward's center, many government institutions, such as the National Diet, the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Supreme Court, ministries in Kasumigaseki, and agencies are also located in Chiyoda, as are Tokyo landmarks such as Yasukuni Shrine and the Nippon Budokan. Other notable neighborhoods of Chiyoda include Akihabara, Iidabashi and Kanda.
The ward was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kanda and Kōjimachi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Chiyoda ward exhibits contrasting Shitamachi and Yamanote geographical and cultural divisions. The Kanda area is in the core of Shitamachi,[6] the original commercial center of Edo-Tokyo. On the other hand, the western part of the Kōjimachi area typically represents a Yamanote district.
History
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Chiyoda has been a site of a number of historical events.
In 1860, the assassination of Ii Naosuke took place outside the Sakurada Gate of the Imperial Palace.
In 1932, assassins attacked and killed prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi.
At the tip of Musashino plateau, Chiyoda is located at the very heart of former Tokyo City in eastern mainland Tokyo. The central area of the ward is furthermore occupied by the Imperial Palace. The east side of the ward, bordering Chūō, is the location of Tokyo Station. The south side, bordering Minato, encompasses Hibiya Park and the National Diet Building. It is almost exclusively occupied by administrations and agencies. The west and northwest are primarily upper class residential; the Yasukuni Shrine is also there. The "high lantern" of Kudanzaka slope was not originally built as a lighthouse, but was built as a lantern for the Shrine. Originally steep and with steps, the slope was considerably softened during remediation after the Kanto earthquake.[7] To the north and northeast of the ward are several residential neighborhoods and the Akihabara commercial district.
Politics and government
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Local government
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Chiyoda is run by a directly elected mayor and a city assembly of 25 elected members. The current mayor is Takaaki Higuchi.
Metropolitan representation
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For the Metropolitan Assembly, Chiyoda forms a single-member electoral district. It had been represented by Liberal Democrats for 50 years until the landslide 2009 election when then 26-year-old Democratic newcomer Zenkō Kurishita unseated 70-year-old former Metropolitan Assembly president and six term assemblyman, Liberal Democrat Shigeru Uchida.[8] In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist and two independents.
On December 31, 2001, Chiyoda had 6,572 buildings which were four stories or taller.[2]
Some of the districts in Chiyoda are actually not inhabited, either because they are parks (Hibiya Koen), because they consist only of office buildings (Otemachi or Marunouchi), and/or because they are extremely small. The area on the eastern side of Akihabara Station is the location of several districts that cover at most a few buildings. Kanda-Hanaokachō is, for example, limited to the Akihabara Station and the Yodobashi Camera store. Understanding the address system in the Kanda area can be particularly troublesome for non-locals.
Districts and neighborhoods
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Kōjimachi area
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Hibiya Park
Kōjimachi area (麹町地区), former Kōjimachi Ward (Kōjimachi-ku)
Kojimachi, a former merchant area along the Shinjuku-Dori avenue, upper-class residential with a couple of offices. Home to the Portuguese, Irish and Belgian embassies.
The Banchō area (nowadays consisting of six neighborhoods, from Ichibancho to Rokubanchō, and historically including Fujimi as well as the western sides of Kudanminami and Kudankita), an upper class residential area, home of the embassies of Belgium, Paraguay, Luxembourg, the UK, Israel and the Apostolic Nunciature.
Chiyoda - "1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku" is the official address of the Imperial Palace
Kasumigaseki - The nerve center of Japan's administrative agencies
Kioichō - The name, ki-o-i, is a three-kanji acronym consisting of one kanji each from the names of the Kishū Domain, Owari Domain, and Ii clan, whose daimyō residences were here during the Edo period
Kōkyo Gaien - large open gardens in front of the Imperial palace
Kudanminami and Kudankita (九段北) districts, around the station of Kudanshita - Northwest side of the Imperial Palace, home to Yasukuni Shrine. It is a prestigious residential and business zone.
Marunouchi - Located between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace, one of Tokyo's traditional commercial centers
The list below consists of the many smaller neighborhoods of the Kanda area, for which a modernization of the addressing system has not been enforced yet except Kanda-Sarugakuchō and Kanda-Misakichō. All officially start with the prefix "Kanda-", but it is sometimes omitted in daily life. Iwamotochō and Kanda-Iwamotochō are different districts (as is the case for Kajichō and Kanda-Kajichō)
East Imperial Garden, located on the eastern portion of the Tokyo Imperial Palace grounds and housing the castle tower and the outer defense positions of the former Edo Castle, opened to the public in 1968. Kitanomaru Park, located on Edo Castle's former northern section, has the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art and the Nippon Budokan, a venue for performances. Chidorigafuchi Boat Arena and Chidorigafuchi Moat Path includes a waterway for boats. National Diet Building Park, located adjacent to the Diet Building and divided in two by a street, includes American dogwoods planted to symbolize the relations between the United States and Japan. Hibiya Park, Japan's first western-style park, includes restaurants, open-air concert halls, and tennis courts. Imperial Palace Outer Garden, in the front of Nijubashi Bridge, serves as a jogging trail and a tourist site.[11]
Points of historical interest
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Kudan lighthouse
Kanda Festival
Economy
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Chiyoda office buildings street levelChiyoda office buildings from the Imperial Palace Outer GardenChiyoda office buildingsShueisha headquartersIlluminated facade of a 3-storey restaurant in Chiyoda
On October 1, 2001, Chiyoda had 36,233 business establishments with 888,149 employees.[2]
As of 1 May 2003[update], Chiyoda has eight elementary schools, with 2,647 students, and five junior high schools with 1,123 students.[2] Public elementary, junior high schools and Kudan Secondary School in Chiyoda are operated by the Chiyoda City (the Chiyoda Ward) Board of Education [ja]. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.
It was created in April 1993 (Heisei 5) as a merger of Chisakura Elementary School (千桜小学校) and Kanda Elementary School (神田小学校), and it also took a portion of the former boundary of Nagatatcho Elementary School (永田町小学校).[91]
It was formed from the merger of the former Kōjimachi Elementary and Nagatacho Elementary School (永田町小学校).[95]
Ochanomizu Elementary School (お茶の水小学校) - Fujimi[96]
It was created in 1993 as the merger of Kinka Elementary School (錦華小学校), Nishikanda Elementary School (西神田小学), and Ogawa Elementary School (小川小学校). The Kinka building became the Ochanomizu Elementary building.[97]
Shohei Elementary School (昌平小学校) - Sotokanda [ja][98]
It was established in 1993. It is on the site of the former Horin Elementary School (芳林小学校). It was initially held in the previous Awaji Elementary School (淡路小学校) before its current building opened in 1996.[99]
Chiyoda operates four public libraries; they are the Chiyoda Library, Yobancho Library, Shohei Library, and Kanda Library. Tokyo operates the Tokyo Metropolitan Library Hibiya Library. The Japanese government operates the National Diet Library and the National Archives. Ishikawa Enterprise Foundation Ochanomizu Library is a nearby private library.[102]
^"区立中学校の通学区域と学校選択". Chiyoda Board of Education. Retrieved 2022-10-08. 千代田区では、[...]
^"沿革" (in Japanese). Chiyoda Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"和泉小学校の沿革" (in Japanese). Izumi Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"今川小学校の沿革" (in Japanese). Izumi Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"佐久間小学校の沿革" (in Japanese). Izumi Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"沿革の概要" (in Japanese). Kōjimachi Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"アクセス" (in Japanese). Ochanomizu Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17. 東京都千代田区富士見1-1-6
^"沿革" (in Japanese). Ochanomizu Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"学校へのアクセス" (in Japanese). Shohei Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17. 〒101-0021 東京都千代田区外神田3-4-7
^"沿革" (in Japanese). Shohei Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
^"Tokyo Chinese School". Retrieved March 8, 2015. 〒102-0076 東京都千代田区五番町14番地
^""Welcome". Lycée Franco-Japonais de Tokyo. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2014. 1-2-43 Fujimi Chiyoda-ku / 1-2-43 富士見 千代田区 102-0071 Tokyo / 東京 102-0071
^"Libraries in Chiyoda". Archived from the original on 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
External links
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Tokyo portal
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