Chiyoda (千代田区, Chiyoda-ku), also known as Chiyoda City in
English,[2] is a
special ward located in central
Tokyo,
Japan. It consists of the
Imperial Palace and a surrounding radius of about a kilometer. As of October 2020, the ward has a population of 66,680, and a population density of 5,709 people per km², making it by far the least populated of the special wards. The total area is 11.66 km², of which the Imperial Palace,
Hibiya Park,
National Museum of Modern Art, and
Yasukuni Shrine take up approximately 2.6 km², or 22% of the total area.
Chiyoda is an economic powerhouse; the small area east of the palace in the districts of
Otemachi,
Marunouchi and
Yurakucho (colloquially "Daimaruyu") houses 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 1/4th of the GDP of the country 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.
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, and
agencies are also located in Chiyoda, as are Tokyo landmarks such as
Tokyo Station,
Yasukuni Shrine and the
Budokan. The neighborhood
Akihabara is also located in Chiyoda, as are twenty embassies and consulates.
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
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
Local government
Chiyoda is run by a directly elected mayor and a city assembly of 25 elected members. The current
mayor is Takaaki Higuchi.
Metropolitan representation
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 department store. Understanding the
address system in the Kanda area can be particularly troublesome for non-locals.
Districts and neighborhoods
Kōjimachi Area
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.
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, Luxemburg, 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
Kōjimachi - Older residential and commercial neighborhood on the west side of the Imperial Palace, home to the embassy of
Ireland
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. Note that Iwamotochō and Kanda-Iwamotochō are different districts (as is the case for Kajichō and Kanda-Kajichō)
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).[89]
It was formed from the merger of the former Kōjimachi Elementary and Nagatacho Elementary School (永田町小学校).[93]
Ochanomizu Elementary School (
お茶の水小学校) - Fujimi[94]
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.[95]
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.[97]
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.[100]
Parks and recreation
Chidorigafuchi in Chiyoda
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.[101]
^"
Company Outline." Taito Corporation. January 11, 1998. Retrieved on January 30, 2011 "Head Office 2-5-3 Hirakawa-cho,Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo 102,JAPAN."
Address in Japanese: "東京都千代田区平河町二丁目5番3号"
^会社概要 (in Japanese).
Yamato Life. February 5, 2005. Archived from
the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved January 20, 2010.