Nakano (, ) is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City (, ).
, the ward has an estimated population of 337,377, and a population density of 21,640 persons per km<sup>2</sup>. The total area is 15.59 km<sup>2</sup>. Nakano is the most densely populated city in Japan.
History
The ward was founded on October 1, 1932, when the towns of Nogata and Nakano were absorbed into the former Tokyo City as Nakano Ward. The present administration dates from March 15, 1947, when the Allied occupation reformed the administration of Tokyo-to.
- 1447: Ã
Âta DÃ
Âkan defeated Toshima Yasutsune in a battle here.
- 1606: The Naruki KaidÃ
Â, predecessor of today's Ã
Âme KaidÃ
 (a road to Ã
Âme) was established.
- 1695: In connection with the Shorui Awaremi no Rei (a law for the protection of animals), a facility for keeping wild dogs opened.
- 1871: The twelve villages that comprise present-day Nakano became part of Tokyo Prefecture.
- 1889: The Kofu Railway opens. The forerunner of today's ChÃ
«Ã
 Main Line included a station at Nakano en route from Shinjuku to Hachioji.
- 1897: Nakano becomes a village.
- 1932: Tokyo City expands to encompass the district that included Nakano.
- 1943: With the abolition of Tokyo City, Nakano becomes part of Tokyo-to.
- 1947: Nakano becomes one of the special wards under the new system.
- 1961: The Tokyo subway system extends to Nakano.
- 1973: Construction of Nakano Sun Plaza near Nakano Station reaches completion.
- 2016: Murder of Jiang Ge
Districts and neighborhoods
Nakano Area
Nogata Area
- Arai
- EharachÃ
Â
- Ekoda
- Kamisaginomiya
- Kamitakada
- Maruyama
- Matsugaoka
- Nogata
- Numabukuro
- Saginomiya
- Shirasagi
- Wakamiya
- YamatochÃ
Â
Geography
Five special wards surround Nakano: Shinjuku, Suginami, Nerima, Shibuya, and Toshima. It lies just west of the bustling Shinjuku area.
Rivers include the Kanda, Myosho-ji and Zenpuku-ji Rivers, and the Aratama Waterway.
Places
Education
Public schools
Metropolitan senior high and combined junior-senior high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.
- Yotsuya Commercial High School
Municipal kindergartens, elementary schools, and junior high schools are operated by the Nakano City Board of Education.
Municipal junior high schools:
- No. 2 Junior High School (第äºÂä¸Âå¦校)
- No. 5 Junior High School (第äºÂä¸Âå¦校)
- No. 7 Junior High School ()
- Kita Nakano Junior High School ()
- Meiwa Junior High School (æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂä¸Âå¦校)
- Merger of No. 4 Junior High School (第åÂÂä¸Âå¦校) and No. 8 Junior High School ().
- Midorino Junior High School (ç·ÂéÂÂä¸Âå¦校)
- Minami Nakano Junior High School ()
- Nakano Junior High School ()
- Nakano Higashi Junior High School ()
- Merger of No. 3 Junior High School () and No. 10 Junior High School (第åÂÂä¸Âå¦校).
Municipal elementary schools:
- Egota Elementary School ()
- Ehara Elementary School ()
- Hakuo Elementary School ()
- Heiwa no Mori Elementary School ()
- Kami Saginomiya Elementary School ()
- Keimei Elementary School (Ã¥ÂÂæÂÂå°Âå¦校)
- Kitahara Elementary School (Ã¥ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂå°Âå¦校)
- Midorino Elementary School ()
- Mihato Elementary School (ç¾Â鳩å°Âå¦校)
- Formed by the merger of Wakamiya Elementary () and Yamato Elementary (大åÂÂå°Âå¦校)
- Minamidai Elementary School (Ã¥ÂÂå°å°Âå¦校)
- Formed by the merger of Niiyama Elementary (æÂ°å±±å°Âå¦校) and Tada Elementary (å¤Âç°å°Âå¦校)
- Minamino Elementary School ()
- Formed by the merger of Nakano Shinmei Elementary (ä¸ÂéÂÂç¥ÂæÂÂå°Âå¦校) and Niiyama Elementary (æÂ°å±±å°Âå¦校)
- Momozono No. 2 Elementary School ()
- Musashidai Elementary School ()
- Nakano No. 1 Elementary School ()
- Merger of Monozono Elementary School () and Mukodai Elementary School ()
- Nakano Hongo Elementary School (ä¸ÂéÂÂæÂŽÂ·å°Âå¦校)
- Nishi Nakano Elementary School ()
- Reiwa Elementary School ()
- Merger of Arai Elementary School (æÂ°äºÂå°Âå¦校) and Kamitakada Elementary School (ä¸Âé«Âç°å°Âå¦校)
- Saginomiya Elementary School (鷺宮å°Âå¦校)
- Toka Elementary School ()
- Tonoyama Elementary School (å¡Âå±±å°Âå¦校)
- Yato Elementary School ()
Kindergartens:
- Higashi Nakano Kindergarten (ã²ãÂÂãÂÂãªãÂÂã®幼ç¨ÂÃ¥ÂÂ)
- Kamisagi Kindergarten (ãÂÂã¿ãÂÂãÂÂå¹¼ç¨ÂÃ¥ÂÂ)
Private schools
- Horikoshi Gakuen High School
- - Has coeducational and girls' only sections
- - Girls' school
Colleges and universities
Transportation
Rail
Nakano Ward is served by the JR East ChÃ
«Ã
 and Sobu lines, the Seibu Shinjuku Line, the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line and Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, and the Toei Oedo Line.
- JR East
- ChÃ
«Ã
 Line (Rapid), ChÃ
«Ã
Â-SÃ
Âbu Line: Higashi-Nakano and Nakano Stations
- Seibu Railway
- Seibu Shinjuku Line: Arai Yakushi-mae, Numabukuro, Nogata, Toritsu-Kasei, Saginomiya Stations
- Tokyo Metro
- Marunouchi Line: Shin-Nakano, Nakano-Sakaue Stations
- Honancho Branch Line: Nakano-Fujimicho, Nakano-Shimbashi, Nakano-Sakaue Stations
- Tozai Line: Nakano, Ochiai (although the station is in Shinjuku, some entrances are in Nakano) Stations
- Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation:
- Toei Oedo Line: Nakano-Sakaue, Higashi-Nakano, Shin-egota Stations
Bus
A complicated bus network is constructed throughout Nakano Ward because most train lines only run east and west.
- Kanto bus
- Toei bus
- Kokusai Kogyo bus
- Keio bus
Roads
Shuto Expressway:
Prefectural road:
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 8 (Mejiro-dÃ
Âri Ave., Shin-Mejiro-dÃ
Âri Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 439 (Senkawa-dÃ
Âri Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 440 (Shin-Ã
Âme-kaidÃ
 Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 25 (Waseda-dÃ
Âri Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 433 (Ã
Âkubo-dÃ
Âri Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 4 (Ã
Âme-kaidÃ
 Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 14 (HÃ
Ânan-dÃ
Âri Ave.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 317 (Yamate-dÃ
Âri St.; 6th Beltway)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 420 (Nakano-dÃ
Âri St.)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 318 (Kannana-dÃ
Âri St.; 7th Beltway)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Route 427 (Nakasugi-dÃ
Âri St.)
Business and entertainment
- Nakano-minamiguchi ekimae shÃ
Âtengai â an outdoor arcade
- Soft On Demand â a Japanese adult video group of companies has its headquarters in Nakano
- MAPPA - a Japanese animation studio has its head office in Nakano
Benza series
The Benza is a 2019 Amazon Prime Video series about two foreigners (Christopher McCombs and Kyle Card) who are trying to fix their broken and are suddenly tasked with saving the world. The series takes place entirely in Higashi Nakano. Benza English is a 2020 spin-off series that also takes place in Higashi Nakano. The Benza RPG is a 2020 video game adaption available on iOS, Android, and Steam.
Notable people
- Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer and musician
- Kanako Yanagihara, comedian
- Mayumi Kojima, singer and songwriter
- Marika Matsumoto, voice actress, actress
- Shoko Sawada, singer and songwriter
- Yuji Tanaka, comedian
- El Lindaman, Japanese professional wrestler
- Yuhi Sekiguchi, Japanese racing driver
- Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, talent, and voice actor
- Akiyoshi Nakao, Japanese actor
- Eiji Iijima, Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 7-dan
- Wataru Kamimura, Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 5-dan
- Tsunemi Kubodera, Japanese zoologist (National Museum of Nature and Science)
- Rieko Miura, Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and former member of the J-pop girlgroup Coco
- Masaru Nashimoto, Japanese show-business and gossips reporter
- Makoto Sasaki, Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 7-dan
- Takahiro Sonoda, Japanese classical pianist
- Michiko Yamamoto, Japanese writer and poet (Real Name: Michiko Furuya, Nihongo: å¤å±ÂéÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ, Furuya Michiko)
- Michiyo Yasuda, Japanese animator and colour designer
- Yoko Yamamoto, Japanese actress
- Hideo Kachi, Japanese musician (Real Name: Kachi Hidenori, Nihongo: ã«ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãª, Hidenori Kachi)
- Kazushi Hagiwara, Japanese mangaka and the creator of Bastard!!
- Kenji Ohtsuki, Japanese rock musician and Seiun Award-winning writer
- Mayumi Kojima, Japanese Shibuya-kei musician
- Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese tarento (media personality), actress, voice actress, illustrator, MC and singer
- Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress, comedian, and tarento
- Masao Kobayashi, Japanese politician, member of the Democratic Party of Japan and member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature)
- Kentaro Shigematsu, Japanese football player (Kamatamare Sanuki, J3 League)
- Mitsuya Kurokawa, Japanese guitarist
- Mayumi Itsuwa, Japanese vocalist, composer, lyricist, and keyboardist
- MasatÃ
 Ibu, Japanese actor and voice actor
- Kiyoshiro Imawano, Japanese rock musician, lyricist, composer, musical producer, and actor (Real Name: Kiyoshi Kurihara, Nihongo: æ Âå æ¸Â
å¿Â, Kurihara Kiyoshi)
- Ray Fujita, Japanese actor and musician
- Shoko Sawada, Japanese singer-songwriter, reporter, and radio personality
- Tochisakae Atsushi, former sumo wrestler
- Takahiro Yamaguchi, Japanese former soccer player
- Christopher McCombs, American actor and tarento
- Tetsuzo Fuwa, Japanese communist politician
See also
References
External links