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Suginami

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Country
  
Area
  
34.06 km²

Region
  
Kantō region

Prefecture
  
Tokyo

Population
  
561,700 (1 May 2015)

Suginami httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Time zone
  
Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

City hall address
  
1-15-1 Asagaya Minami, Suginami-ku, Tokyo165-8570

Website
  
www.city.suginami.tokyo.jp

Colleges and Universities
  
Tokyo Woman's Christian, Takachiho University, Joshibi University of Art and, St Margaret's Junior Co, Tokyo Rissho Junior Co

Points of interest
  
Zenfukuji Park, Wadabori Park, Zenpuku‑ji River Green Sp, Ōmiya Hachiman Shrine, Suginami Animation Museum

Suginami (杉並区, Suginami-ku) is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. In English, The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Suginami City.

Contents

Map of Suginami, Tokyo, Japan

As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 561,700 and a population density of 16,490 persons per km². The total area is 34.06 km².

Geography

Suginami occupies the western part of the ward area of Tokyo. Its neighbors include these special wards: to the east, Shibuya and Nakano; to the north, Nerima; and to the south, Setagaya. Its western neighbors are the cities of Mitaka and Musashino.

The Kanda river passes through Suginami. The Zenpukuji river originates from Zenpukuji Park in western Suginami, and the Myoshoji river originates in Myoshoji Park, to the north of Ogikubo station.

History

The name Suginami dates back to the early Edo period and is a shortened version of "Suginamiki," or "avenue of cedars." This name came about when an early land baron, Lord Tadayoshi Okabe, planted a row of cedar trees to mark the border of his property.

The ward was founded on March 15, 1947.

In 1970, 40 high school students were exposed to photochemical smog and required hospitalization. The incident attracted national attention and increased awareness of the dangers of pollution.

Places

The following neighborhoods make up Suginami-ku.

Politics

Historically, Suginami has leaned toward liberal activism. In 1954, local housewives launched the "Suginami Appeal" against nuclear weapons, a petition that spread nationwide and ultimately collected 20 million signatures. More recently in 2005, Suginami became part of Japan's fight against nationalist textbook revisionism when residents petitioned Tokyo's courts to prevent the adoption of a controversial textbook published by Fusosha Publishing which claimed to justify Japanese actions during World War II. The ward has also passed an ordinance placing limits on the installation of security cameras.

To combat burglaries, which reached a record number of 1,710 in 2002, the ward created an unconventional anti-crime program called Operation Flower. The ward urged residents to plant flowers facing the street, with the long-term goal of increasing neighborhood watchfulness (necessitated by watering and otherwise attending to the plants). In addition, 9,600 volunteers were recruited for neighborhood safety patrols, 200 security cameras were placed at crime-vulnerable areas, and a daily email update was created for residents. Subsequent to the start of the program, burglaries were down 80% to 390 in 2008.

As of 2006, the mayor of Suginami is Hiroshi Yamada.

Suginami refused to connect to Japan's Residents Basic Registry Network. As of 2005, it is implementing a measure to make registry optional.

Rail

  • JR East
  • Chūō Main Line (Chūō-Sobu Line): Koenji, Asagaya, Ogikubo, Nishi-Ogikubo Stations
  • Keio Corporation
  • Keio Line: Hachiman-yama Station
  • Keio Inokashira Line: Eifuku-cho, Nishi Eifuku, Hamada-yama, Takaido, Fujimi-ga-oka, Kuga-yama Stations
  • Seibu Railway
  • Seibu Shinjuku Line: Shimo-Igusa, Iogi, Kami-Igusa Stations
  • Tokyo Metro
  • Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line: Honancho (branch line); Higashi Koenji, Shin-Koenji, Minami Asagaya, Ogikubo Stations
  • Road

  • National highways: Route 20, the Kōshū Kaidō
  • Kan-nana Dori (Number 7 Ring Road)
  • Kan-pachi Dori (Number 8 Ring Road)
  • Education

    Suginami operates public elementary and junior high schools.

    Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.

  • Nishi High School
  • Nogei High School
  • Ogikubo High School
  • Suginami High School
  • Suginami Sogo High School
  • Suginami Technical High School
  • Toyotama High School
  • International schools:

  • Tokyo Korean 9th Elementary School (東京朝鮮第九初級学校) - North Korean school
  • Animation

    Several animation studios are located in Suginami. Bones is headquartered in Igusa, while Sunrise has its headquarters near the Kami-Igusa Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line. Bones was founded by former members of Sunrise, and staff at each company often help each other on projects. The Satelight studio, founded in Sapporo, relocated to the Asagaya neighborhood in 2006 (an earlier Tokyo office, at a different location in Suginami, had been in existence since 2003). In addition, many smaller studios are based here; as of 2006, over 70 studios (of 400 throughout Japan) were located in Suginami.

    Japanese operations

    The communications and electronics giant Iwatsu Electric is headquartered in Kugayama.

    Foreign operations

    American Express has an office in Ogikubo. Hewlett Packard Japan operates two offices, the Ogikubo office and the Takaido office, in Suginami.

    Microsoft has a branch office in the Daitabashi Asahi Seimei Building in Izumi.

    Former economic operations

    Prior to its disestablishment, Data East had its headquarters in Suginami.

    Culture

  • Ōmiya Hachiman Shrine
  • Suginami Kokaido: a concert hall and the home of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also the same place where Birth of Ultraman (ウルトラマン誕生, Urutoraman Tanjō), the pre-premiere special of Ultraman was held which recorded in July 9, 1966 and later aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (the Ultra Series' original network before TV Tokyo) the next day in 7:00 pm. In fact, as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Ultra Series, "Ultraman Day" (ウルトラマンの日, Urutoraman no Hi) was be held in Suginami Kokaido in July 10, 2016.
  • Suginami Animation Museum: a small museum which includes a screening theater, library, and historical overview of Japanese animation, with English language explanations
  • References

    Suginami Wikipedia


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