is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is mainly a residential ward, located in the northwest of the . It split from Itabashi Ward on August 1, 1947, making it the newest of the 23 wards. It ranks 20th in official ward order under the Local Government Code of Japan, where it is assigned code 13120.
Nerima Ward is nicknamed , because the earliest anime studios started up in the ward, like Toei Animation and Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production,Nerima Animation, History ; retrieved 1 April 2012. making it the birthplace of anime,2004年8月10日読売新聞「ジブリの挑戦 宮崎駿の原点『白蛇伝』」 of the first color anime feature film The White Snake Enchantress, and of the first anime TV series Astro Boy. , Nerima has the largest concentration of anime studios in Japan, followed by the neighboring Suginami Ward.（独）中小企業基盤整備機構「平成18年度ナレッジリサーチ事業 コンテンツ産業の方向性に関する調査研究（アニメ制作会社の現状と課題）」より。 Nerima has also served as the setting for several popular anime and manga series, including Doraemon, Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura, Tokyo Ghoul, and Digimon Adventure.
, the ward has an estimated total population of 749,451 people. It has 399,800 households, and 21.6% of the ward's population is elderly (over the age of 65). The total area of the ward is 48.08 km2, which gives a population density of 15,591 persons per km2.
Geography
Nerima is located within the Wards Area of Tokyo, in the north part of the West of the Palace area (城西エリア, Jōsai eria). Neighboring wards are Itabashi Ward (to the east), Toshima Ward (to the southeast), Suginami Ward, and Nakano Ward (to the south). To the west it neighbors two cities in the Tama Area of Tokyo: Musashino (to the southwest), and Nishitōkyō (to the west). To the north lie three cities in Saitama Prefecture: Wakō, Asaka and Niiza.
The ward is roughly rectangular, measuring 10km east to west and 4km to 7km north to south, with an area of 48.08km. It accounts for about 7.7% of the total area of the 23 wards, making it the 5th largest of the 23 wards.
To the northwest, there is a small exclave called Nishi-Ōizumimachi, enclaved within the city of Niiza in Saitama Prefecture. The ward is working to incorporate the exclave into Saitama Prefecture, but residents are opposed to the plan.
Terrain The entire ward lies within the Musashino Plateau and features soil composed of loam formed from volcanic ash. The highest point in the 23 wards is in Nerima Ward, around Musashi-Seki Park. There are two peaks in the plateau at an altitude of about 58m in Sekimachi-Minami 4th Street and Sekimachi-Kita 4th Street.
Water Bodies The main rivers are the Shakujii River and the Shirako River, and the difference in elevation is small. The Senkawa Aqueduct flows through the ward. Groundwater from the Musashino Plateau surfaces as springs, creating the Sambōji Pond, Shakujii Pond, and Fujimi Pond.Nerima Ward Groundwater Survey Report, 1969
In the past, the Naka-Arai River and the Tagara Irrigation Canal flowed through the ward, but have dried out since. Extinct ponds are the Nukui Pond and the Igashira Pond.
Class A Rivers Shakujii River Shirako River
Ponds Sambōji Pond Shakujii Pond Fujimi Pond
Aqueducts Senkawa Aqueduct
Extinct Water Bodies Naka-Arai River Tagara Irrigation Canal Nukui Pond Igashira Pond
Neighborhoods Nerima Ward has implemented an addressing system based on the Act on Residential Addresses (Act No. 119 of 10 May 1962) in most areas. Based on this system, the ward comprises 46 neighborhoods (町, machi), each further divided into numbered neighborhood blocks called chōme (丁目) or Streets, which have local neighborhood associations called chōnaikai (町内会).
The neighborhoods are as follows, arranged by postal code and postal area:
Nerima Area +Neighborhood Japanese Name Date of Establishment No. of Streets (丁目) Zip CodeNerima練馬1 February 19634176-0001Sakuradai桜台1 November 19876176-0002Hazawa羽沢1 January 19873176-0003Kotakechō小竹町1 January 19872176-0004Asahigaoka旭丘1 January 19872176-0005Sakaechō栄町1 January 19871176-0006Toyotama-Kami 豊玉上1 January 19902176-0011Toyotama-Kita 豊玉北1 January 19906176-0012Toyotama-Naka豊玉中1 January 19894176-0013Toyotama-Minami豊玉南1 January 19893176-0014Nukui貫井1 January 19655176-0021Kōyama向山1 April 19654176-0022Nakamura-Kita中村北1 September 19724176-0023Nakamura中村1 September 19723176-0024Nakamura-Minami中村南1 September 19723176-0025
Shakujii Area +Neighborhood Japanese Name Date of Establishment No. of Streets (丁目) Zip Code Miharadai三原台1 August 19713177-0031Yahara谷原1 April 19656177-0032Takanodai高野台1 April 19655177-0033Fujimidai富士見台1 November 19644177-0034Minami-Tanaka南田中1 August 19735177-0035Shakujiimachi石神井町1 January 19707177-0041Shimo-Shakujii下石神井1 August 19736177-0042Kami-Shakujii-Minamichō上石神井南町1 June 19841177-0043Kami-Shakujii上石神井1 June 19854177-0044Shakujiidai石神井台1 July 19708177-0045Sekimachi-Kita関町北1 January 19785177-0051Sekimachi-Higashi関町東1 June 19852177-0052Sekimachi-Minami関町南1 June 19844177-0053Tatenochō立野町1 June 19841177-0054
Ōizumi Area +Neighborhood Japanese Name Date of Establishment No. of Streets (丁目) Zip Code Ōizumi-Gakuenchō大泉学園町1 December 19829178-0061Ōizumimachi大泉町1 January 19806178-0062Higashi-Ōizumi東大泉1 August 19807178-0063Minami-Ōizumi南大泉1 August 19816178-0064Nishi-Ōizumi西大泉1 August 19816178-0065Nishi-Ōizumimachi西大泉町Address system not implemented1178-0066
Hikarigaoka Area +Neighborhood Japanese Name Date of Establishment No. of Streets (丁目) Zip Code Asahichō旭町1 October 19683179-0071Hikarigaoka光が丘1 March 19837179-0072Tagara田柄1 October 19675179-0073Kasugachō春日町1 January 19676179-0074Takamatsu高松1 September 19696179-0075Doshida土支田1 January 19754179-0076Kitamachi北町1 June 19668179-0081Nishiki錦1 July 19652179-0082Heiwadai平和台1 July 19654179-0083Hikawadai氷川台1 July 19654179-0084Hayamiya早宮1 July 19654179-0085
Postal Code In Nerima Ward, the first three digits of the postal code are either 176, 177, 178, or 179, depending on the area.
〒176-00XX: Nerima Post Office 〒177-00XX: Shakujii Post Office 〒178-00XX: Ōizumi Post Office 〒179-00XX: Hikarigaoka Post Office
Climate During summer months, the Nerima Ward experiences intense heat, with many days exceeding 35°C and peak temperatures sometimes reaching 38°C. During winter months, it recorded a low of -7.0°C in 2018, and between January and March each year, low-pressure systems approaching from the south often bring snowfall, when the costal wards in downtown Tokyo receives only rain or sleet.
These temperature variations, combined with drainage from local rivers and irrigation canals, create ideal conditions for agriculture. Nerima has become renowned for its specialty crops, including Nerima daikon, cabbage, blueberries, and grapes. Annual precipitation typically ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 millimeters, showing no clear long-term trends.
Parks
Hikarigaoka Park Shakujii Park Ōizumi Central Park Musashiseki Park Jōhoku Central Park (half of it is part of Itabashi Ward) Takamatsu Park
Facilities Museums Ward art museum Iwasaki Chihiro illustrated book museum Tōei Animation Museum
Amusement Parks
Toshimaen Toshimaen (closed permanently on 31 August 2020) was an amusement park in Nerima Ward. The majority of the former Toshimaen site was purchased by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government after its closure, and is planned to be developed as a large park that serves as a base for use in event of a disaster. Another part of it was used to reopen as The Making of Harry Potter - Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo.
The Making of Harry Potter - Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo Toshimaen reopened as Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter, announced in August 2020 and opened on 16 June 2023, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter is the second such park in the world, after the one in London, which opened in 2012. It is located in Nerima Ward, on part of the now-defunct Toshimaen amusement park site. Similar to its counterpart in London, the 30,000 square-meter attraction in Tokyo offers visitors a walking tour through some of the recreated famous film sets including the Great Hall, the Forbidden Forest, and the Diagon Alley. It also displays film sets, costumes, and props that were used in the Harry Potter films. In addition to Harry Potter, it also covers the Fantastic Beasts spin-offs. Steam locomotive 4920 Dumbleton Hall, which is identical to the locomotive used in the Harry Potter movies, will be an exhibit.Dumbleton Hall for new Harry Potter Japan attraction The Railway Magazine issue 1450 January 2022 page 7
Toponym The earliest confirmed appearance of the name Nerima dates to a 1362 document titled Musashi-no-kuni Ganmon (武蔵国願文), where it was recorded phonetically as Nerima-gō (ねりま郷). The earliest known record using the kanji characters "練馬" appears over a century later in the 1480 Ōta Dōkan-jō (太田道灌状), a military report referencing Nerima Castle (練馬城).
While the exact etymological origin of the name remains unknown, several theories exist: It derives from neriba (ねり場), a place where the red clay of the Kanto loam layer was kneaded (neru). It comes from nenuma (根沼), meaning "deep swamps," which were numerous in the secluded lowlands of the Shakujii River basin. It is a corruption of Norinuma (のりぬま / 乗沼 or 乗瀦), a post station located in Musashi Province during the Nara period. While some historians estimate this station was situated near the Hakusan Shrine in modern-day Nerima, another prominent theory places it in Amanuma, Suginami Ward. During the Middle Ages, a retainer of the ruling Toshima clan was a master of horsemanship, and the practice of training and breaking in horses (馬) was referred to as neru (練る).
In English, the ward sometimes translates ward as city, as do some of the other special wards of Tokyo. In maps and street signs, it also uses the word ward, or simply -ku.
History Prehistory People first began living in Nerima during the Paleolithic period. Archaeological evidence that bears witness to this has been discovered throughout the ward, such as the Paleolithic spear-point stone tools excavated from the Musashi-Seki site, which are registered as cultural property of the ward.
Toshima clan rule
During the Heian period, most of Nerima was part of Toshima District (豊嶋郡, Toshima-gun), which included the city of Edo, in Musashi Province. By the end of the Heian period, the Toshima clan had control of the district.
During the beginning of the Muromachi period, the Toshima clan, who had power at the mouth of the Arakawa River, expanded their territory along the Shakujii River, and eventually built Nerima Castle (now Nerima-jōshi Park) and Shakujii Castle (now Shakujii Park). The Toshima clan continued to rule until Toshima Yasutsune, the lord of Shakujii Castle, was defeated on 28 April 1477, by Ōta Dōkan, a vassal of the Uesugi clan who built Edo Castle.Nerima Local History Research Society (練馬郷土史研究会). Nerima-ku no rekishi (練馬区の歴史, "History of Nerima Ward"). Tokyo: Meichō Publishing, 1977. pp25–35.
The leyend has it that when Dōkan launched his final assault on Shakujii Castle, the castle's lord Toshima Yasutsune faced inevitable defeat. Yasutsune placed a golden saddle, a treasured heirloom of the Toshima clan, on his snow-white horse and rode to the cliff behind the castle. With Dōkan's soldiers watching from below, he spurred his horse over the edge, plunging into the waters of Sanbōji Pond (located in present-day Shakujii Park), where both horse and rider drowned. Yasutsune had a beautiful second daughter called Princess Teruhime, who was so saddened by her father's death that she threw herself into the same pond and drowned with him. Moved by compassion for the princess, Dōkan ordered a memorial mound built in her honor. Local folklore says that those who climb the old pine tree near Teruhime's mound can glimpse the golden saddle still gleaming at the bottom of the pond. This tree is called Teruhi-no-Matsu. Today, Nerima Ward commemorates the princess with an annual festival called the Teruhime Matsuri.