, officially known as Chiyoda City in English,"Profile ." City of Chiyoda. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. 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 had 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, are together the source of roughly 10% of the combined revenue of all Japanese companies 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. 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, 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. In 1936, an attempted coup d'état, the February 26 Incident, occurred. In 1960, Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma was assassinated in Hibiya Hall. In 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo carried out the Tokyo subway sarin attack.

Geography 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. 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.47 News/Kyōdō Tsūshin, July 12, 2009: In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist and two independents.

The Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda."Website Policy." Tokyo Fire Department. Retrieved on May 16, 2010.

National representation For the national House of Representatives, Chiyoda, together with Minato and Shinjuku, forms the prefecture's 1st electoral district since the electoral reform of the 1990s. The single-seat constituency is currently represented by Liberal Democrat Miki Yamada.

The ward is also home to the National Diet, the Supreme Court of Japan and the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan and is the political nerve center of Japan.

Cityscape On December 31, 2001, Chiyoda had 6,572 buildings which were four stories or taller.

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 Kōjimachi area

, 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 Fujimi, location of the Residence of the Philippine Ambassador to Tokyo, Chongryon, as well as several educational facilities Hayabusachō - Houses the Supreme Court of Japan and the National Theater Hibiya Kōen - Address for Hibiya Park, a large park south of the Imperial Palace Hirakawachō, a mix between residences and medium side offices Iidabashi 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 Kitanomaru Park, North of the imperial palace, location of the Budokan Kōkyo Gaien - large open gardens in front of the Imperial palace Kudanminami and Kudankita () 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 Nagatachō - The location of the National Diet; also houses the Hie Shrine Ōtemachi - North of Marunouchi, a district of key financial Japanese institutions and major national newspapers Uchisaiwaichō, close to the Hibiya Park, location of the Imperial Hotel, as well as head offices of banks (especially Mizuho Financial Group). Yūrakuchō - South of Marunouchi, part of the Tokyo Station business district.

Kanda area

. Soto-Kanda, at the northern corner of the ward, home to the famous Akihabara electronics district.

Uchi-Kanda Soto-Kanda Nishi-Kanda Higashi-Kanda Iwamotochō Kajichō Hitotsubashi

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)

Kanda-Aioichō Kanda-Awajichō Kanda-Izumichō Kanda-Iwamotochō Kanda-Ogawamachi Kanda-Kajichō Kanda-Kitanorimonochō Kanda-Konyachō Kanda-Sakumagashi Kanda-Sakumachō Kanda-Sarugakuchō Kanda-Jinbōchō Kanda-Sudachō Kanda-Surugadai Kanda-Tachō Kanda-Tsukasamachi Kanda-Tomiyamachō Kanda-Nishikichō Kanda-Nishifukudachō Kanda-Neribeichō Kanda-Hanaokachō Kanda-Higashikonyachō Kanda-Higashimatsushitachō Kanda-Hirakawachō Kanda-Matsunagachō Kanda-Mikurachō Kanda-Misakichō Kanda-Mitoshirochō

Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population has almost doubled since 2000 after continuous decline.

Attractions

Akihabara Hibiya Park Imperial Palace National Diet Building Nippon Budokan Tokyo International Forum Tokyo Station Tokyo Takarazuka Theater

Parks and recreation

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."Parks in Chiyoda ." City of Chiyoda. Retrieved on December 28, 2008.

Points of historical interest

Economy

On October 1, 2001, Chiyoda had 36,233 business establishments with 888,149 employees.