Shinjuku (新宿区, Shinjuku-ku?) is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.
As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 312,418 and a density of 17,140 persons per km². The total area is 18.23 km².[2]
As of October 1, 2005, 29,353 non-Japanese with 107 different nationalities were registered in Shinjuku.[citation needed]
[edit] GeographySurrounding Shinjuku are six other wards: Chiyoda to the east; Bunkyo and Toshima to the north; Nakano to the west, and Shibuya and Minato to the south[citation needed]. In addition, Nerima is only a hundred meters away[citation needed]. The highest point in Shinjuku is Hakoneyama (箱根山?) in Toyama Park at 44.6 m[citation needed]. The lowest point is 4.2 m near Iidabashi[citation needed].
[edit] Neighbourhoods
Street level in ShinjukuAlthough the area immediately surrounding Shinjuku Station is home to hotels, department stores, specialist electronic and camera shops, cinemas, restaurants, and bars, the rest of the city is a mix of residential with commercial areas concentrated around railway stations[citation needed].
Notable areas of Shinjuku include:
Ichigaya: A commercial area in eastern Shinjuku, site of the Ministry of Defense.
Golden Gai: An area of tiny shanty-style bars and clubs. Musicians, artists, actors and directors gather here, and the ramshackle walls of the bars are literally plastered with movie posters.
Kabukichō: A red-light district well-known for its bars, restaurants, and sex-related establishments.
Kagurazaka: One of Tokyo's last remaining hanamachi or geisha districts[citation needed].
Nishi-Shinjuku: Home to Tokyo's largest concentration of skyscrapers. Several of the tallest buildings in Tokyo are located in this area, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, KDDI Building and Park Tower. Located west of Shinjuku Station.
Ōkubo: Tokyo's best-known Korean district[citation needed].
Shinjuku Gyoen is a large park, 58.3 hectares, 3.5 km in circumference, blending Japanese traditional, English Landscape and French Formal style gardens.
Shinjuku Ni-chōme: Tokyo's best-known gay district[citation needed].
Takadanobaba and Waseda: The area between Waseda University, one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan, and Takadanobaba Station is a major residential and nightlife area for students[citation needed].
Yotsuya: An upscale residential and commercial district; the Arakichō area is well-known for its many small restaurants, bars, and izakaya.
[edit] History
Shinjuku at night.In 1634, during the Edo period, as the outer moat of the Edo Castle was built, a number of temples and shrines moved to the Yotsuya area on the western edge of Shinjuku. In 1698, Naitō Shinjuku had developed as a new (shin) station (shuku or juku) on the Kōshū Kaidō, one of the major highways of that era. Naitō was a daimyo whose mansion stood in the area; his land is now a public park, the Shinjuku Gyoen.
In 1920, the town of Naitō-Shinjuku that comprised large parts of present-day Shinjuku, parts of Nishi-Shinjuku and Kabukichō was integrated into Tokyo City. Shinjuku began to develop into its current form after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, since the seismically stable area largely escaped the devastation. Consequently, West Shinjuku is one of the few areas in Tokyo with many skyscrapers.
The Tokyo air raids from May to August 1945 destroyed almost 90% of the buildings in the area in and around Shinjuku Station.[3] The pre-war form of Shinjuku, and the rest of Tokyo, for that matter, was retained after the war because the roads and rails, damaged as they were, remained, and these formed the heart of the Shinjuku in the post-war construction. Only in Kabuki-cho was a grand reconstruction plan put into action.[4]
The present ward was established on March 15, 1947 with the merger of the former wards of Yotsuya, Ushigome, and Yodobashi. It served as part of the athletics 50 km walk and marathon course during the 1964 Summer Olympics.[5]
In 1991, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government moved from the Marunouchi district of Chiyoda to the current building in Shinjuku. (The Tokyo International Forum stands on the former site vacated by the government.)
[edit] EconomyMany companies have their headquarters or Tokyo offices in Shinjuku.
Seiko Epson's Tokyo office is in the Shinjuku NS Building in Nishi-Shinjuku.[6]
Atlus has its headquarters in Kagurazaka.[7]
Nissin Foods's Tokyo offices are in Shinjuku.[8]
Airtransse, a regional airline, has its headquarters near Shinjuku Gyoen.[9]
Futabasha has its headquarters in Higashigokenchō, Shinjuku[10]
Yoshinoya has its headquarters in the Da Vinci Shinjuku Building (ダヴィンチ新宿ビル, Davinchi Shinjuku Biru?) in Shinjuku.[11]
H.I.S.'s headquarters is in the Shinjuku Oak Tower in Nishi-Shinjuku[12]
Jorudan has its headquarters in Shinjuku.[13][14]
In March 1990 the headquarters of Bandai Visual moved to the Shinjuku neighborhood in Shinjuku Ward. In August 1991 the headquarters moved to Taitō, Tokyo.[15] Previously the headquarters of MOS Burger were in Shinjuku.[16]
[edit] Government and politics
Shinjuku City OfficeLike the other wards of Tokyo, Shinjuku has a status equivalent to that of a city. The current mayor is Hiroko Nakayama. The ward council (区議会, kugikai?) consists of 38 elected members; the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeitō Party together currently hold a majority. The Democratic Party of Japan, Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party are also represented together with four independents. Shinjuku's city office (区役所, kuyakusho?) is located on the southeastern edge of Kabukichō.
Shinjuku is also the location of the metropolitan government of Tokyo. The governor's office, the metropolitan assembly chamber, and all administrative head offices are located in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
[edit] ElectionsShinjuku local election, 2004
Shinjuku mayoral election, 2006
Shinjuku local election, 2007
[edit] TransportationFurther information: Transportation in Greater Tokyo
Shinjuku is a major urban transit hub. JR Shinjuku Station sees an estimated 3.64 million passengers pass through each day, making it the busiest station in the world. It houses interchanges to three subway lines and three privately owned commuter lines, as well as several JR lines.
[edit] RailA list of railway lines passing through and stations located within Shinjuku includes:
JR East
Yamanote Line: Takadanobaba, Shin-Ōkubo, Shinjuku
Chūō Line (Rapid), Chūō-Sōbu Line: Yotsuya, Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Ōkubo
Saikyō Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line: Shinjuku
Tokyo Metro
Marunouchi Line: Yotsuya, Yotsuya-sanchōme, Shinjuku-gyoenmae, Shinjuku-sanchōme, Shinjuku, Nishi-Shinjuku
Yūrakuchō Line: Ichigaya, Iidabashi
Tōzai Line: Kagurazaka, Waseda, Takadanobaba, Ochiai
Fukutoshin Line: Nishi-Waseda, Higashi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-sanchōme
Namboku Line: Iidabashi, Ichigaya, Yotsuya
Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation
Toei Shinjuku Line: Akebonobashi, Shinjuku-sanchōme, Shinjuku
Toei Ōedo Line: Ochiai-Minaminagasaki, Nakai, Nishi-Shinjuku-gochōme, Tochō-mae, Kokuritsu-Kyōgijō, Ushigome-Kagurazaka, Ushigome-Yanagichō, Wakamatsu-Kawada, Higashi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Nishiguchi
Toden Arakawa Line: Omokagebashi, Waseda
Odakyū Electric Railway Odawara Line: Shinjuku
Keio Corporation Keiō Line, Keiō New Line: Shinjuku
Seibu Railway Seibu Shinjuku Line: Seibu-Shinjuku, Takadanobaba, Shimo-Ochiai, Nakai
[edit] Roads
Traffic on Ōme-kaidō heading towards Kabukichō at nightShuto Expressway:
No.4 Shinjuku Route (Miyakezaka JCT - Takaido)
No.5 Ikebukuro Route (Takebashi JCT - Bijogi JCT)
National highways:
National Route 20 (Shinjuku-dōri, Kōshū-kaidō)
Other major routes:
Tokyo Metropolitan Route 8 (Mejiro-dōri, Shin-Mejiro-dōri)
Tokyo Metropolitan Route 302 (Yasukuni-dōri, Ōme-kaidō)
Tokyo Metropolitan Route 305 (Meiji-dōri)
[edit] Education[edit] Colleges and universitiesChuo University graduate school
Gakushuin Women's College
Japan Electronics College
Keio University Medical College
Kogakuin University
Lakeland College Japan
Mejiro University
Tokyo Fuji University
Tokyo Medical University
Tokyo University of Science
Tokyo Women's Medical University
Waseda University
[edit] SchoolsPublic elementary and junior high schools in Shinjuku are operated by the Shinjuku City Board of Education. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.
Koishikawa Technical High School
Ichigaya Commercial High School
Shinjuku High School
Shinjuku Yamabuki High School
Toyama High School
[edit] Public institutions
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building[edit] LibrariesShinjuku operates several public libraries, including the Central Library (with the Children's Library), the Yotsuya Library, the Tsurumaki Library, Tsunohazu Library, the Nishi-Ochiai Library, the Toyama Library, the Kita-Shinjuku Library, the Okubo Library, and the Nakamachi Library. In addition there is a branch library, Branch Library of Central Library in the City Office, located in the city office.[17]
[edit] HospitalsThere are several major hospitals located within the city limits.
Keio University Hospital
International Medical Center of Japan
Social Insurance Chūō General Hospital
Tokyo Medical University Hospital
Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital
Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Treatment Corporation Ohkubo Hospital
[edit] Cultural centers[edit] MuseumsNational Printing Bureau Banknote and Postage Stamp Museum
National Museum of Nature and Science, Shinjuku Branch
Shinjuku Historical Museum
Tokyo Fire Department Museum
[edit] HallsTokyo Opera City
Shinjuku Bunka Center
WelCity Tokyo
Meiji Yasuda Life Hall
Shinjuku Koma Theater
[edit] SightseeingShinjuku is home to many well-known sights and tourist attractions.
Shinjuku Gyoen
Shinjuku Central Park (Shinjuku Chūō Kōen)
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (designed by renowned architect Kenzo Tange)
Park Hyatt Tokyo and Park Tower (featured in the film Lost in Translation)
Waseda University's Ōkuma Auditorium
Meiji Shrine Outer Gardens and the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery
[edit] Sister citiesShinjuku has sister city agreements with several localities:[18]
Lambeth, London, England
Lefkada, Greece
Mitte, Berlin, Germany
Dongcheng, Beijing, People's Republic of China
