Suginami (杉並区, Suginami-ku) is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English.
As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 persons per km2.[1] 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 Myōshōji River originates in Myōshōji 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 ("avenue of cedars"). This name came about when an early land baron, Lord Tadayoshi Okabe, planted a row of cedar trees to mark the bounds of his property.[2]
The ward was founded on March 15, 1947.
In 1970, 40 high school students in the area were exposed to photochemical smog and required hospitalization. The incident attracted national attention and increased awareness of the dangers of pollution.[2]
Districts and neighborhoods
Autumn colors in a park SuginamiKōenji Awa OdoriNakasugidori Avenue near Suginami City Hall and Asagaya Station
Historically, Suginami has leaned toward liberal activism.[3] In 1954, local housewives launched the "Suginami Appeal" against nuclear weapons, a petition that spread nationwide and ultimately collected 20 million signatures.[2] 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.[2] The ward has also passed an ordinance placing limits on the installation of security cameras.[2]
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.[4]
On June 19, 2022, Satoko Kishimoto was elected mayor despite being a long-time resident of Belgium and not having any connections to the ward. She narrowly defeated 3-term incumbent Ryō Tanaka by less than 200 votes. Kishimoto had come to prominence through online political debates during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6] Kishimoto has opposed building new road extensions through Kōenji district and the privatization of public facilities.[3] Kishimoto is the district's first-ever female leader and plans on creating more opportunities for women in Japanese politics. Japan currently has only 2 female politicians in the current national cabinet and only 3 female mayors out of Tokyo's 23 main districts.[7]
Several animation studios are located in Suginami. Bones is headquartered in Igusa,[19] while Sunrise has its headquarters near the Kami-Igusa Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line.[20] 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).[21] In addition, many smaller studios are based here; as of 2006, over 70 studios (of 400 throughout Japan) were located in Suginami.[2]
Suginami Kokaido: a concert hall and the home of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.[2] 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 on 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 held in Suginami Kokaido on July 10, 2016.[26][27]
Suginami Animation Museum: a small museum which includes a screening theater, library, and historical overview of Japanese animation, with English language explanations
References
^"東京都の人口". Statistics of Tokyo. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
^ウリハッキョ一覧. Chongryon. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)().
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