Nerima

Nerima (練馬区, Nerima-ku) is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is mainly a residential ward, located in the northwest of the Wards Area of Tokyo (東京都区部, Tōkyō-to kubu). It is the 23rd and the newest ward in Tokyo. Nerima Ward is nicknamed "the town of animation" (アニメのまち, Anime no Machi), because the earliest anime studios started up in the ward, like Toei Animation and Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production, making it the birthplace of anime, of the first color anime feature film The White Snake Enchantress, and of the first anime TV series Astro Boy. As of 2007, Nerima has the largest concentration of anime studios in Japan, followed by the neighboring Suginami Ward. 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. As of 1 June 2025, 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 48.08km2. 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. In the past, the Naka-Arai River, the Senkawa Aqueduct, and the Tagara Irrigation Canal flowed through the ward, but have dried out since. Groundwater from the Musashino Plateau surfaces as springs, creating the Sambōji Pond, Shakujii Pond, and Fujimi Pond. Class A Rivers Shakujii River Shirako River Ponds Sambōji Pond Shakujii Pond Fujimi Pond Extinct Water Bodies Naka-Arai River Senkawa Aqueduct 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 Shakujii Area Ōizumi Area Hikarigaoka Area 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. 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 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. 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. After the defeat of the Toshima clan, the area came under the influence of the Ōta clan, and then the Hōjō clan, before transitioning into the Tokugawa era. Edo period During the Edo period, Nerima developed as a major suburban farming village in Toshima District, that supplied the city of Edo with daikon, burdock, and potatoes, among other products. During this period, the area's specialty, Nerima daikon developed. The earliest reference of Nerima daikon is from the 1683 geography book Murasaki-no-Hitomoto (『紫の一本』) edited by Toda Mosui. One of the legends about its origin is related to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the 5th shogun of the Edo shogunate, who built a villa in the village of Shimo-Nerima before becoming shogun, and brought seeds of Miyashige daikon from Owari to a vacant lot within the villa and cultivated them. The Senkawa Aqueduct, which is now almost a culvert, was developed by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1696 and became a valuable water resource for agriculture in Nerima at the time. After the Boshin War, the city of Edo was removed from Toshima District, and was renamed Tokyo City. In 1878, during the abolition of the han system in the Meiji era, the rest of Toshima District was divided into Kita-Toshima District (北豊島郡, Kita-Toshima-gun) and Minami-Toshima District (南豊島郡, Minami-Toshima-gun). Nerima was incorporated into Kita-Toshima District under the District, Town and Village Organization Act of 1878 (郡区町村編成法). After the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, population began to flow from the city center into the Nerima area. On 1 October 1932, Kita-Toshima District merged into Tokyo City as part of Itabashi Ward, including the town of Nerima and the villages of Kami-Nerima, Naka-Arai, Shakujii, and Ōizumi. Second World War During the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army operated Narimasu Airfield in the Nerima area in Itabashi Ward. At its peak, the earthworks were rushed, with 3,000 people working in day and night shifts each day. The Imperial Japanese Army's 47th Air Squadron, 43rd Airfield Battalion, and the Narimasu Detachment Maintenance Unit of the Tachikawa Branch of the Air Arsenal were based there. Towards the end of the war, it became a place for the Southern Operation Squadron to regain its fighting strength, and the 48th and 231st Shinbu Special Attack Units were stationed here and used it as a training ground. In addition, the 101st, 102nd, and 103rd Air Squadrons were also relocated there. Remnants of its wartime infrastructure can still be seen today. Concrete bunkers that once housed aircraft remain visible in Hikarigaoka Park, and the runway is now the main street in front of the IMA department store in Hikarigaoka. During the occupation of Japan, the occupying Allied forces renamed the former Narimasu Airfield to Grant Heights on 3 March 1947. On 5 April, the construction of family quarters for the United States Army Air Forces began, and was finished in June 1948. Independence In 1946, shortly after the end of the war, the local government system was reviewed by a memorandum of the Allied Forces. One of the measures was to merge the then 35 wards of Tokyo into 22 wards. The people of the Nerima area in Itabashi Ward had long been troubled by the distance of the Itabashi Ward Office. Since the establishment of Itabashi Ward in 1932, there have been several talks about separating the Nerima region, but they had not been successful. During the review of the ward system, the town council presidents, ward assembly members, and various organization leaders of Nerima, Shakujii, and Ōizumi got together to try to make Nerima independent from Itabashi Ward, but the purpose of the occupying forces was to merge wards, not create new ones. In March 1947, the wards of Tokyo were merged into 22 wards, with Nerima still being part of Itabashi Ward. After much campaigning, five months after the establishment of the 22 special wards, on 1 August, Nerima Ward was established and declared independent from Itabashi Ward, becoming the 23rd special ward of Tokyo. Nerima Ward's independence day is commemorated annually. When the Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952, the Japan Self-Defense Forces established a base in Nerima Ward. The first division of the eastern group of the Ground Self-Defense Force has its headquarters there. In 1973, the United States Forces Japan returned Grant Heights to Japanese control. Culture Festivals Teruhime Matsuri (April or May): A festival held annually in Shakujii Park in honor of Teruhime, daughter of Toshima Yasutsune, lord of Shakujii Castle during the Muromachi period. People dressed in period costumes as Princess Teruhime, Lord Yasutsune, the wife, members of the Toshima clan, and retainers perform the stage play The Legend of Teruhime and parade around the park. The roles of the princes, the mother, and the lord are open to the public, and can be played by people living in Nerima Ward. Yosakoi Matsuri in Hikarigaoka Park (July) Nerima Festival (October) Tori-no-Ichi (November): A festival held at Nerima Ōtori Shrine in the Toyotama-Kita neighborhood every November on the day of the rooster, attracting tens of thousands of people. Seki-no-Boroichi Market (December): A traditional flea market which has been held every December since 1751 during the Edo period in Honryūji Temple, in the Sekimachi-Kita neighborhood, next to Musashi-Seki Station. Traditional Products Cabbage Nerima daikon Pickled vegetables, centered around pickled daikon (takuan) Sweets such as monaka and manjū featuring Nerima daikon motifs Tokyo hand-painted yuzen (textile dyeing) Food Nerima Spaghetti (pasta dish that uses grated Nerima daikon and canned tuna for the sauce, which is then topped with seaweed flakes). This dish is usually served in elementary schools and is a staple in many Nerima citizens' childhood. Animation Nerima Ward is the birthplace of Japanese anime, where Japan's first full-length color theatrical anime film The Tale of the White Serpent (1958) was produced. It is also the birthplace of television anime, where the world's first weekly broadcast full-scale TV anime series Astro Boy (black and white) was created in 1963, and Japan's first full-color TV anime series Jungle Emperor Leo began in 1965. From Toei Animation's Ōizumi Studio, many anime industry figures including Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Rintaro, Yasuo Otsuka, and Mamoru Hosoda have emerged. Nerima Ward, home to Toei Animation (formerly Toei Films) and Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production (currently unrelated to Tezuka Productions), has 94 anime-related companies (as of 2007), making it Japan's largest concentration of anime-related businesses. Numerous works have been produced here and set in this location. Beyond anime, this area has also been frequently used for filming tokusatsu (special effects) productions, particularly the long-running Super Sentai series that has continued for 30 years, and Kamen Rider. Since 2002, the annual Nerima Anime Festival has been held in Ōizumi-Gakuen, working with shopping districts and NPOs to promote anime. In 2004, the Nerima Animation Council was established by about 50 businesses including Mushi Production and Toei Animation to promote anime in Nerima Ward. The council has been aiming to build an anime museum in the ward since its predecessor NPO Anime Museum Association was established in 1994. However, progress has stalled due to concerns about duplication after Toei Animation independently created the Toei Animation Gallery (now Toei Animation Museum) in 2003. Manga Nerima Ward attracted many manga artists including Osamu Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori to establish their residences and workplaces due to its convenient transportation access to publishing companies in Chiyoda Ward's Hitotsubashi and Kanda-Jinbōchō areas, and Bunkyō Ward's Otowa area. Other advantages included proximity to art supply stores and being somewhat removed from distracting entertainment districts, allowing for concentrated work. Many manga artists, both famous and unknown, have permanently resided or temporarily lived here, including Reiji Matsumoto, Keizo Shimada, Noboru Baba, Jiro Ota, Fujio Akatsuka, Sanpei Furuya, Tetsuya Chiba, Akio Chiba, Asao Takamori (Ikki Kajiwara), Fujiko Fujio, Moto Hagio, Keiko Takemiya, Yasumi Yoshizawa, Kenshi Hirokane, Fumi Saimon, Hideo Azuma, Rumiko Takahashi, and Yoshinori Kobayashi. Many manga works feature settings and backgrounds based on Nerima Ward. In Nerima Ward's Ōizumi area, there existed the Ōizumi Salon, the female manga artist version of Tokiwa-so, where many renowned female manga artists including Moto Hagio and Keiko Takemiya developed their careers. References in popular culture Nerima Ward is the setting for many manga and anime. In manga and anime In films Ju On (The Grudge) The popular Japanese horror franchise, Ju On, also known as The Grudge, takes place predominantly in a house in Nerima Ward. Economy Toei Animation has its headquarters in the Ōizumi Studio in Nerima. Anime International Company has its headquarters in the AIC Digital Building. In addition, Studio Comet, and Mushi Production have their headquarters in Nerima. Anime Studios Government Nerima Ward is governed by a directly elected ward mayor and a ward assembly, with the current ward mayor serving four-year terms. Like other Tokyo wards, Nerima has significant autonomy in local affairs such as education, welfare services, and urban planning, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Government handles broader regional issues like water supply and major infrastructure. The ward assembly, composed of members elected from local districts, deliberates on budgets, ordinances, and policies. The ward government operates various public services including libraries, community centers, and local administrative offices. The ward office and city hall is in Toyotama-Kita, close to Nerima Station. Designation Nerima is designated as a special ward of Tokyo. Even though it is not designated as a "city" (市, shi), in English, Nerima translates its designation as a "ward" (区, ku) to "city" and refers to itself as Nerima City, following the practice of several other Tokyo special wards. However, in Japanese, it maintains its official designation as Nerima Ward (練馬区, Nerima-ku), with its government office referred to as the Ward Office (区役所, kuyakusho) and its leader as the Ward Mayor (区長, kuchō). Ward Mayor Ward Mayor (区長, kuchō)：Ken'ichi Yoshida (吉田健一, 1st term） Term: 20 April 2026 - 19 April 2030 (expected) Ward Residents' Offices Administrative services are provided through a network of six local ward residents' offices (区民事務所, kumin jimusho) strategically positioned throughout the ward. Transportation Rail Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line * Kotake Mukaihara, Hikawadai, Heiwadai, Chikatetsu Akatsuka Stations Fukutoshin Line * Kotake Mukaihara, Hikawadai, Heiwadai, Chikatetsu Akatsuka Stations Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation Ōedo Line * Shin-egota (on the boundary with Nakano), Nerima, Toshimaen, Nerima-kasugachō, Hikarigaoka Stations Seibu Railway Seibu Ikebukuro Line * Ekoda, Sakuradai, Nerima, Nakamurabashi, Fujimidai, Nerima-Takanodai, Shakujii-kōen, Ōizumi-gakuen Stations Seibu Shinjuku Line * Kami-Shakujii, Musashi-Seki Stations Seibu Toshima Line * Nerima, Toshimaen Stations Seibu Yūrakuchō Line * Kotake Mukaihara, Shin-Sakuradai, Nerima Stations Tobu Railway Tōbu Tōjō Line * Tōbu-Nerima and Shimo-Akatsuka Stations are on the boundary with Itabashi Bus Kanto Bus Keio Bus: The Chu 92 bus travels between Nerima and Nakano Stations Kokusai-Kogyo Bus Seibu Bus Toei Bus: The Bus Service Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation operates 5 routes in Nerima Ward. Road Expressways: Kan-etsu Expressway Tokyo Gaikan Expressway National highways: National Route 17 (Shin Ōmiya Bypass) National Route 254 (Kawagoe Kaidō) Other major roads: Ōme Kaidō (Prefectural Road 4) Shin-Ōme Kaidō (Prefectural Road 245) Mejiro Dōri (Prefectural Road 8) Hoya Kaidō (Prefectural Road 233) Kan-nana (Prefectural Road 318) Kan-pachi (Prefectural Road 311) Nakasugi Dōri (Prefectural Road 427) Senkawa Dōri (Prefectural Road 439) Fuji Kaidō (Prefectural Road 441) Sasame Dōri (Prefectural Road 443&68) Igusa Dōri (Prefectural Road 444) Education Colleges and universities Musashino Academia Musicae Musashi University Nihon University Ekoda Campus Sophia University Shakujii Campus: Faculty of Theology Japan Catholic Seminary National schools Tokyo Gakugei University Oizumi Elementary School (東京学芸大学附属大泉小学校) Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School (東京学芸大学附属国際中等教育学校) Prefectural high schools 9 high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education Prefectural high schools: Municipal schools Nerima City Board of Education (練馬区教育委員会) operates the following: 64 elementary schools 32 junior high schools 1 combined elementary and junior high school Combined elementary and junior high schools: Ōizumi Sakura Gakuen (小中一貫教育校大泉桜学園) Junior high schools: Elementary schools: Private schools One elementary school Four junior and senior high schools One high school One international school They are: Fujimi Junior & Senior High School (富士見中学高等学校) Musashi High School and Junior High School Oizumi Gakuen High School (東京都立大泉学園高等学校) Tokyo Joshi Gakuin Junior & Senior High School (junior and senior high school) (東京女子学院中学校・高等学校) Waseda University Junior and Senior High School International schools Aoba-Japan International School Media Nerima prepares the Nerima News Azalea, a city newsletter, in English. Other Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Nerima Base US Forces, Grant Heights, Family Housing Area, later '40s to 1973. International relations Nerima has a sister-city relationship with Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Nerima Gardens in Ipswich commemorates the tie. Nerima also has a similar link to Haidian District, Beijing, China. See also References External links Nerima City Official Website (in Japanese)