Asahi-ku, Yokohama
Encyclopedia
is one of the 18 wards
Wards of Japan
A is a subdivision of one of the cities of Japan that is large enough to have been designated by government ordinance. Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance...

 of the city of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

 in Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 249,045 and a density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 7,600 persons per km². The total area was 32.77  km².

Geography

Asahi is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, and on the northwest borders of the city of Yokohama.

Surrounding municipalities

  • Seya Ward
    Seya-ku, Yokohama
    is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 126,839 and a density of 7,390 persons per km². The total area was 17.16 km².-Geography:...

  • Totsuka Ward
    Totsuka-ku, Yokohama
    is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 273,418 and a density of 7,640 persons per km². The total area was 35.70  km².-Geography:...

  • Midori Ward
    Midori-ku, Yokohama
    is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 176,038 and a density of 6,900 persons per km². The total area was 25.42  km².-Geography:...

  • Izumi Ward
    Izumi-ku, Yokohama
    is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 155,674 and a density of 6,620 persons per km². The total area was 23.51 km².-Geography:...

  • Hodogaya Ward
    Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama
    is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, Hodogaya Ward had an estimated population of 205,887 and a density of 9,400 persons per km². The total area was 21.91 km².-Geography:...


History

The area around present-day Asahi Ward was formerly part of Tsuzuki District in Musashi Province
Musashi Province
was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

. By the Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 it was part of a huge shōen
Shoen
A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...

administered by the Hangaya clan, a subsidiary of the Hatakeyama clan
Hatakeyama clan
The ' was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim of political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in battle by Hōjō forces in Kamakura...

. During the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, it was a rural region classified as tenryō territory controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

, but administered through various hatamoto
Hatamoto
A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...

. After the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

, the area became part of the new Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

 in 1868. In the cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, the area was divided into numerous villages. During the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

, the area was a center for sericulture
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...

. The area began to urbanize only during the 1920s and 1930s with the building of the Sagami Railway Main Line. On October 1, 1927 it was annexed by the neighboring city of Yokohama, becoming part of Hodogaya Ward. In a major administrative reorganization of October 1, 1969, Asahi Ward was separated from Hodogaya Ward, becoming an independent ward within the city of Yokohama.

Economy

Asahi Ward is largely a regional commercial center and bedroom community for central Yokohama and Tokyo.

Railroads

  • Sagami Railway
    Sagami Railway
    The , or , is a railway company operating three lines in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It ranks among the "big 15" major railways in Japan.- Overview :Sagami Railway is one of the core companies of the Sotetsu group...

     – Sagami Railway Main Line
    • - -
  • Sagami Railway
    Sagami Railway
    The , or , is a railway company operating three lines in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It ranks among the "big 15" major railways in Japan.- Overview :Sagami Railway is one of the core companies of the Sotetsu group...

     – Sagami Railway Izumino Line
    Sagami Railway Izumino Line
    The is a railroad owned by Sagami Railway . It runs from Futamatagawa in Yokohama to Shōnandai in Fujisawa. Rapid services stop at every station on this line. Most trains run to Yokohama on the Main Line.-History:...

    • -

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen passes through Asahi Ward, but has no stations.

Prefecture roads

  • Kanagawa Prefectural Route 40
  • Kanagawa Prefectural Route 45
  • Kanagawa Prefectural Route 401
  • Kanagawa Prefectural Route 402

Noted people from Asahi Ward

  • Hideyuki Awano
    Hideyuki Awano
    is a former Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Kintetsu Buffaloes, Yomiuri Giants, and the Yokohama BayStars.-External links:...

    , professional baseball player
  • Kentarō Kobayashi
    Kentaro Kobayashi
    is a Japanese comedian, actor, dramaturge, theatre director, and manga artist. Outside of Japan, he is most well known for directing and acting in "" videos , and for playing the Mac in the "Get A Mac" advertising campaign in Japan. He is a member of the Rahmens owarai comedy duo...

    , actor, artist
  • Ryoko Yonekura
    Ryoko Yonekura
    is a Japanese ex-fashion model and actress. She studied classical ballet for 15 years from the age of five. A member of the Oscar Productions agency, she won a national young beauty award in 1992. In 1993 she started her career as a model, working for fashion magazines such as CanCam. She announced...

    , actress
  • Ryō Kase
    Ryo Kase
    is a Japanese actor. He grew up in Bellevue, Washington until he was seven. He portrayed Shimizu, one of the lower-ranked Japanese soldiers, in Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. He starred in Masayuki Suo's film I Just Didn't Do It.-Filmography:...

    , actor

External links

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