Minato, Tokyo

Minato (港区, Minato-ku) [minato] ^ⓘ is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English.

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Minato 港区
Special ward
Minato City
Roppongi Hills, Azabudai Hills and Tokyo Tower Zōjō-ji Rainbow Bridge Odaiba Akasaka Palace
Flag Emblem
Location of Minato in Tokyo
Minato Location in Japan
Coordinates: 35°39′29″N 139°45′05″E / 35.65806; 139.75139][[Category:Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas]]"},"html":"Coordinates: </templatestyles>\"}' data-mw='{\"name\":\"templatestyles\",\"attrs\":{\"src\":\"Module:Coordinates/styles.css\"},\"body\":{\"extsrc\":\"\"}}'/>35°39′29″N 139°45′05″E / 35.65806°N 139.75139°E / 35.65806; 139.75139"}">
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Tokyo
Government
• Mayor	Ai Seike [jp] (since 28 June 2024)
Area
• Total	20.37 km2 (7.86 sq mi)
Population  (1 October 2020[1])
• Total	260,486
• Density	13,000/km2 (33,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	1-5-25 Shibakōen, Minato, Tokyo 105-8511
Website	www.city.minato.tokyo.jp
Symbols
Flower	Hydrangea macrophylla Rosa
Tree	Cornus florida

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Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits the contrasting Shitamachi and Yamanote geographical and cultural division. The Shinbashi neighborhood in the ward's northeastern corner is attached to the core of Shitamachi, the original commercial center of Edo-Tokyo. On the other hand, the Azabu and Akasaka areas are typically representative Yamanote districts.^[2]

As of 1 July 2015^[update], Minato had an official population of 243,094,^[3] and a population density of 10,850 persons per km². The total area is 20.37 km².^[4]

Known as one of Tokyo's largest business areas, Minato is home to the headquarters of many large domestic companies, including Honda, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, NEC, Nikon, SoftBank Group,^[5] Sony^[6] and Fujitsu.^[7] Minato is also known for being one of the wealthiest residential areas in Japan, and for its relatively high concentration of foreign expats due to the number of embassies and multinational corporations located in and around the area.^[8][9] Notable neighborhoods and districts of Minato include Akasaka, Aoyama, Azabu, Roppongi and Toranomon.

Minato is located southwest of the Imperial Palace and has boundaries with the special wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, Kōtō (in Odaiba), Shinagawa, Shibuya, and Shinjuku.

The ward was founded on 15 March 1947, with the merger of Akasaka, Azabu, and Shiba Wards. Various names were considered for the new ward, such as Atago, Aoyama, Aoba, Iikura, Mita, and Higashiminato. Higashiminato was chosen, meaning "East Harbor", but then Higashi was cut leading to the name Minato, simply meaning "harbor".^{[citation needed]}

Per Japanese census data, the population has recently begun rising after decades of rapid decline.

In June 2024, Ai Seike beat Masaaki Takei [jp] in mayoral elections. Takei, mayor since 2004, was seeking his sixth term and received support from the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito.^[11] Seike, previously a member of the ward assembly, is the first female mayor of Minato.^[12]

The ward assembly has 34 members.^[13]

Notes:

^* - formerly part of Shiba Area
^a - 1-chōme
^b - 1, 2, 3-chōme
^c - 2, 3-chōme
^d - 4, 5-chōme

Panorama view of Minato

Companies with headquarters in Minato include Air Nippon,^[21] All Nippon Airways (ANA),^[22][23] ANA & JP Express,^[24] All Nippon Airways Trading,^[25] Animax,^[26] Asmik Ace Entertainment,^[27] Bandai Namco Holdings, Brainlab,^[28] Cosmo Oil Company,^[29] COVER Corporation,^[30] Daicel,^[31] Dentsu,^[32] Euglena (company), Fujifilm,^[33] Fuji Xerox,^[34] Fujitsu,^[35] Haseko,^[36] Hazama Ando,^[37] Honda,^[38] Japan Tobacco,^[39] Kajima,^[40] Kaneka Corporation,^[41] Konami,^[42] KYB Corporation,^[43] Kyodo News,^[44] Mitsubishi Motors,^[45] Mitsui Chemicals,^[46] Mitsui O.S.K. Lines,^[47] Mitsui Oil Exploration Company,^[48] NEC,^[49] Nippon Sheet Glass,^[50] NYK Line,^[51] Obayashi Corporation,^[52] Oki Electric Industry,^[53] Pizza-La,^[54] The Pokémon Company,^[55] THK,^[56] Toagosei,^[57] Toraya Confectionery,^[58] Sato Pharmaceutical,^[59] Sega Sammy Holdings,^[60] Sigma Seven,^[61] Sony,^[62] SUMCO,^[63] Toraya Confectionery,^[64] Toyo Suisan (owns the branch Maruchan),^[65] TV Tokyo,^[66] WOWOW,^[67] and Yazaki.^[68] In addition ANA subsidiary Air Japan has some offices in Minato.^[69]

Several countries operate their embassies in Minato.

• Akasaka is a large residential and commercial area in northern Minato which includes the Akasaka Palace and surrounding gardens, TBS radio and television studios, Ark Hills complex, Tokyo Midtown, and the embassy of the United States.
• Aoyama is home to Aoyama Cemetery, one of Tokyo's largest graveyards, and the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium.
• Atago Shrine is the highest point in all 23 wards of Tokyo.
• Azabu is one of Tokyo's more upscale residential areas, home to many embassies.
• Fushimi Sanpō Inari Jinja is a Shinto shrine in Shiba 3-chōme.
• Hamamatsuchō is the location of Hamamatsucho Station is the terminal for the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda Airport.
• Mita is home to Keio University and several small Buddhist temples.
• The National Art Center, Tokyo is a museum that opened in 2007.
• Odaiba is one of Tokyo's most popular entertainment areas, featuring the Fuji TV studios, Palette Town shopping complex, Dream Bridge, Tokyo Big Sight, and more. Located on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, it is connected to central Tokyo by the Yurikamome transit line over the Rainbow Bridge.
• Roppongi is Tokyo's best-known nightlife district, especially popular among foreigners; home to National Art Center, also home to the Roppongi Hills complex, which houses the studios of TV Asahi, the J-Wave radio station, the Tokyo Grand Hyatt Hotel, and a shopping complex.
• Shiba Park houses the Zojoji temple. Tokyo Tower is located one block away.
• Shinbashi Station, in Shinbashi, is the northern terminal of Japan's first railway line. Also home to the Shiosite office and entertainment complex, which houses Nippon Television studios.
• Shirokanedai is home to Meiji Gakuin University.
• Takanawa is home to the Sōtō Temple of Sengaku-ji. Shinagawa Station, one of Tokyo's largest train stations, is located in Takanawa, although it is associated with Shinagawa to the south. It is an area of many 1980s hotels including the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, and Pacific Meridien Hotel, Shinagawa Prince Hotel.
• There is an urban aquarium called Aqua Park Shinagawa on the premises of the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, and the number of visitors exceeds 1.5 million annually.
• Toranomon houses the National Printing Bureau,^[93] TV Tokyo studios and the Toranomon Station underground complex.

• Hirohito, the 124th Emperor of Japan
• Takeichi Nishi, an Imperial Japanese Army officer, equestrian show jumper, and Olympic gold medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics
• Kanoko Okamoto (1889–1939), poet, born in Akasaka Ward (present-day Minato)^[94]
• Sho Sakurai, actor and singer, affiliated with Arashi
• Haruomi Hosono, experimental electronic pop musician, noted for the commissioned Muji background music
• Jado, Japanese professional wrestler (New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
• Fishmans, a pop and dub band composed primarily of Shinji Sato, Yuzuru Kashiwabara, Kin-ichi Motegi, Hakase-Sun and Kensuke Ojima
• Nujabes, real name Jun Seba, a record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer, arranger and pioneer of the hip hop subgenre chillhop or lo-fi
• Taisei Miyashiro, football player