Adachi, Tokyo

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Image:Adachi-ku.jpg Image:Sumidagawa river.JPG Image:Arakawa river.JPG Adachi (足立区; -ku) is one of the special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is located north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River and a larger area north of the Arakawa River. The ward is bordered by the cities of Kawaguchi, Hatogaya, Soka and Yashio in Saitama and Katsushika, Sumida, Arakawa and Kita in Tokyo.

The ward calls itself Adachi City in English.

Adachi has sister-city relationships with Belmont, Australia. Within Japan, Adachi has similar ties with the city of Uonuma (formerly the town of Koide) in Niigata Prefecture, Yamanouchi in Nagano Prefecture, and the city of Kanuma in Tochigi Prefecture.

As of November 1, 2005, the ward has an estimated population of 645,873 and a density of 12140 persons per km². The total area is 53.20 km².

The Adachi Land Transportation Office is located here, and automobiles registered at this office bear Adachi number plates.

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History

Under the Ritsuryo system, the present-day ward was the southern extremity of Adachi District, Musashi Province. In 826, during the Heian period, the Nishiarai Daishi temple was founded. During the Muromachi period and into the Sengoku period, the Chiba clan held control of the region. The Great Senju Bridge was built in 1594. In the Edo Period, parts were under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate, and parts were under the administration of Kan'ei-ji, a temple in present-day Ueno, Tokyo. Senju was a post station (one of the four Edo post stations) on the Nikko Kaido. In 1932, Adachi became a ward of Tokyo City. The special ward was founded on March 15, 1947.

In 1988, the body of a high-school girl was discovered encapsulated in concrete in a barrel. The perpetrators were caught and tried, with the leader receiving a sentence of 20 years in prison, and others receiving lesser sentences.

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Famous people

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Sights

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Nishiarai Daishi

Nishiarai Daishi, located in Nishiarai, is a temple of the Buzan branch of Shingon Buddhism. Its formal name is Gochisan Henjoin Sojiji (Sojiji Temple). This is one of the Three Great Temples in the Kanto region along with Kawasaki Daishi and Sano Yakuyoke Daishi, and a great number of people annually visit the temple at the beginning of the New Year.

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Parks

  • Toneri Park

Toneri Park is a metropolitan park located in Toneri. It is divided into east and west sections by Ogubashi Street. The west site has sports facilities such as an athletic stadium, tennis courts and baseball grounds. The east site offers places for appreciation of nature, such as a big pond, water park and bird sanctuary. A part of the east site is now under construction. The park is far from train stations and other transportation such as buses is necessary to access it. However, Toneri Park Station on the New Transit System Nippori-Toneri line will open close by, and a rail yard of the line is now being constructed under the ground within the east site.

  • Higashi Ayase Park

Higashi Ayase Park is a metropolitan park that straddles the border between Ayase and Higashi Ayase. It contains Tokyo Budokan. Within the park, there is a Japanese garden which has a wide variety of plants. It also has sports facilities such as baseball and gateball grounds.

  • Toshi Nogyo Park

Toshi Nogyo Park (Urban Agricultural Park), located in Shikahama, is run by Adachi Ward. Officially, it is a part of Kohoku Park. It is located near the meeting of the Shiba and Arakawa Rivers, and its south end faces a green space on the Arakawa river area. It is one of the agricultural parks all over Japan, which enable the citizen to enjoy a natural environment, to learn and understand planting, gardening and agriculture, and to relax. There are fields, orchards, greenhouses and other facilities that aim to show farming techniques that have been adopted in the suburbs of Tokyo. There are also facilities for families such as lawns and play equipment.

There is a rest house near the entrance on the Arakawa riverbank side. The rest house is at the point where the Arakawa and Shibakawa cycling roads meet, and many of those who like cycling rest there. There is no admission fee. It is closed early in the morning and late at night, as well as all day on some days such as the year-end and new-year holidays. The park is far from the train station, but there is a bus running from Nishi Arai Station to the park. The park is about a five-minute walk south of the bus stop Shikahama 5 on Kawaguchi Station line (Shikahama-Ryoke) and Akabane Station line (to Nishi Arai Station by way of Arakawa Bridge). There is parking for cars and sightseeing buses under the Metropolitan Expressway Kawaguchi line, and Shikahamabashi Exit and Higashi Ryoke Exit are nearby. The parking lot is also close to Kan-nana Road.

  • Adachi Park of Living Things

Adachi Park of Living Things, located within Motofuchie Park in Hokima, is run by Adachi Ward.

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Halls and cultural facilities

  • Tokyo Budokan

Tokyo Budokan, located within Higashi Ayase Metropolitan Park, is a sports facility run by Tokyo Lifelong Learning and Culture Foundation. The Tokyo Budokan has an avant-garde building designed by a famous architect Kijo Rokkaku. It includes places for martial arts and kyudo, and training rooms. The word budokan means "martial arts hall," and the same word is part of the name of the more-famous Nippon Budokan. The Tokyo Budokan's address is 3-20-1 Ayase, Adachi, Tokyo.

  • Galaxy+City

Galaxy+City is a generic term for series of cultural facilities in Kurihara. It used be run by Adachi Lifelong Learning Promotion Centre, but the management was taken over by Youth Centre of Adachi Board of Education on 1 April 2005. It contains two main facilities: Nishi Arai Culture Hall (theatre) and Adachi Children’s Science Museum. There are also event halls, cafes and others.

  • Theatre 1010

Theatre 1010 was named as it is because the number 1010 and the name of the theatre’s location (Senju) are homonyms in Japanese.

  • Adachi Historical Museum

Adachi Historical Museum, located within Higashifuchie Park in Oyata, is run by Adachi Ward.

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Local Food Specialties

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Bunka Fry

Bunka fry is a deep-fried dish, which is mainly made of flour and gum syrup. It is cooked in much the same way as schnitzel. It is skewered by a chopstick or a stick, and served dripping with sauce. It tastes like a ham cutlet without ham. Venders of bunka fry have their secret recipe for the sauce.

It was originally cooked without gum syrup. Mr. Hasegawa then improved it and sold it at a night-stall. It started to be sold from around 1955, and became popular among children in downtown Tokyo. In accordance with the price fluctuation, the price of bunka fry rose from 5 to 10, 15, 30, 50, 100 yen, up to 150 yen. In the summer festival season at its peak, festivals were held everyday in August all over Tokyo, in which the bunka fry was always sold on the street. Its birthplace is Adachi ward, and it was sold by vendors in Nishi Arai Daishi until recently. However, the vendors closed down as the inventor of the bunka fry, Mr. Hasegawa, retired.

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Education

The city's public elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Adachi City Board of Education ([1]). The city's public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.

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Transportation

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Rail

The primary railway station in the city is Joban Line Kita-Senju Station.

Additional lines are under construction or in the planning stages.

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Highway

Shuto Expressway

  • No.6 Misato Route (Kosuge JCT - Misato JCT)
  • C2 Central Loop (Itabashi JCT - Kasai JCT)
  • S1 Kawaguchi Route (Kohoku JCT - Kawaguchi JCT)
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External links

Template:Tokyode:Adachi fr:Adachi ja:足立区 pt:Adachi sv:Adachi zh:足立區

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