Meguro

'Meguro (目黒区, Meguro-ku) is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947.

Meguro is predominantly residential in character, but is also home to light industry, corporate head offices, the Komaba campus of University of Tokyo as well as fifteen foreign embassies and consulates. Residential neighborhoods include, Jiyugaoka, Kakinokizaka, and Nakameguro. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 277,171 and a population density of 18,890 persons per km². The total area is 14.67 km².

History

The Higashiyama shell mound in the north of the ward contains remains from the paleolithic, Jōmon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods.

The area now known as Meguro was formerly two towns, Meguro proper and Hibusuma, all parts of the former Ebara District of Musashi Province. The two were merged into a Meguro ward for Tokyo City in 1932 and since then the ward has remained with no alterations to its territory.

The name "Meguro," meaning "black eyes", derives from the Meguro Fudō (Black-eyed Fudō-myōō) of Ryūsenji. The Meguro Fudō was one of five Fudō-myōō statues placed at strategic points on the outskirts of Edo in the early seventeenth century by the abbot Tenkai, an advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu, to provide protection for the new capital of the Tokugawa shogunate. Each statue had eyes of a different color. (Another Tokyo ward, Mejiro is named for the white-eyed Fudō-myōō).

Geography

Hokusai ukiyo-e of a view of Mount Fuji from Shimo Meguro

Four other special wards surround Meguro. They are Shibuya (to the northeast), Setagaya (to the west), Ōta (to the south), and Shinagawa (to the southeast).

Districts

Meguro area

• Aobadai
• Ōhashi
• Kamimeguro
• Gohongi
• Komaba
• Shimomeguro
• Nakachō
• Nakameguro
• Higashiyama
• Mita
• Meguro
• Yūtenji

Hibusuma area

• Ōokayama
• Kakinokizaka
• Jiyūgaoka
• Senzoku
• Tairamachi
• Takaban
• Chūōchō
• Nakane
• Haramachi
• Higashigaoka
• Himonya
• Midorigaoka
• Minami
• Megurohonchō
• Yakumo

Politics and government

Meguro Ward Government Offices

Meguro ward government is led by the city assembly with 36 elected members with current terms from May 1, 2011 to April 30, 2015. The chairman of the council is Yoshiaki Ito. The mayor is Eiji Aoki, an independent. His term lasts until April 24, 2016.

Elections

• Meguro local election, 2007
• Meguro mayoral election, 2008

Sightseeing and local landmarks

Meguro Sky Garden

Persimmon Hall, Meguro

Grilled Pacific saury at the Meguro Autumn Sanma Festival

Green spaces

• Meguro River
• Komaba Park, Komaba
• Komabano Park, Komaba
• Komazawa Olympic Park
• Meguro Sky Garden, Ohashi Linear roof garden park spiraling 35 meters above street level covering the junction of two major expressways.
• Saigoyama Park, Aobadai
• Sugekari Park, Aobadai
• Nakameguro Park and Nature Center
• Himonya Park, Himonya

Cultural institutions

• Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
• Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo
• Meguro Persimmon Hall, concert and performance arts venue
• Meguro Parasitological Museum
• Japanese Folk Crafts Museum
• Chosenin Temple Contemporary Sculpture Museum

Religious institutions

• Himonya Catholic Church
• St. Michael's Catholic Church (German Language)
• Himonya Hachiman Shrine
• Ōtori Shrine
• Ryūsenji (Meguro Fudo temple)
• Yūten-ji Temple
• St. Paul's Church, Gohongi (Anglican Church in Japan)

Transportation

Further information: Transportation in Greater Tokyo

Naka-Meguro Station

Rail

• Tokyu Corporation
  • Tōyoko Line: Naka-Meguro, Yutenji, Gakugei Daigaku, Toritsu Daigaku, Jiyugaoka Stations
  • Ōimachi Line: Jiyugaoka, Midorigaoka, Ōokayama Stations
  • Meguro Line: Ōokayama, Senzoku Stations
  • Den-en-toshi Line: Ikejiri-Ōhashi Station
• Keio Corporation Keiō Inokashira Line: Komaba-Todaimae Station
• Note: Meguro Station (JR East, Tokyu Meguro Line, Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Toei Mita Line) is in Shinagawa, not Meguro.

Highways

• Route 3 (Shuto Expressway) Shibuya radial route (Tanimachi JCT - Yoga)
• Central Circular Route C2 Under construction. When complete, this deep level subterranean expressway will connect the Yamate Tunnel as far as the Bayshore Route in Shinagawa

Education

University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus

Colleges and universities

• University of Tokyo Komaba Campus
• Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Note: Tokyo Gakugei University and Tokyo Metropolitan University were formerly in Meguro.

Public schools

Public elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Meguro City Board of Education. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.

• Geijutsu High School
• International High School
• Komaba High School
• Meguro High School
• Tokyo Metropolitan University High School

In addition the metropolis operates a consolidated junior and senior high school called Ohsyukan Secondary Education School.

Economy

Companies

• Unilever Japan, head office
• Amazon Japan head office
• Walt Disney Japan, head office
• Books Kinokuniya
• Don Quijote discount store chain head office
• TopTour Corporation
• Makino
• LDH (Headquarters for EXILE & other Dance Units)

Private international high schools

• KAIS International School

Notable people from Meguro

• Yumiko Fujita, actress
• Waka Inoue, model, actress
• Shigeru Izumiya, folk singer, entertainer
• Masako, Crown Princess of Japan
• Yukio Sakaguchi, mixed martial arts fighter and professional wrestler
• Kazuo Tokumitsu, television presenter

Notable residents

• Takuya Kimura, singer and actor in male idol group SMAP
• Shizuka Kudo, popular singer and wife of Takuya Kimura
• Keisuke Kuwata, singer with Southern All Stars
• Nobuyo Ōyama, voices the cartoon character Doraemon
• Miyu Uehara, gravure idol, found dead in her Meguro apartment.
• Halca & Yucali of the hip-hop duo Halcali

External links

• Official website