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 August 31, 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. 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. 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

thumb|Ruins of [[Shakujii Castle, Kamakura/Muromachi-era seat of the Toshima clan's territory]]

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 April 28, 1477, by Ōta Dōkan, a vassal of the Uesugi clan who built Edo Castle.

thumb|left|Woodblock print depicting Princess Teruhime

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. 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. 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 August 1st, 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. 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,

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.

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| Haikyu!! || Haruichi Furudate || Nekoma High School, one of the main teams of the popular manga and anime series, is in Nerima Ward.

|-

| Hayate the Combat Butler || Kenjiro Hata || The villa where the heroine, Nagi Sanzenin, lives and the story takes place is set to take up 65% of Nerima Ward.

|-

| I Am a Hero || Kengo Hanazawa || The zombie-manga is set in Miharadai in Nerima Ward.

|-

| Kyūkyoku Chōjin R || Masami Yuki || A school comedy manga set in the fictional neighborhood of Isasaka-chō in Nerima Ward, Tokyo.

|-

| Maison Ikkoku || Rumiko Takahashi || In the anime version, the address of the house is 〒177 Tokyo, Nerima Ward, Tokeizaka 3-3-9 (〒177 東京都練馬区時計坂三-三-九).

|-

| Nerima Daikon Brothers || Takamitsu Kondō || The trio lives on a stage constructed in Hideki's Nerima daikon patch in Nerima Ward.

|-

| Nodame Cantabile || Tomoko Ninomiya || A popular manga based on classical music that has been made into an anime and a live-action film. The Momogaoka College of Music that appears in the work is modeled after the Ekoda campus of Musashino Academia Musicae in Nerima Ward. The nearest station, Ekoda Station, was once decorated with an illustration of the main character.

|-

| Prison School || Akira Hiramoto || Hachimitsu Academy, the main setting of the anime and manga series, is a fictional high school located in Nerima Ward.

|-

| Ranma ½ || Rumiko Takahashi || Nerima is the setting of Takahashi's long-running and popular manga and anime series. Soun Tendo's dojo, where the main story takes place, is in Nerima Ward. As one of the first series in either media to achieve widespread popularity in the English-speaking world, Ranma introduced Nerima to Western audiences, with several locations recognizable as backgrounds, such as Shakujii River and Shakujii Park.

|-

| Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan || Yukari Takinami || The manga serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon is set in Ekoda, Nerima Ward.

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| Shōjo Fight || Yoko Nihonbashi || The sports manga about volleyball depicts the scenery around Ekoda Station in Nerima Ward and around Toshimaen Station. In particular, the area around Ekoda Station is depicted a lot, and the ramen shop that the main characters go to in the manga is actually a real shop. In the story, a station called Isasaka is created between the real stations of Ekoda and Sakuradai.

|-

| Sket Dance || Kenta Shinohara || The school comedy manga features station names that parody the Fujimidai and Nakamurabashi stations on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, and is set in Nerima Ward.

|-

| Tokyo Ghoul || Sui Ishida || The coffee shop Antaiku where the main character Ken Kaneki works is in the 20th ward (20区), which is Nerima Ward.

|-

| Touch || Mitsuru Adachi || The high school baseball manga and anime series is set in Nerima Ward, and the scenery of the ward frequently appears in the work. Also, the Neapolitan served at the coffee shop Minamikaze that appears in the work is modeled after the Neapolitan served at the coffee shop Andes near Nerima Station.

|-

| Train to the End of the World || Tsutomu Mizushima || The main characters travel through Nerima Ward aboard a Seibu 2000 series commuter train on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. Their journey takes them past numerous stations throughout Nerima Ward, all of which have been altered by the catastrophic 7G Incident. The series features a mise en abyme element through Alice in Nerima, a popular fictional anime and manga that exists within the show's universe, whose characters are manifested in reality as a consequence of the same incident.

|-

| Urusei Yatsura || Rumiko Takahashi || The series is set in Nerima Ward. The address of the main character, Ataru Moroboshi, is in a fictional neighborhood in Nerima Ward called Tomobiki-chō (友引町), translated as Tomobiki Town.

|-

| Your Lie in April || Naoshi Arakawa || The manga and anime is set in Nerima Ward, and the scenery of the ward and the Seibu Ikebukuro Line that runs through Nerima are often depicted in the work.

|}

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

thumb|Toei Animation's Studio in Ōizumi

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

thumb|Nerima Ward Office

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

thumb|Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line

Tokyo Metro

: 17px|Y Yūrakuchō Line

:: * Kotake Mukaihara, Hikawadai, Heiwadai, Chikatetsu Akatsuka Stations

: 17px|F Fukutoshin Line

:: * Kotake Mukaihara, Hikawadai, Heiwadai, Chikatetsu Akatsuka Stations

Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation

: 17px|E Ōedo Line

:: * Shin-egota (on the boundary with Nakano), Nerima, Toshimaen, Nerima-kasugachō, Hikarigaoka Stations

Seibu Railway

: 17px|SI Seibu Ikebukuro Line

:: * Ekoda, Sakuradai, Nerima, Nakamurabashi, Fujimidai, Nerima-Takanodai, Shakujii-kōen, Ōizumi-gakuen Stations

: 17px|SS Seibu Shinjuku Line

:: * Kami-Shakujii, Musashi-Seki Stations

: 17px|SI Seibu Toshima Line

:: * Nerima, Toshimaen Stations

: 17px|SI Seibu Yūrakuchō Line

:: * Kotake Mukaihara, Shin-Sakuradai, Nerima Stations

Tobu Railway

: 17px|TJ 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

thumb|Nihon University Ekoda Campus

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:

  • Fourth Commercial High School (東京都立第四商業高等学校)
  • Hikarigaoka High School (東京都立光丘高等学校)
  • Igusa High School (東京都立井草高等学校)
  • Nerima High School (東京都立練馬高等学校)
  • Nerima Technical High School (東京都立練馬工業高等学校)
  • Oizumi High School and Junior High School (東京都立大泉高等学校・附属中学校)
  • Oizumi Sakura High School (東京都立大泉桜高等学校)
  • Shakujii High School (東京都立石神井高等学校)
  • Tagara High School (東京都立田柄高等学校)

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:

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

  • Nerima City Official Website