Meguro

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Meguro 目黒区
Special ward
Meguro City
Cherry trees along the Meguro River, near Nakameguro
Flag Emblem
Location of Meguro in Tokyo Metropolis
Meguro Location in Japan
Coordinates: 35°38′N 139°41′E / 35.633°N 139.683°E / 35.633; 139.683Coordinates: 35°38′N 139°41′E / 35.633°N 139.683°E / 35.633; 139.683
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Tokyo Metropolis
Government
• Mayor	Eiji Aoki
Area
• Total	14.67 km2 (5.66 sq mi)
Population  (May 1, 2015)
• Total	277,171
• Density	18,890/km2 (48,900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
Website	www.city.meguro.tokyo.jp
Symbols
Bird	Great tit
Flower	Lespedeza
Tree	Castanopsis

Meguro (目黒区, Meguro-ku) is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City.^[1][2] 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.

Meguro is also used to refer to the area around Meguro Station, which is not located in Meguro ward, but in neighboring Shinagawa's Kamiōsaki district.

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.^[3] Each statue had eyes of a different color. (Mejiro, a district in Toshima ward, is named for the white-eyed Fudō-myōō).

Geography[]

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 and neighborhoods[]

Politics and government[]

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.^{[citation needed]} The mayor is Eiji Aoki, an independent. His term lasts until April 24, 2016.^{[citation needed]}

Elections[]

• 2007 Meguro local election
• 2008 Meguro mayoral election

Sightseeing and local landmarks[]

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^[4]
• Meguro Parasitological Museum
• Japanese Folk Crafts Museum
• Chosenin Temple Contemporary Sculpture Museum

Religious institutions[]

• Himonya Catholic Church^[5]
• St. Michael's Catholic Church (German Language)^[6]
• Himonya Hachiman Shrine
• Ōtori Shrine
• Ryūsenji (Meguro Fudo temple)
• Yūten-ji Temple
• St. Paul's Church, Gohongi (Anglican Church in Japan)^[7]

Transportation[]

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. Completed in 2016 this deep level subterranean expressway connect the Yamate Tunnel as far as the Bayshore Route in Shinagawa

Education[]

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.

• International High School (Kokusai High School in Japanese)
• Komaba High School
• Meguro High School
• Geijutsu High School (Closed in 2012)

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

International schools[]

• Aoba-Japan International School

Economy[]

Company headquarters[]

• Amazon Japan head office
• Books Kinokuniya^[8]
• Don Quijote discount store chain head office
• LDH (Headquarters for EXILE & other Dance Units)
• Makino^[9]
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling head office
• Ribera Steakhouse
• Stanley Electric^[10]
• TopTour Corporation
• Unilever Japan, head office
• Walt Disney Japan, head office

Notable people from Meguro[]

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• Yumiko Fujita, actress
• Waka Inoue, model, actress
• Risa Tsubaki, voice actress
• Toru Iwatani, arcade game designer, most notable for Pac-Man and Pole Position
• Shigeru Izumiya, folk singer, entertainer (born in Aomori, Aomori, but raised in Meguro)
• Masako, Empress of Japan (born in Toranomon, but raised in Meguro)
• 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 (Originally from Hamura, Tokyo)
• Keisuke Kuwata, singer with Southern All Stars (Originally from Chigasaki, Kanagawa)
• Nobuyo Ōyama, voices the anime character Doraemon (Originally from Shibuya, Tokyo)
• Miyu Uehara, gravure idol, found dead in her Meguro apartment (Originally from Tanegashima, Kagoshima)
• Halca & Yucali of the hip-hop duo Halcali^[11]
• Shori Sato, singer and actor in male idol group Sexy Zone
• Suehiro Maruo, Manga artist, one of the best-known exponents of Ero Guro (Originally from Nagasaki, Nagasaki)
• HANA Sedlak, singer (Originally from Shibuya, Tokyo)

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meguro.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Meguro.

• Meguro City Official Website (in Japanese)