The History of Nakano City

Primitive and Ancient Times

Many remains have been discovered in Nakano City. Among the oldest relics that were discovered in the Egota remains is the stone artifact of the Paleolithic Period 23,000 years ago. It is found that people started to live in this area around that time. In ancient times the area of Nakano City had a river and rich forests and was the ideal place for people to live.

Medieval Times

People built villages and lived on agriculture. In the 16th century, this land belonged to the warload Hojo, but after Hojo was defeated by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Ieyasu Tokugawa ruled this land.

Premodern Times

Nakano was a village near Edo Castle of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the city of Edo. Due to its location, in and around the Ome kaido Street, the old walking highway built around that time, the commercial industry as well as farming developed and Nakano flourished as a base to transport materials including food which were necessary for a metropolitan city Edo. The place had a good view and was often visited by the successive Tokugawa shoguns. At that time, Nakano was divided into 11 villages.

Modern Times

In 1868 the Tokugawa Shogunate was taken over by the new government and Edo changed its name to Tokyo. In 1889 the 11 villages merged into the two villages: Nakano Village in the south and Nogata Village in the north. Around this time the Chuo Line opened and Nakano Station was built. A new town developed around the railway station. In 1923 the Great Kanto Earthquake hit the metropolitan area, from which many people moved to Nakano. As a result, the area was transformed from a farming village to a residential area. With an increase in the population of Tokyo, the area developed further. In 1932 Nakano City was officially established as an administrative unit. After the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. Air Force carried out a bombing raid on Nakano in 1944 when nearly half of the Nakano area was destroyed. The population of that time was approximately 200,000, but it decreased to 120,000, due to people recruited for the war, people evacuated to rural areas and people who died in air raids.

Present Day

After the war, the area was restored rapidly. Recently Nakano has developed further as residential and commercial areas and also as a lively town where young people visit.