Suginami occupies the western part of the ward area of Tokyo. Its neighbors include these special wards: to the east, Shibuya and Nakano; to the north, Nerima; and to the south, Setagaya. Its western neighbors are the cities of Mitaka and Musashino. The Kanda River passes through Suginami. The Zenpukuji river originates from Zenpukuji Park in western Suginami, and the Myōshōji River originates in Myōshōji Park, to the north of Ogikubo station.
History
The name Suginami dates back to the early Edo period and is a shortened version of Suginamiki. This name came about when an early land baron, Lord Tadayoshi Okabe, planted a row of cedar trees to mark the bounds of his property. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. In 1970, 40 high school students in the area were exposed to photochemical smog and required hospitalization. The incident attracted national attention and increased awareness of the dangers of pollution.
Districts and neighborhoods
The following neighborhoods make up Suginami-ku. ;Iogi Area
Historically, Suginami has leaned toward liberal activism. In 1954, local housewives launched the "Suginami Appeal" against nuclear weapons, a petition that spread nationwide and ultimately collected 20 million signatures. More recently in 2005, Suginami became part of Japan's fight against nationalist textbook revisionism when residents petitioned Tokyo's courts to prevent the adoption of a controversial textbook published by Fusosha Publishing which claimed to justify Japanese actions during World War II. The ward has also passed an ordinance placing limits on the installation of security cameras. To combat burglaries, which reached a record number of 1,710 in 2002, the ward created an unconventional anti-crime program called Operation Flower. The ward urged residents to plant flowers facing the street, with the long-term goal of increasing neighborhood watchfulness. In addition, 9,600 volunteers were recruited for neighborhood safety patrols, 200 security cameras were placed at crime-vulnerable areas, and a daily email update was created for residents. Subsequent to the start of the program, burglaries were down 80% to 390 in 2008. As of 2006, the mayor of Suginami is Hiroshi Yamada. Suginami refused to connect to Japan's Residents Basic Registry Network. As of 2005, it is implementing a measure to make registry optional.
Several animation studios are located in Suginami. Bones is headquartered in Igusa, while Sunrise has its headquarters near the Kami-Igusa Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line. Bones was founded by former members of Sunrise, and staff at each company often help each other on projects. The Satelight studio, founded in Sapporo, relocated to the Asagaya neighborhood in 2006. In addition, many smaller studios are based here; as of 2006, over 70 studios were located in Suginami.
Japanese operations
The communications and electronics giant Iwatsu Electric is headquartered in Kugayama.
Foreign operations
American Express has an office Microsoft has a branch office in the Daitabashi Asahi Seimei Building in Izumi.
Former economic operations
Prior to its disestablishment, Data East had its headquarters in Suginami.
Suginami Kokaido: a concert hall and the home of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also the same place where, the pre-premiere special of Ultraman was held which recorded in July 9, 1966 and later aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System the next day in 7:00 pm. In fact, as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Ultra Series, "Ultraman Day" was held in Suginami Kokaido in July 10, 2016.
Suginami Animation Museum: a small museum which includes a screening theater, library, and historical overview of Japanese animation, with English language explanations
