Kasumigaseki (霞が関, 霞ヶ関 or 霞ケ関) is a district in Chiyoda,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Most government ministries are located in the neighbourhood, making its name a metonym for the Japanese bureaucracy, while

Nagatachō is a district of Tokyo, Japan, located in Chiyoda Ward. It is the location of the Diet of Japan and the Prime Minister's residence ( Kantei). The Supreme Court of Japan is located in neighboring Hayabusachō. Nagatachō is often used to refer ...

refers to the elected government or legislative branch. It faces the Imperial Palace to the north,

Hibiya Park Hibiya Park (, ) is a park in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It covers an area of 161,636.66 m2 (40 acres) between the east gardens of the Kōkyo, Imperial Palace to the north, the Shinbashi district to the southeast and the Kasumigaseki government distri ...

to the east, and Nagatachō to the west.

Notable sites

Government offices

* 2nd Bldg. of the Central Common Government Office **

Japan Transport Safety Board The is Japan's authority for establishing transportation safety (excluding related United States Forces Japan). It is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The agency formed on October 1, 2008 as a ...

** National Public Safety Commission * Fair Trade Commission *

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

Patent Office A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether the applicati ...

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a Cabinet (government), cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Centr ...

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may refer to: * Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Cambodia) * Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) * Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Niue) * Depar ...

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The , METI for short, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic acti ...

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare The is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as in Japan. The ministry provides services on health, labour and welfare. It was formed with the merger of the former Ministry of Health and Welfare or and th ...

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...

* Ministry of the Environment *

Public Security Intelligence Agency The is the Security agency, domestic intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice (Japan), Ministry of Justice and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based o ...

National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: National Revolut ...

Financial Services Agency The is a Japanese government agency and an integrated financial regulator responsible for overseeing banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors in order to ensure the stability of the financial system of Japan. The agency operates ...

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The age ...

* National Personnel Authority * Board of Audit of Japan *

Tokyo Metropolitan Police The , known locally as simply the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), is the prefectural police of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Founded in 1874, the TMPD is the largest police force in Japan by number of officers, with a staff of more than 40,000 p ...

HQ *

Tokyo High Court is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The is a special branch of Tokyo High Court. Japan has eight high courts: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo, and Takamatsu. Each court has jurisdiction over one o ...

and Intellectual Property High Court *

Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. See also *Judicial system of Japan In the judicial system of Japan, the Constitution of Japan guarantees that "all judges shall be independent in the exercise of thei ...

, Summary Court and Family Court

Other buildings

Japan Post was a Japanese statutory corporation that existed from 2003 to 2007, offering postal and package delivery services, Retail banking, banking services, and life insurance. It is the nation's largest employer, with over 400,000 employees, and ru ...

headquarters *

Kasumigaseki Building The is a 36-story skyscraper located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History The building is owned by the '' Kasumi Kaikan'' (霞会館), an association of the former ''kazoku'' high nobility. The plot was once owned by the ''Kazoku Kaikan'' ...

- Tokyo's first high-rise office building **The

Asian Development Bank Institute The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) is an Asian think tank focused on identifying effective development strategies for Asia and the Pacific, and on providing support to ADB member countries in managing development challenges. It was esta ...

has its head office on the 8th floor of the Kasumigaseki Building. On the same floor, the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

has its Japan offices. * Kasumigaseki Common Gate - Twin tower buildings adjacent to the Kasumigaseki Building. *New Kasumigaseki Building *Nipponkoa Insurance Building

Subway stations

* Kasumigaseki Station (

Chiyoda Line The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. On average, the line carries 1,447,730 passengers daily (2017), the second highest of the Tokyo Metro network, behind the Tozai Line (1,642,378).Hibiya Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by Tokyo Metro. The line was named after the Hibiya area in Chiyoda's Yurakucho district, under which it passes. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color silv ...

Marunouchi Line The is a Rapid transit, subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The line runs in a U-shape between Ogikubo Station in Suginami, Tokyo, Suginami and Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, Tokyo, Toshima, with a branch line between Nakano-Sa ...

) *

Sakuradamon Station is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro. It is numbered Y-17. It is the closest train station to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, adjacent to the Sakurada gate ...

(

Yūrakuchō Line Yūrakuchō Line may refer to: * Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line * Seibu Yūrakuchō Line * Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line The , formally the , is a subway line operated by Tokyo Metro in west-central Tokyo and Wako, Saitama, Japan. The newest line i ...

) *

Toranomon Station Toranomon Station (虎ノ門駅) is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. It is located between Toranomon in Minato Ward and Kasumigaseki in Chiyoda Ward. Station layout The station has two side platforms — one for each direction. ...

(

Ginza Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The official name is . It is long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō. It is the oldest subway line in Asia, having opened in 1927. The line ...

)

Economy

Japan Post Holdings is a Japanese publicly traded Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is mainly engaged in postal and logistics business, financial window business, banking business and life insura ...

has its headquarters in Kasumigaseki.

Tokuyama Corporation is a Japanese, Tokyo-based chemical company and the world's fourth largest silicon manufacturer. The company was founded as Nihon Soda Kogyo Co., Ltd., a producer of soda ash in 1918 by Katsujiro Iwai. It changed name in 1936 to Tokuyama Soda ...

has its headquarters in Kasumigaseki Common Gate West Tower and

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

has offices on the 15th floor of the

. Also in the Kasumigaseki Building has its headquarters the Lixil Group Corporation. At different points of time

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...

and

Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese chemicals company listed on the Nikkei with business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. It is one of the leading chemical companies in Japan and is part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company mainly ...

had their headquarters in the Kasumigaseki Building. In July 1978, when

Nippon Cargo Airlines Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) is a cargo airline with its head office on the property of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo. It operates scheduled cargo services in Asia and to Europe and North America. Its ma ...

first began, it operated within a single room inside

's space in the Kasumigaseki Building. At one time

Cantor Fitzgerald Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed-income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, an ...

had an office in the Toranomon Mitsui Building in Kasumigaseki.

Education

operates public elementary and junior high schools. Kōjimachi Elementary School (千代田区立麹町小学校) is the zoned elementary of Kasumigaseki 1-3

chōme The Japanese addressing system is used to identify a specific location in Japan. When written in Japanese characters, addresses start with the largest geographical entity and proceed to the most specific one. The Japanese system is complex, th ...

. There is a freedom of choice system for junior high schools in Chiyoda Ward, and so there are no specific junior high school zones.

Spelling

The current official spelling of the district's name is , with が in hiragana; before 1967, it was spelled , with a small ヶ. The name of the Tokyo Metro station is spelled "", with a large ケ. All three spellings can still be found by various institutions in the area.

References

External links

History of Kasumigaseki
{{Chiyoda, Tokyo Districts of Chiyoda, Tokyo