About Shizuoka City（静岡市について）【英語】

Shizuoka City

Shizuoka City is the capital of Shizuoka Prefecture, and is composed of three wards: Aoi, Suruga, and Shimizu. Shizuoka’s population of approximately 698,275 people, mild climate, natural resources, and medium size make it a very comfortable place to live. This city balances business and pleasure, the urban and the natural, in a way that few others can.

Facts About Shizuoka City (April 2020)

• Total Area (in square kilometers) 1,411.90
• Length (kilometers) 83.10
• Width (kilometers) 50.62

• City Bird Kawasemi (Kingfisher)
• City Tree Hanamizuki (Dogwood)
• City Flower Tachiaoi (Hollyhock)

SHIZUOKA CITY STATISTICS

Wards

Aoi Ward (葵区 Aoi-ku)

Aoi Ward is the largest of Shizuoka City’s three wards, from JR Shizuoka Station in the downtown core to the tip of the Southern Alps in the north, comprising both urban center and mountain range.

The Aoi-ku downtown area is one of the major gathering points for people in the city with a wide variety of shops and eateries, but the ward also contains quiet neighborhoods, beautiful parks (such as Sumpu Park with its castle ruins, or the lovely Johoku Park), and ancient structures like Sengen Shrine and Rinzaiji Temple, which are linked to important historical figures Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Imagawa Clan.

Area: 1,073.76 square km

Suruga Ward (駿河区 Suruga-ku)

This ward mainly contains the area south of the JR railroad and part of the area west of the Abe River. This part of the area is undergoing re-development operations, and is home to the Toro Ruins, the remains of a village founded almost two thousand years ago. Nearby the ruins is the Serizawa Keisuke Art Museum, and on the east side of the ward is the Nihondaira Zoo.

Suruga Ward lies along the Pacific Ocean, and many people enjoy Mochimune Beach, Hirono Beach Park, and the Ohama Coast.

Area: 73.05 square km

Shimizu Ward (清水区 Shimizu-ku) 

Shimizu is comprised of the old Shimizu City, Yui, and Kambara, with its most outstanding feature being its port area, a center of business, entertainment, and cultural identity. Every summer tens of thousands of ward residents gather to dance and watch fireworks in the Shimizu Port Festival. Nearby are Miho Pine Beach and the home stadium of the J-League soccer team, the Shimizu S-pulse.

Just down the coast are the two quieter areas of Yui and Kambara, places that still capture the building styles of the past and maintain the old shuku lodging stations from the Edo Era four hundred years ago. These former towns are very famous for the sakura shrimp caught in the nearby Suruga Bay.

Area: 265.09 square km

Lists of Wards and their neighborhoods

• Aoi-ku
• Suruga-ku
• Shimizu-ku