Ant Town (No. 8 Reclaimed Land)
Historic site4 June 1960 – 1988 ⚠ Date disputed
Draft translation
A community of scrap collectors that moved to No. 8 Reclaimed Land from beside Kototoi Bridge in Asakusa; Shiomi's first community.
Ant Town (蟻の街) was a scrap-collecting community formed around January 1950 by people who had lost their homes in the war and other upheavals, beside Kototoi Bridge in Sumida Park (on the Taitō side). Its organisation was called the Ants' Society (蟻の会). On 13 May 1951, Pentecost, the "Ant Town church" was completed, with a large cross raised on its roof. Satoko Kitahara (1929–1958) came to live in the town and taught its children.
Tokyo Metropolis asked the community to move and offered about 5,000 tsubo on No. 8 Reclaimed Land as an alternative site. At first the condition was payment of ¥25 million for the land in cash, but in the end the Metropolis fully accepted the Ants' Society's demand of "¥15 million for the land, paid in instalments over five years". The Tokyo Archdiocese dates the agreement to 19 January 1958, and Wikipedia to 20 January 1958. Satoko Kitahara died shortly afterwards, on 23 January, aged 28.
The move is dated 4 June 1960 (Wikipedia). The new site was 16,000 m², ten times the size of the old Ant Town. The year 1960 also agrees with the diocesan records. Kōtō-ku's chronology, however, lists "the Ari-no-kai moved to No. 8 (Shiomi) and founded New Ant Town" under 1958. This 1958 may refer to the decision to move, but that is not certain.
In the new Ant Town, trucks and conveyor belts replaced hand carts and the heavy work of baling, and a public bath, a children's park and a nursery room were built. The church also moved here in 1960 and began anew as "Catholic Edagawa Church (Ant Town Church)". But No. 8 Reclaimed Land was far from the populous city districts and poorly suited to the work itself. In 1988 the Ants' Society, its role fulfilled, was dissolved.
The Japan Catholic Center now stands on the former site of the Ants' Society.
Date disputed
- 1958 (C44) — History of Kōtō-ku: from Edo to Reiwa
Related events
- January 1958 — Tokyo agrees to Ant Town's move to No. 8 Reclaimed Land
- June 1960 — Catholic Edagawa Church (Ant Town Church) is founded
- 4 June 1960 — Ant Town moves to No. 8 Reclaimed Land
- 1988 — The Ants' Society is dissolved
- November 1992 — The Japan Catholic Center is completed and the Bishops' Conference moves in
- 22 January 2015 — Satoko Kitahara is declared Venerable
Links
Sources
- Ari no Machi (Ant Town) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Shiomi (Kōtō) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Satoko Kitahara (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Shiomi Church (parish page) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 15 (1 December 1975) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 136 (1 September 1996) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 209 (1 January 2004) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- History of Kōtō-ku: from Edo to Reiwa (江東区)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Catholic Shiomi Church (Mary of Ant Town)
LandmarkJune 1960 – present
Draft translation
A church that began as the Ant Town church; its present building was dedicated as "Mary of Ant Town" on 1 June 1986.
The church's origin is the church built in Ant Town in Sumida Park in 1951. According to the Tokyo Archdiocese News of 1975, through the good offices of Cardinal Frings and Archbishop Doi, a chapel was built on No. 8 Reclaimed Land in 1960 (Shōwa 35) from the old timber of Senzoku Church, and the church moved together with the people of Ant Town and began anew as "Edagawa Church". The archdiocese gives June 1960 as the month of its founding. Its first name was "Catholic Edagawa Church (Ant Town Church)", and it was a branch church of Tsukiji Church. The "Arinko Nursery" for children was also attached to it; the nursery closed in 1977.
In 1984 the sale of the land to the church by Tokyo Metropolis was concluded. The diocesan newspaper still wrote "Edagawa Church" in November 1985 and "Shiomi Church" in November 1986, so the change of name probably came in between, around the dedication of the new church building. The present church was dedicated on 1 June 1986 and given the name "Mary of Ant Town" (蟻の町のマリア). The archdiocese calls that day "Pentecost Sunday", but Pentecost Sunday in 1986 fell on 18 May. Wikipedia's article on Satoko Kitahara gives 1 June 1985.
The cross raised in Ant Town in 1951 now hangs at the entrance of the church. The cross from the roof of the 1960s church stands on a small mound in the back garden. A Mass marking the anniversary of Satoko Kitahara's death is held every year, and on 24 May 2026 a Mass was held for the 75th anniversary of the raising of the cross in Ant Town and the 40th anniversary of the dedication of Shiomi Church. The parish had 394 members (as of 31 December 2019).
Related events
- June 1960 — Catholic Edagawa Church (Ant Town Church) is founded
- 4 June 1960 — Ant Town moves to No. 8 Reclaimed Land
- 1 June 1986 — Shiomi Church's present building is dedicated as "Mary of Ant Town"
- 22 January 2015 — Satoko Kitahara is declared Venerable
Links
Sources
- Shiomi Church (parish page) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 15 (1 December 1975) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 49 (1 April 1984) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 55 (1 November 1985) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 60 (1 November 1986) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 209 (1 January 2004) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 434 (29 June 2026) (カトリック東京大司教区)
- Ari no Machi (Ant Town) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Satoko Kitahara (ウィキペディア日本語版)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Former Shibusawa Family House (Kyū-Shibusawa-tei)
LandmarkJuly 2023 – present
Draft translation
Shibusawa Eiichi's residence, built in Fukagawa in 1878, which after moves to Mita and Aomori was rebuilt in Shiomi in 2023.
The house was newly built in 1878 (Meiji 11) as a two-storey timber residence for Shibusawa Eiichi at Fukagawa Fukuzumi-chō (now Eitai, Kōtō-ku). It was the work of Shimizu Kisuke II (Wikipedia). According to Shimizu Corporation's chronology, it was moved to Mita Tsunamachi (now Mita, Minato-ku) in 1908, and a Western-style wing and other parts were added in 1930. In 1947 the Shibusawa family handed it to the state in lieu of tax (Wikipedia gives 1946), and it was used as the Finance Minister's official residence and as the Mita joint-use conference hall.
In 1990 it was decided to move it, and in 1991 it was taken to Rokunohe, Aomori Prefecture. Shimizu's own documents give two different years for its purchase of the building, 2018 and 2019. On 7 June 2019 the mayor of Kōtō-ku announced that it would be moved to Shiomi. The ward registered the dismantled parts on 1 October 2019 and designated them a ward tangible cultural property on 6 January 2020.
The reconstruction at Shiomi 2-8-20, restored to its state in 1930 (Shōwa 5), was completed in July 2023, and on 10 January 2024 the designation was changed to the "former Shibusawa family house" as a building. The ward describes it as "the former Shibusawa family house, which came home to Shiomi, Kōtō-ku, in 2023".
Public opening began on 10 April 2025; since then it can normally be visited on Thursdays (booking required, about 90 minutes, ¥1,000).
Related events
- 1 September 2023 — Shimizu's NOVARE begins operating
- 18 January 2024 — Shiomi Shibusawa Park opens
- 10 April 2025 — Public opening of the former Shibusawa residence and NOVARE Archives
Links
Sources
- Former Shibusawa family house (ward-designated tangible cultural property) (江東区)
- Shibusawa Eiichi and Kōtō-ku (江東区)
- Mayor's regular press conference, 7 June 2019 (江東区)
- Facility named 'Onko-Sōshin no Mori NOVARE' (24 July 2023) (清水建設)
- NOVARE Archives completed; all five buildings in operation (5 March 2024) (清水建設)
- Public opening of the former Shibusawa residence and NOVARE Archives (27 February 2025) (清水建設)
- Former Shibusawa family house (ウィキペディア日本語版)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Japan Catholic Center
LandmarkNovember 1992 – present
Draft translation
An eight-storey building housing the secretariat of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, completed in November 1992 on the former site of the Ants' Society.
The secretariat of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan (カトリック中央協議会) used to be in an old three-storey building in Rokubanchō, Chiyoda-ku, right beside Futaba Gakuen. It moved in 1992 and is now in the eight-storey Japan Catholic Center (日本カトリック会館, completed November 1992) in Shiomi. The address is Shiomi 2-10-10, a five-minute walk from JR Shiomi Station.
According to the Tokyo Archdiocese News (2004), the building was built on the former site of the Ants' Society. The Bishops' Conference has not stated why it chose Shiomi. Next door is Shiomi Church, associated with the Venerable Satoko Kitahara.
The organisation took the name カトリック中央協議会 in 1952, the year after the Religious Corporations Act was promulgated and came into force in 1951.
Related events
- 1988 — The Ants' Society is dissolved
- November 1992 — The Japan Catholic Center is completed and the Bishops' Conference moves in
Links
Sources
- CBCJ Handbook 2018 feature (カトリック中央協議会)
- Access (カトリック中央協議会)
- Tokyo Archdiocese News no. 209 (1 January 2004) (カトリック東京大司教区)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Shimizu Corporation NOVARE (Onko-Sōshin no Mori)
Business1 September 2023 – present
Draft translation
Shimizu Corporation's centre for innovation and staff development in Shiomi 2-chōme, which began operating on 1 September 2023.
On 24 July 2023 Shimizu Corporation announced the name "Onko-Sōshin no Mori NOVARE" (温故創新の森, "a forest for creating the new from the old") for the centre it had been building in Shiomi, Kōtō-ku, under the working name "Shiomi Innovation Center". On 1 September 2023 NOVARE Hub, NOVARE Lab (the Shiomi laboratory of its Institute of Technology) and NOVARE Academy (its craft-training school) began operating.
On 5 March 2024 the company announced the completion of NOVARE Archives (the Shimizu history museum); together with the former Shibusawa residence, whose relocation work had been finished, all five buildings were in place. Visitors were received in stages from April that year. Since 10 April 2025 the former Shibusawa residence and NOVARE Archives have been open to the public, and the museum is free. The whole site covers about 32,200 m² (Wikipedia).
Kōtō-ku's "Shiomi District Canal Renaissance Symposium" is scheduled to be held at NOVARE Forum on 5 December 2026.
Related events
- 1 September 2023 — Shimizu's NOVARE begins operating
- 10 April 2025 — Public opening of the former Shibusawa residence and NOVARE Archives
Links
Sources
- Facility named 'Onko-Sōshin no Mori NOVARE' (24 July 2023) (清水建設)
- NOVARE begins operation (4 September 2023) (清水建設)
- NOVARE Archives completed; all five buildings in operation (5 March 2024) (清水建設)
- Public opening of the former Shibusawa residence and NOVARE Archives (27 February 2025) (清水建設)
- Shiomi (Kōtō) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Kōtō ward newsletter, 1 November 2026, p.6 (江東区)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Shiomi Sazanami Park
Park25 December 2001 – present
Draft translation
A waterside ward park in Shiomi 1-chōme, opened on 25 December 2001.
According to the ward's park register, Shiomi Sazanami Park opened on 25 December 2001. Its address is Shiomi 1-29-24 and it covers 7,575.76 m². Kōtō-ku's chronology also records "Shiomi Sazanami Park opens" in December 2001.
Papers of the ward's park master plan committee (2026) classify it as "a waterside park next to welfare facilities and a nursery". In the survey for the Shiomi district town-planning policy revised in 2026, residents named the waterside surroundings, including Sazanami Park, among the district's good points.
Related events
Links
Sources
- Shiomi Sazanami Park (ward park register) (江東区)
- History of Kōtō-ku: from Edo to Reiwa (江東区)
- Kōtō-ku park master plan committee, first meeting papers (江東区)
- Shiomi district town-planning policy (2026 revision) (江東区)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Shiomi Shibusawa Park
Park18 January 2024 – present
Draft translation
A ward park opened on 18 January 2024 next to the former Shibusawa family house and Shimizu's NOVARE campus.
According to the ward's park register, Shiomi Shibusawa Park opened on 18 January 2024. Its address is Shiomi 2-8-13 and it covers 1,106.72 m². Next to it are the former Shibusawa family house, moved to Shiomi in 2023, and Shimizu Corporation's NOVARE campus.
The ward's town-planning newsletter of August 2025 notes that in the waterside living zone in the north-east of the district, "the development of NOVARE, Shiomi Shibusawa Park and other facilities is progressing". On 19 and 20 June 2026 the event "Shiomi Akari-hajime" ("Shiomi's lights come on"), organised by ShiomiX, the area-management body for the station area, was held across the area from NOVARE Plaza to Shiomi Shibusawa Park.
Related events
Links
Sources
- Shiomi Shibusawa Park (ward park register) (江東区)
- Shiomi district town-planning newsletter, no. 1 (江東区)
- Shiomi opening event 'Shiomi Akari-hajime' (清水建設)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Shiomi Sports Park
ParkJuly 1968 – present
Draft translation
A ward park centred on the Shiomi baseball ground, which opened in July 1968, six months after the land joined the ward.
According to Kōtō-ku's chronology, the Shiomi baseball ground (潮見野球場) opened in July 1968, about six months after No. 8 Reclaimed Land was annexed by the ward, at the same time as the Toyozumi tennis courts. In the ward's park register, Shiomi Sports Park opened on 31 March 1969; it covers 40,080.87 m² and its address is Shiomi 1-1-1. The "Shiomi ground" (潮見グランド) mentioned in the ward's description of the place name most likely refers to this sports ground.
Floodlights were completed at the baseball ground in 1978, and the all-weather Shiomi tennis court opened in 1985. The facilities were renewed in 2004 and 2013. Today there are two rubber-ball baseball fields, two softball fields and one hard tennis court.
Some websites give 1962 for the opening of the baseball ground, but at that time No. 8 was still receiving garbage, and the date does not agree with the ward's records.
Related events
Links
Sources
- History of Kōtō-ku: from Edo to Reiwa (江東区)
- Shiomi Sports Park (ward park register) (江東区)
- Ward sports facilities (Shiomi baseball ground and tennis court) (江東区)
- Origins of Kōtō-ku place names (江東区)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
JR Shiomi Station
Infrastructure10 March 1990 – present
Draft translation
An elevated station that opened on 10 March 1990, when the JR Keiyō Line's Shin-Kiba–Tokyo section opened.
Shiomi Station opened on 10 March 1990, the day the JR Keiyō Line's section between Shin-Kiba and Tokyo opened, together with Hatchōbori and Etchūjima stations. During construction this section was also called the "Keiyō city-centre line" (京葉都心線). Kōtō-ku's chronology likewise records "JR Keiyō Line (Shin-Kiba – Tokyo) opened" in March 1990.
According to Wikipedia, when the Shin-Kiba–Tokyo section was first planned there was no plan to build a station at Shiomi. This research found no source explaining why the station was later added, or giving a provisional name used during planning.
The station is elevated, with one island platform serving two tracks, and its station building is under the viaduct. Its station number is JE 04. Heading towards Tokyo, the line goes underground before Etchūjima. Rapid trains pass through; local trains and through trains to the Musashino Line stop here. According to Kōtō-ku's chronology, the station's lift was completed in 2009.
The opening of the station set off rapid development of apartment housing and the opening of company offices in Shiomi (Wikipedia). In fiscal 2023 it is said to have become the busiest of the Keiyō Line stations that rapid trains pass through.
Related events
Links
Sources
- Shiomi Station (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Keiyō Line (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- History of Kōtō-ku: from Edo to Reiwa (江東区)
- Shiomi district town-planning policy (October 2008) (江東区)
- Shiomi (Kōtō) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
Confirmed in Wikipedia text
Sumidagawa Shipbuilding
Business1969 – present
Draft translation
A shipbuilder that moved its head office and works to Shiomi in 1969, after its land was bought for expressway construction.
According to Wikipedia, in 1969 Sumidagawa Shipbuilding moved its head office and works to Shiomi, Kōtō-ku, after its land was bought for the construction of an expressway. Its head office is at Shiomi 2-1-16. Of the firms in Shiomi whose year of arrival this research could establish, it is the earliest.
After the reclamation was completed, Shiomi grew as a typical semi-industrial district of shipping warehouses, ironworks, shipyards and sanitation depots (Wikipedia). The Shiomi district town-planning policy revised in 2026 also names "shipbuilding and other businesses that make use of the waterside" as a characteristic of its canal-side "waterside harmony zone".
Related events
Links
Sources
- Sumidagawa Shipbuilding (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Shiomi (Kōtō) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Shiomi district town-planning policy (2026 revision) (江東区)
Confirmed in Wikipedia text
Sunashio Bridge
InfrastructureMarch 1973 – present
Draft translation
A bridge over the Akebonokita Canal, built in March 1973, linking Shiomi 2-chōme with Shinsuna 1-chōme.
According to the ward's bridge register, Sunashio Bridge (砂潮橋, read "Sunashio") crosses the Akebonokita Canal (曙北運河) between Shinsuna 1-chōme and Shiomi 2-chōme. It is a three-span steel girder bridge, 90.5 m long and 21.8 m wide. It was completed in March 1973 (Shōwa 48) and is bridge no. 134.
Shiomi is surrounded by canals. The other bridges are Nanaeda Bridge (March 1978, to Tatsumi 2-chōme), Hachieda Bridge (May 1978, to Edagawa 3-chōme), Akatsuki Bridge (rebuilt March 1988, to Edagawa 3-chōme) and Sazanami Bridge (March 1994, to Tatsumi 2-chōme).
About 50 years after it was built, the ward is replacing the bridge's superstructure and strengthening its substructure to make it safer in a large earthquake. The works are scheduled to run from 13 March 2026 to 29 March 2030.
Related events
Links
Sources
- Sunashio Bridge (ward road bridge register) (江東区)
- Sunashio Bridge superstructure replacement works (江東区)
- Nanaeda Bridge (metropolitan road bridge register) (江東区)
- Hachieda Bridge (metropolitan road bridge register) (江東区)
- Akatsuki Bridge (ward road bridge register) (江東区)
- Sazanami Bridge (ward road bridge register) (江東区)
Confirmed in primary or official sources
Tokyo Printing City Cooperative
Business1981 – present
Draft translation
Tokyo's first printing industrial estate, founded in 1981, at the heart of the printing cluster west of Shiomi Station.
Wikipedia's article on Shiomi (Kōtō) says of the Tokyo Printing City Cooperative (協同組合東京プリンティングシティ): "Founded 1981. Tokyo's first printing industrial estate." (no source is cited). The 2008 Shiomi district town-planning policy states that "printing works are concentrated west of Shiomi Station".
In June 2004 the printing estate was rezoned from an exclusively industrial zone to a quasi-industrial zone, at the same time as a district plan was decided. The "Shiomi 2-chōme West district plan" (about 4.1 ha), decided on 24 June 2004, aims "to restrain housing and form a mixed district where diverse production and distribution functions, beginning with printing, can coexist with commercial and business functions".
The policy revised in 2026 likewise says that the mixed-use zone around the station should be developed "while respecting the existing printing industry, a characteristic of the district".
Related events
Links
Sources
- Shiomi (Kōtō) (ウィキペディア日本語版)
- Shiomi district town-planning policy (October 2008) (江東区)
- Shiomi 2-chōme West district plan (江東区)
- Shiomi district town-planning policy (2026 revision) (江東区)
Confirmed in Wikipedia text