Nishi-ku, Nagoya

Established in its current form in 1908,^[1] Nishi-ku is located in the northwestern part of Nagoya. Its official tree is the willow and its official flower is the primrose.^[1] The Hori, Shin, and Shōnai rivers all run through the ward.^[1] It is served by the Kami-Otai and Sakō train stations via the Meitetsu Inuyama, Meitetsu Nagoya Main, and Tsurumai railway lines.

The small historical street Shike-michi was used by merchants during the Edo period, and is now registered as a Cultural Property. A fire in 1700 destroyed a large number of the merchants' houses, as well as 15 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Nagoya; as a result, Tokugawa Yoshimichi widened Shike-michi. Warehouses were constructed with plaster walls on the east side as a protection against future fires. It took around 40 years to complete the whole area. Most houses that are standing in Shike-michi date to 1740.

Popular destinations in Nishi-ku include the Noritake Garden and museum, Shōnai Greens park, the Endoji Shopping Arcade (where there are often-vandalized statues of famous warlords),^[2] Nagoya Lucent Tower (the sixth-tallest building in Nagoya), the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, and the chashitsu tea house Fūshin-tei.^[3] The latter is part of Nagoya Castle, which can be seen from the five-star Hotel Nagoya Castle, and is registered as a Cultural Property.^[4][5]

Nishi-ku is believed to be the birthplace of pachinko, a gambling game which first emerged in the area as a pastime in 1930 before spreading nationwide.^[6] It is also home to the headquarters of ceramic company Noritake^[7] and food companies Marukawa^[8] and Meito Sangyo.^[9] The first KFC in Japan was opened in Nishi-ku in November 1970.^[10][11]

• Niwa Nagahide (1535–1585), samurai
• Sassa Narimasa (1536–1588), samurai