Serika

Serika 芹香都
Metropolis
Serika Metropolis
Japanese transcription(s)
• Japanese	芹香都
• Romanji	Serika-to
From top left: Arakashi, Serika Metropolitan Government building, Sunshine Bridge, Serika Tower, Serika Castle, Main Street at Arakashi
Flag Symbol
Anthem: "Evening Town" (夕立の町, Yuudachi no Machi)
Serika location toward Nakama
Satellite photo of Serika
Country	Nakama
Region	Kitaseki
Island	Seijima Island
Divisions	20 special wards, 32 cities, 1 district
Government
• Type	Metropolis
• Governor	Nakajima Yosuke
• Capital	Serika
Area
• Metropolis	2,182 km2 (842 sq mi)
• Metro	15,415 km2 (5,952 sq mi)
• Rank	39th
Population  (July 1 2020)
• Metropolis	13,101,344
• Density	6,000/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
• Metro	30,039,013
• Metro density	1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi)
• 20 Wards	8,284,190
	(2017 per prefectural government)
Time zone	UTC+10 (Nakama National Time)
ISO 3166-2	NK-12
Flower	Rapeseed
Tree	Seri
Bird	Black-headed Gull
Website	www.metro.serika.go.nk/english

Serika (芹香, Serika, "Seri Fragrance") officially Serika Metropolis (芹香都, Serika-to), is one of the 40 prefectures of Nakama. Nanohana is the capital of Nakama, the center of the Greater Serika Area, Largest metropolitan area in AIN and the 2nd most populous metropolitan area in the world. It's the home of Nakama Government and Imperial family of Nakama. Serika located in Kitaseki region on the largest island of Nakama, Seijima Island. Serika special prefecture originally divided into 2 different prefecture, Serika Capital City and Nanohana Prefecture until the merge in 1953.

Located in the mouth of Serika Bay, Serika was named Nanohana since 1953 until 2018 where parliamentary decide to rename Nanohana back into its original name before the merge of Nanohana Prefecture with Serika City. Serika history mostly remarked as the capital of ruling Kurahashi Shogunate since 1603 until the dawn of world war 2. Nanohana Imperial Palace complex was a historical site in Nakama which include the late Serika Castle other historical landmark in Serika includes Ayakashi Shrine which built in 12th century. Modern landmarks in the city includes Serika Tower, Sunshine Bridge and the Mizugishi Tower.

Today Serika is one of world leading city and considered as an Alpha City with very high quality of life comparable with Tokyo, Seoul, New York City and London. In 2015, the city income US$372.9 M which make GDP percapita US$37,291. Major company based on the city including Setsu Electrical Co. Ltd, Nagisa Electronic, Rinko Digital, Koeta Motors and the largest conglomerate from Nakama, Shichijou Group providing majority of the city incomes.

Etymology

Seri, the plants which become the symbol of the city

Serika (芹香) in Japanese literally means Fragrance of Seri, Japanese parsley which can be found easily around the southeastern portion of Kashiwadaira Province which is the northern part of modern day Serika and later become the base name of the plains which lay from Tsurumi Province to Kagohara Province. When Kurahashi Muramasa establish the central for the Kurahashi Shogunate in 1600, he choose the area in the western end of Serika Plains and named the castle and the settlement around it after the plains itself.

The city name changed briefly into Nanohana (菜花) in 1953 when it merged with the Nanohana Prefecture. Nanohana means Rapeseed flowers which can be found as well in Serika Plains. It also refers to the Nanohana Imperial Palace complex where the imperial family lives. However in early 2018, Parliament of Nakama decide to return to use the original name of the city dated back from the foundation and historical significance of name Serika toward the capital and government central of Nakama.

History

Early History

Serika initially only a minor fishing-farming village area just in southern border of the old Kashiwadaira Province with Tama Province. It is still disputed whether the pre-Kurahashi village included within the Kashiwadaira or Tama Province however the archaeological finds it leans toward the Southern part of Kashiwadaira despite of the Serika Castle located in Tama Province. Pre-Kurahashi Serika village was named Kawahara (河原) around the modern day Mizugishi Ward.

Up until 1600, Kawahara isn't a significant location of Southern land (Nakama) as the Kashiwadaira Province government located in the modern day Ohashi, Shimazaki Prefecture while Tama province located in modern day Muratama, Iwaki Prefecture. It was Kurahashi Muramasa who decide to settle the future government central of his Shogunate in Serika Castle which just south of Kawahara. The location of the capital was chosen instead of the existing Matsukawa due to its strategical location and avoiding the shogunate to be steered by the imperial Nakama.

Kurahashi Shogunate Era

During the Kurahashi Shogunate Era, Kawahara which later changed name into Serika grow from a small town into major city due to the attraction by Kurahashi Shogunate policy. This period was marked by continuous growth of the city despite the interruption by natural disasters, including fires, earthquakes and floods, the most notable one hit Serika was 1703 Genroku earthquake. Serika during earlier Kurahashi Shogunate wasn't the official capital of Nakama due to the official being in Ichihara where the imperial family located before 1821. Serika was included in the 3 major city as international trading hubs in Shogunate, the other being Shinko and Matsukawa creating a vibrant economy within the city and the gateway of foreign technology and services to enters Kurahashi Shogunate.

Senju area of Serika in 1872

In 1821 with the Yukimasa Edict, the Nanohana Imperial Palace built in the Serika castle complex to accommodate the Imperial family and ultimately make Serika as the official capital of Kurahashi Shogunate. Serika also one of the earliest city in East Asia to be industrialized due to the policy of Kurahashi Shogunate to adapt the foreign technology in order to strive the ongoing modernization of world. In 1850, the first railway of Nakama between Serika and Matsukawa opened which is the Saikaido Main Line and later on Serika experiences a massive expansion of railway networks throughout the city including the trams in late 19th century. Areas like Kisaragi and Nakamabashi become a commercial center of the city where midrise start to be build in early 20th century.

In 1854, another major earthquake hit Serika causing massive damages to the city leaving about 100,000 people dead during the rapid industrialization of the country.

Area in Kawaei after the July air raid

World War II wrought widespread destruction of most of the city due to the persistent Allied air raids on Nakama. The Bombing of Serika is the last part of the involvement of Nakama during World War II where estimated about 120,000-160,000 people dead and half of the city was destroyed. In 9-10 July 1945 about 500,000 incendiary bombs rained on the northern part of the city, mainly in heavily residential wards. Three-fifths of the city were completely burned, more than 208,000 buildings were demolished, 110,000 civilians were killed, and 110,000 more were injured. This causing Serika to lost it's original architecture unlike cities survived like Ichihara and Miyauchi and rebuilt based on more on the contemporary style.

Post World War 2

Serika Skylines from Serika Tower in 1973

After the world war, Serika completely rebuilt. The 1970s and 1980s saw the rapid growth of highrise developments in Serika as well as area surrounding it. In 1976, Shimazaki International Airport built in the neighboring prefecture of Shimazaki Prefecture.

In 1953, Serika was merged with the surrounding Nanohana Prefecture creating the large Nanohana Metropolis. Later in 2018 Nanohana Metropolis reverted back into Serika Metropolis because of the name significance to the residents.

Senju district in 1994

The Serika Metropolitan area grow with its one of the largest mass transportation system network in the world with more than 6 subway lines and 14 commuter lines as well as dozens minor lines by this time and keep increasing until today. It also become one of the busiest in the world, close toward the neighboring Tokyo by this time. Serika also experienced a major urbanization from rural Nakama where in 1980 the population of Serika increased to 10 millions in the metropolitan area and increased to 19 millions by 1990. However this cause a massive properties price skyrocketing due to the high demand of lands in Serika especially nearby the city center. This later causing a sub-urbanization of Serika in neighboring satellite cities where a lot of new development of suburbans appeared in neigboring Sumida Prefecture and Mizawa Prefecture. Until today the property price in Serika remains pretty high however the market slowly recovering from it.

Several megaprojects commenced in Nanohana including the Known landmark Akasaka Tower which is the tallest building in Serika and 3rd in Nakama and multiple reclamation projects to the Serika Bay. Although its not as massive as reclamation projects in Kaijo, Tokyo, and Oka City reclamation projects in Serika also brought the more elite part of the city.

in 2009, Serika hit by 7.1 magnitude scale earthquake caused liquefaction to various part of cities, mostly in the reclaimed area. However the damages reported minor.

Geography

Serika located in the Eastern part of Serika Bay in the mouth of Kanda River. It also located within the mouth of Yuubari River to the south and Serika River in north. Serika bordering with the neighboring Mizawa Prefecture to the west, Iwaki Prefecture to the south, Shimazaki Prefecture to the northwest and Sumida Prefecture to the east. Serika itself described to be 2 different part, the Special Wards part and the Nanohana part (outside the special wards). Average elevation of Serika is 32m above sea level.

Serika is a Metropolitan prefecture with a governor leading. Its 20 special wards which was the former core Serika city prior to 1953 and its surrounding areas has self-governing municipalities, each having a mayor, a council, and the status of a city. Outside the 20 special wards, Serika has 32 cities and 2 town each works as other cities and towns in Nakama. Serika metropolitan government is headed by a publicly elected governor and metropolitan assembly. Its headquarters are located in Arakashi ward.

Climate

Snow in Arakashi, Serika

Serika features a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. Serika has a season lag with the warmest month being August with average temperature of 26°C. Coolest month being January with average of 5.9°C. Serika has average annual rainfall in average 1,736 millimeters being one of the wettest city on Northern Nakama. Snowfall happened sporadic in December to February almost annually. Serika often hit by Typhoon every year however the effect mostly minor. Effect of Kuroshio current on the edge of Serika Bay together with the leftover effect from the Oyashio Current from the east affecting the weather pattern in Serika making its relatively colder than average cities in Nakama.

Climate data for Serika (1981–2018)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	20.8 (69.4)	24.8 (76.6)	24.5 (76.1)	28.7 (83.7)	31.1 (88.0)	35.5 (95.9)	36.9 (98.4)	37.4 (99.3)	36.2 (97.2)	30.9 (87.6)	26.2 (79.2)	23.5 (74.3)	37.4 (99.3)
Average high °C (°F)	9.9 (49.8)	10.3 (50.5)	13.2 (55.8)	18.5 (65.3)	22.4 (72.3)	24.9 (76.8)	28.7 (83.7)	30.6 (87.1)	26.7 (80.1)	21.5 (70.7)	16.7 (62.1)	12.4 (54.3)	19.7 (67.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	5.9 (42.6)	6.2 (43.2)	9.1 (48.4)	14.2 (57.6)	18.3 (64.9)	21.3 (70.3)	25.0 (77.0)	26.7 (80.1)	23.3 (73.9)	18.0 (64.4)	13.0 (55.4)	8.5 (47.3)	15.8 (60.4)
Average low °C (°F)	2.3 (36.1)	2.6 (36.7)	5.3 (41.5)	10.4 (50.7)	15.0 (59.0)	18.6 (65.5)	22.4 (72.3)	24.0 (75.2)	20.6 (69.1)	15.0 (59.0)	9.6 (49.3)	4.9 (40.8)	12.5 (54.5)
Record low °C (°F)	−8.2 (17.2)	−6.8 (19.8)	−4.6 (23.7)	−0.5 (31.1)	3.6 (38.5)	9.2 (48.6)	13.3 (55.9)	15.5 (59.9)	11.2 (52.2)	2.2 (36.0)	−2.4 (27.7)	−5.6 (21.9)	−8.2 (17.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	63.9 (2.52)	69.5 (2.74)	142.7 (5.62)	146.0 (5.75)	164.2 (6.46)	200.6 (7.90)	166.9 (6.57)	165.0 (6.50)	250.6 (9.87)	205.5 (8.09)	107.0 (4.21)	54.8 (2.16)	1,736.7 (68.39)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	5 (2.0)	6 (2.4)	1 (0.4)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	12 (4.8)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.5 mm)	6.8	7.5	12.1	11.1	14.8	13.9	11.7	10.7	14.8	11.5	8.3	5.5	128.7
Average snowy days	1.6	2.9	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	5.3
Average relative humidity (%)	53	54	60	65	70	78	78	76	76	71	64	56	67
Mean monthly sunshine hours	176.4	161.0	159.5	160.2	174.1	131.7	162.9	206.3	130.7	141.0	149.3	176.4	1,929.4
Source: Nakama Meteorological Agency

Administrative Divisions

Serika is designated as a to (都), translated as metropolis. Its administrative structure is similar to other Nakama Prefectures. The 20 Special Wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku) are a self governing municipalities similar to London's 32 Borough lead by a mayor, council and status of city.

Aside from the special wards, Serika includes 32 more individual cities (市 -shi) and 2 towns (町 -chō or machi) each has a local government. The Serika Metropolitan Government with headquarter in Arakashi administers the entire Metropolis including the special wards, cities and towns.

Special wards

Main article: Special wards of Serika

20 Special Wards of Serika

The special wards (特別区 tokubetsu-ku) are 20 municipalities that together make up the core and the most populous part of Serika, Nakama. Together, they occupy the land that was originally Serika City before it was abolished in 1953 to become part of the newly created Nanohana Metropolis which later renamed into Serika Metropolis in 2017. The special wards' structure was established under the Nation wide Local Autonomy Law and is unique to Serika.

Special wards is also borough with its own elected leader and council like other cities in Nakama. The special wards use the word "city" in their official English name (example: Akasaka-ku is Akasaka city)

The "three central wards" of Nakama (Akiba, Yuuraku and Mizugishi) are the center of city with daytime population more than five time higher than their nighttime population. It occupied by many major Nakamaese companies and seat of National government. Akiba itself is the location of Nanohana Imperial Palace where emperor seat together with most of Nakama government facilities. Yuuraku is mostly a commercial center with most of its areas occupied with offices. Its secondary center includes Arakashi and Akasaka where it hold another commercial center of city.

Nanohana Area

Nanohana area is the region to the east of special wards of Serika, mostly from the former Nanohana Prefecture before its merge in 1953. It consists of cities and town that in same legal status as those elsewhere in Nakama. Nanohana area serves mostly as the suburban cities for those working in central Serika. Some of them also held a commercial center like in Suzushiro and industrial centers.