Kabutocho

Kabutochō 兜町
Neighborhood
Tokyo Stock Exchange
Coordinates: 35°40′53″N 139°46′40″E / 35.68139°N 139.77778°E / 35.68139; 139.77778
Country	Japan
Prefecture	Tokyo
Special ward	Chūō
Population  (1 October 2020)
• Total	723[1]
Time zone	UTC+09:00
ZIP code	103-0026
Telephone area code	03

Kabutochō (Japanese: 兜町), or more formally Nihonbashi Kabutochō (Japanese: 日本橋兜町), is a neighborhood of Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, where the Tokyo Stock Exchange and many securities companies are located, so that it is considered Japan's equivalent of Wall Street in New York City.

The name of Kabutochō, literally the town of Kabuto (ancient helmet), is said to come from a legend that Minamoto no Yoshiie, upon his return from having conquered the north-eastern provinces in the eleventh century, buried his helmet there.^[2] It used to be a swampy area till the early 17th century, when the Daimyo who were forced to participate in the building of the Edo Castle built their residences.^[3]

By the Meiji period, the Kabutochō area came to be owned by the Mitsui family. In 1871, Eiichi Shibusawa established the First National Bank there, which later would become part of Mizuho Bank. As the Tokyo Stock Exchange was established there in 1878, the area soon became Japan's financial center, with many securities companies and banks setting up their headquarters and/or branch offices.

Recently, as securities trading has become electronic, larger securities firms have already left Kabutochō to other premier locations in Tokyo. Heiwa Real Estate, the owner of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Exchange buildings, has kicked off a Kabutochō Revitalization project.^[4] In 2020 Time Out named Kabutochō as the coolest neighborhood in Tokyo.^[5]

Public elementary and junior high schools are operated by Chuo City Board of Education.

Kabutocho is zoned to Sakamoto Elementary School (中央区立阪本小学校) and Nihonbashi Junior High School (日本橋中学校).^[6]

• Tokyo Stock Exchange

35°40′53″N 139°46′40″E / 35.68139°N 139.77778°E / 35.68139; 139.77778

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nihonbashi-Kabutochō.

• Official site of Chuo-ku, Tokyo (in Japanese)
• The town that developed with Japan’s financial economy (Nihonbashi-tokyo.com)