In October and November, I will be embarking on several travel challenges. The main travel challenge is known as the “Tokyo Ward Challenge”.
The challenge is quite simple: Visit each of the 23 wards in Tokyo.
For those in the United States, think of it as visiting every county in your state. But in Japan, wards are local entities that are directly controlled by the municipal government. And these governments handle administrative functions such as koseki registration, health insurance and taxation.
In Tokyo, there are 23 special wards, which was established back in 1943 under the Japanese Local Autonomy Act.
The 23 wards are as follows:
My challenge started in 2015 and of the 23 wards, I was able to complete ten of the following wards (in bold):
- Adachi
- Arakawa
- Bunkyo
- Chiyoda
- Chuo
- Edogawa
- Itabashi
- Katsushika
- Kita
- Koto
- Meguro
- Minato
- Nakano
- Nerima
- Ota
- Setagaya
- Shinagawa
- Shibuya
- Shinjuku
- Suginami
- Sumida
- Taito
- Toshima
The Tokyo Ward Challenge involves the following rules:
- You must visit and document your visit to each ward by photos or video. And that’s it!
While I finished ten of the wards, I have 13 more to go and in October/November, I will still be visiting all 23 wards in this coming trip. As well as other prefectures.
For the majority of my trip, there will be sunshine, which is plus. But there are days where showers will no doubt be there.
