Jōtō-ku (Osaka, Japan)

Jōtō-ku (城東区, Jōtō-ku) is one of the 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. "Jōtō" means "east of the castle", referring to Osaka Castle. It was separated from Higashinari and Asahi in 1943, and eastern Jōtō became Tsurumi in 1974. Jōtō-ku has the highest population density of any ward in a city-designated municipality in Japan, and is the only ward with a density that exceeds 20,000 people per square kilometre. When the special wards of Tokyo are also included, it is the sixth densest ward in the country after Toshima, Nakano, Arakawa, Bunkyō and Taitō. In recent years, there has been increased construction of high-rise condominiums in the western and northern parts of the ward, and the population of Jōtō-ku continues to grow.