Serika

Serika (芹香) officially Serika Metropolis (芹香都), 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, Sichijou Group providing majority of the city incomes.

Etymology
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.

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.

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.

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
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.

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.