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.