Sumida, Tokyo southeast; Taitō to the west; Chūō to the southwest; and Kōtō to the south. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. It was previously the (ordinary) wards Honjo and Mukojima. Mukojima, formed in 1932, contained the former town of Sumida, which along with the river gave the ward its name. As of 2005, the mayor is Noboru Yamazaki. The council consists of 34 members. Public elementary and middle schools are operated by Sumida. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. In addition, the metropolitan school district also operates a metropolitan junior high school:
Sumida River Ryosai I and his son Inoue Ryosai II. In the late 1890s, Ryosai I developed a style of applied figures on a surface with flowing glaze, based on Chinese glazes called "flambe." Sumida pieces could be teapots, ash trays, or vases, and were made for export to the West. Inoue Ryosai III, grandson of Ryosai I, moved the manufacturing site to Yokohama in 1924, but the pieces continued to be identified as Sumida ware. The pottery has been subject to various myths, such as being manufactured on the make-believe island of Poo, which was washed away by a typhoon, or