is a neighborhood located in Tama-ku, Kawasaki

Tama-ku, Kawasaki

is one of the 8 wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 211,221 and a density of 10,310 persons per km². The total area was 20.49 km².-Geography:...

, Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 just across the southwestern border of Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 metropolis on the Tama River

Tama River

The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government....

 approximately 18 minutes south of Shinjuku on the Odakyu Odawara Line Express.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 established its secret institute, the Number Nine Research Laboratory

Number Nine Research Laboratory

The , also called the , was a military development laboratory run by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1937 to 1945. The lab, based in Noborito, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan focused on clandestine activities and unconventional warfare, including energy weapons, intelligence and...

, for researching special weapons

Japanese secret and special weapons

This article refers to plans for the incorporation and development of special or secret weapons in Imperial Japan during the first part of the Showa era, for the Second Sino-Japanese war and World War II, that were originally hidden from public knowledge to protect their efficacy.The United States...

 - Balloon bomb, Counterfeit Bill

Counterfeit

To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...

, and other chemical and biological weapons. It's called "Noborito Institute" now, and several houses are used by Meiji University

Meiji University

is a private university in Tokyo and Kawasaki, founded in 1881 by three lawyers of the Meiji era, Kishimoto Tatsuo, Miyagi Kōzō, and Yashiro Misao. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Japanese universities in Tokyo, Japan....

.

For many years after 1945 Noborito was thought of as a rather sleepy bed town and company dormitory for workers to commute to more urban destinations such as Kawasaki

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....

 and Tachikawa

Tachikawa, Tokyo

is a city located in western Tokyo, Japan.As of February 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 178,064 and the density of 7,303.69 people per km². The total area is 24.38 km²...

, and of course Shinjuku.

Noborito has some pleasant surprises, not least the Taro Okamoto

Okamoto Taro

was a Japanese artist noted for his abstract and avant-garde paintings and sculpture.- Biography :He studied at Panthéon-Sorbonne in the 1930s, and created many great works of art after World War II...

 Art Museum and MinKa-en folk village.

With regards to the train stations in Japan, these settlements are nearer from Mukōgaoka-Yūen Station

Mukogaoka-Yuen Station

is a railway station on the Odakyu Odawara Line in Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.-Platforms:-History:* 1927 - The station opens as Inada-Noborito Station...

 than Noborito Station

Noborito Station

is an interchange railway station in the Noborito neighborhood of Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company and the Odakyu Electric Railway.- Lines :*Nambu Line*Odakyu Odawara Line...

.