250px, Ruins of Musashi Kokubun-ji temple is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 126,791, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of 11,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Kokubunji is located on the Musashino Terrace of western Tokyo, approximately in the geographic centre of mainland Tokyo Metropolis. The city extends for about 5.68 kilometers east-to-west by about 3.86 kilometers north-to-south.

Surrounding municipalities

Tokyo Metropolis * Fuchū * Kunitachi *

Tachikawa 250px, Showa Memorial Park is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 184,383 in 93,428 households, and a population density of 7600 persons per km2. The total area of the ci ...

* Kodaira * Koganei

Climate

Kokubunji has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kokubunji is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm, with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August (at around 25.5 °C) and lowest in January (at around 2.6 °C).

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kokubunji increased rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s.

History

The area of present-day Kokubunji was part of ancient Musashi Province, and was the site of the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

Provincial temple were Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). History Shōmu (701 – 756?) decreed both a ''kokubun-ji'' for monks and a for nuns to be established in ea ...

of that province. In the post-

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

cadastral reform of 1878, the area became part of Kitatama District in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

. The village of Kokubunji was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Kitatama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. Kokubunji was elevated to town status in 1940, and to city status on November 3, 1964.

Government

Kokubunji has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city council of 22 members. Kokubunji, together with the city of Kunitachi, contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tokyo 19th district of the lower house of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Economy

Kokubunji is the home of the

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

Central Research Laboratory, which contains one of the largest natural preserves in the area surrounding Tokyo. The Railway Technical Research Institute, the technical research company under the

Japan Railways The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...

group of companies is also located in Kokubunji.

Education

The city has one public high school, , which is operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. Kokubunji has ten public elementary schools and five public middle schools. Municipal junior high schools: * No. 1 ( 第一中学校) * No. 2 ( 第二中学校) * No. 3 ( 第三中学校) * No. 4 ( 第四中学校) * No. 5 ( 第五中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * No. 1 (第一小学校) * No. 2 ( 第二小学校) * No. 3 (第三小学校) * No. 4 (第四小学校) * No. 5 (第五小学校) * No. 6 (第六小学校) * No. 7 (第七小学校) * No. 8 (第八小学校) * No. 9 (第九小学校) * No. 10 (第十小学校) There is also one private K-12 school, affiliated with Waseda University: . Tokyo Keizai University has a campus at Kokubunji.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

– Chūō Main Line * - JR logo (east)

–

Musashino Line The is a railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It links Tsurumi Station in Yokohama with Nishi-Funabashi Station in Chiba Prefecture, forming a 100.6 km unclosed loop around central Tokyo. Passenger operations a ...

*Nishi-Kokubunji SeibuRailway mark

Seibu Railway is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism, and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbrevia ...

Seibu Kokubunji Line The is a railway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism, and real estate. Seibu Railway's ope ...

* -

- Seibu Tamako Line *Kokubunji

Highway

*Kokubunji is not served by any national highways or expressways.

Sister city relations

* –

Marion, South Australia Marion is a suburb in the City of Marion, around south-west of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Founded as a rural village in 1838 on the banks of the Sturt River, Marion was found to have rich soil and the populatio ...

, Australia

Local attractions

* Site of Musashi ''kokubunji'' * Tonogayato Garden

References

External links

*
Kokubunji City Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Tokyo Western Tokyo