250px, Daigaku-dori and sakura 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 76,423 in 38,825 households, 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 9,400 persons per km². Approximately 41.9% of the city population is over 65 years in age. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kunitachi is located in the Musashino Terrace of central Tokyo Metropolis. Kunitachi is known for its broad main avenue, Daigaku Dori (University Avenue). This cherry-tree-lined boulevard stretches from Kunitachi Station on the

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

toward the banks of the

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. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The rive ...

Surrounding municipalities

Tokyo Metropolis * Fuchū * Kokubunji *

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 ...

* Hino

Climate

Kunitachi 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 Kunitachi is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.5 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kunitachi population statistics
/ref> the population of Kunitachi has remained relatively constant for the past 40 years.

History

Kunitachi lies along the historical

Kōshū Kaidō The was one of the five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Kai Province in modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The route continues from there to connect with the Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku in ...

, a route that connected

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with Kofu in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Kai (present-day

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

). The area was noted for its abundant spring water. The villages of Ishida, Aoyagi and Yabo were created within Tama District of

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 ...

during the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The district was transferred from Kanagawa to Tokyo in 1893. In the 1920, much of the land was obtained by Kojiro Tsutsumi, the founder of Seibu, who began large-scale development of a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, which he intended to become a university town modeled after

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

in Germany. The Tokyo University of Commerce (currently Hitotsubashi University) was relocated from central Tokyo to this location, and a train station was opened on

in 1926. The station named "Kunitachi", taking one ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'' from the names of the stations to either side, namely

Kokubunji Station is an interchange railway station located in the city of Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and private railway operator Seibu Railway. Lines Kokubunji Station is served by the Chūō Line (Rapid) and is ...

and Tachikawa Station. The three villages were merged to form Kunitachi town in 1951. Kunitachi was elevated to city status on January 1, 1967.

Government

Kunitachi 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. Kunitachi, together with Kokubunji, contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Tokyo 21st district Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

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

Kunitachi remains a university town, but is also increasing a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

for central Tokyo, with an estimated 25.1% of the population commuting to central Tokyo daily, per the 2015 census.

Education

Tertiary: * Hitotsubashi University. The city was originally home to Kunitachi College of Music. The tertiary-level branch of the conservatory is now located far outside the city, but its attached high school and business affiliate, Kunitachi Gakki (Western Tokyo's largest community music center), remain in central Kunitachi. The city has two public high schools operated by the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education (東京都教育委員会 ''Tōkyō-to Kyōiku Iinkai'') is the board of education in Tokyo, Japan. The board directly manages all of the public high schools in all 23 special wards, the Wester ...

. * * Kunitachi has eight public elementary schools and three junior high schools operated by the city government. Municipal junior high schools: * Kunitachi No. 1 ( 国立第一中学校) * Kunitachi No. 2 ( 国立第二中学校) * Kunitachi No. 3 ( 国立第三中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Kunitachi No. 1 (国立第一小学校) * Kunitachi No. 2 (国立第二小学校) * Kunitachi No. 3 (国立第三小学校) * Kunitachi No. 4 (国立第四小学校) * Kunitachi No. 5 (国立第五小学校) * Kunitachi No. 6 (国立第六小学校) * Kunitachi No. 7 ( 国立第七小学校) * Kunitachi No. 8 (国立第八小学校) There are also three private high schools. There are also three private elementary schools and one private junior high school. * *

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 ...

–

– Nambu Line * -

Highway

* Chūō Expressway *

Local attractions

* Yabo Tenman-gū, a Shinto shrine established in 903 AD

References

External links

Kunitachi City Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Tokyo Western Tokyo