is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 345,353 in 158,022 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 5700 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is famous for producing daruma dolls.

Geography

Koshigaya is situated in eastern Saitama Prefecture, in the alluvial plain of the Nakagawa basin between the Omiya plateau and the Shimosa plateau. Most of the city area is flat with an average elevation of only five meters above sea level. Many rivers, including the Motoara River, Naka River, Ayase River, Furutone River, and Sakagawa River flow in the city. Koshigaya, which is about 25 kilometers north of Tokyo and developed as a transportation for water and land transportation from premodern times.

Surrounding municipalities

** Kasukabe ** Kawaguchi ** Matsubushi ** Saitama **

Sōka is a Cities of Japan, city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 249,645 in 118,129 households and a population density of 9100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Sōka is situated in ...

** Yoshikawa

Climate

Koshigaya has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Koshigaya is 14.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1408 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Koshigaya population statistics
/ref> the population of Koshigaya has increased rapidly from the 1960s.

History

The area around Koshigaya was an inlet of the sea in the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

and was settle during the

Yayoi The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

or early

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

. In the Nara period, it was a border area straddling Musashi and

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture as well as the bordering parts of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo (the parts that used to be located east of the lower reaches of the old Tone River prior to the ...

s. Koshigaya-shuku prospered during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

as a post station on the

Nikkō Kaidō The was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect the ''de facto'' capital of Japan at Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with the temple-shrine complex of the Mangan-ji and Tōshōsha (now cal ...

and the Ōshū Kaidō highways, and the town served as the temporary residence of the Tokugawa shōgun after the 1657

Great Fire of Meireki The , also known as the Great Furisode Fire, destroyed 60–70% of Edo (now Tokyo), then ''de facto'' capital city of Japan, on 2 March 1657, the third year of the Meireki Era. The fire lasted for three days and, in combination with a severe b ...

which destroyed

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...

. The town also had a riverine connection with

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

and served as a transportation and transshipment center.

Municipal timeline

* The town of Koshigaya (then spelled 越ヶ谷) was created within Minamisaitama District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. * It annexed the neighboring villages of Ozawa, Niikata, Sakurai, Obukuro, Ogishima, Dewa, Gamo, Osagami, and Masubayashi on November 3, 1954 and changed the spelling of its name to its present form. * Koshigaya annexed the neighboring village of Soka on November 3, 1955. * Koshigaya was elevated to city status on November 3, 1958. Koshigaya was elevated further to special city status on April 1, 2003 and to

core city In urban planning, a historic core city or central city is the municipality with the largest 1940 population in the present metropolitan area (metropolitan statistical area). This term was retired by the US census bureau and replaced by the term ...

status on April 1, 2015.

Government

Koshigaya 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 32 members. Koshigaya contributes four members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 3rd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Koshigaya is a major regional commercial center with a diversified industrial base.

Education

* Bunkyo University * Saitama Prefectural University * Saitama Toho Junior College * Koshigaya has 30 public elementary schools and 15 public middle schools operated by the city government, and six public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. In addition, there are one private middle school and two private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 are in ...

–

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 unclosed loop around central Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tok ...

* - 35px Tōbu Railway -

Tōbu Isesaki Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway, extending from Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Station in Saitama to Isesaki Station in Gunma Prefecture. The Isesaki Line can refer to the entire section between As ...

* - - - - -

Highway

* *

Sister cities

* Campbelltown,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, since April 11, 1984

Local attractions

* Aeon Laketown shopping mall * Aritaki Arboretum

In fiction

The actual scenery of Koshigaya is set in the anime and manga series, ''

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid , also known as ''The Maid Dragon of Kobayashi-san'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Coolkyousinnjya. The series began serialization in Futabasha's '' Monthly Action'' magazine since May 2013 until 2024 when ...

''. albeit with the name of "Oborozuka".

Notable people

* Yasue Funayama, politician * Sumio Iijima, scientist * Abi Masatora, sumo wrestler * Tsubasa Masuwaka, fashion model * Junri Namigata, professional tennis player * Boniface Nduka, football player * Yuka Ogino, tarento * Atsushi Satō, one of the lead vocalists of

EXILE Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

* Ryuto Yasuoka, basketball player

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture Koshigaya, Saitama