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 117,995 in 50,801 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 1700 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Located in east-central Saitama Prefecture, Kōnosu is on the central reaches of the Arakawa River, which flows through the west of the city, whereas the Motoara River flows from the southeastern to central portion.

Surrounding municipalities

Saitama Prefecture * Gyōda * Kazo * Kitamoto * Kumagaya * Kuki * Okegawa * Yoshimi

Climate

Kōnosu 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 Kōnosu is 14.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1335 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kōnosu has recently plateaued after a long period of growth.

History

In ancient times, the area around Kōnosu was the center of

Musashi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

and there are many

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...

burial mounds. The area was a favored falconry site by the Tokugawa shoguns 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 ...

and was also the location of

Kōnosu-shuku was the seventh of the 69 Stations of the Nakasendō, sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day city of Kōnosu, Saitama, Kōnosu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. H ...

, a post station on the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' ...

highway. The town of Kōnosu was created within Kitaadachi District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On July 1, 1954, Kōnosu annexed the neighboring villages of Mida, Tamamiya, Mamuro and Kasahara (from Kitasaitama District). On September 30, 1954 Kōnosu annexed the village of Jōkō, and was elevated to city status. On October 1, 2005 the villages of Kawasato and Fukiage were also annexed.

Government

Kōnosu 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 26 members. Kōnosu contributes two members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Saitama 6th district and Saitama 12th 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

Plastics and electronic components manufacturing are the largest industries in Kōnosu. Flower gardening and rice cultivation are also popular, and Kōnosu is also the main production center for traditional dolls used in the

Hinamatsuri , also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is an annual festival in Japan (but not a national holiday), celebrated on 3March of each year. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"Hina Matsuri"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 313. Platforms covered with ...

festival. The city is also increasingly becoming 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 o ...

for the

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Education

Kōnosu has 19 public elementary schools and eight public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped. Previously the city housed a Brazilian school, Centro Educacional Canarinho.Escolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. February 7, 2008. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.

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 ...

– Takasaki Line * – –

Highway

Local attractions

270px, Kōnosu Doll Festival Kōnosu earned the nickname "Doll Town" for its many " Hina Ningyō" (a type of Japanese doll) factories. Kōnosu is also called "Flower town". It has several flower markets, and many flowers purchased in Tokyo and throughout the Kantō region are grown in Kōnosu.

Festivals

* Sakura Matsuri * Natsu Matsuri (Summer Festival) * Ootori Matsuri (autumn) * Ojuya (November 13 to November 15) * Shishimai (August 18) * Mato Matsuri (January 12)

Noted people from Kōnosu

* Chō, voice actor * Naomichi Marufuji, professional wrestler * Kazuyuki Nakane, Politician *

One (manga artist) ONE (stylized in all caps) or Tomohiro is the pseudonym of a Japanese manga artist, who is best known for his web manga series ''One-Punch Man'', which was later remade into a digital manga illustrated by Yusuke Murata. ''One'' serializes the ...

, Mangaká (brought up) * Shōei, actor * Susumu Takagi, Politician

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konosu Cities in Saitama Prefecture Kōnosu