260px, Akigawa River in the autumn 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 Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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 north ...

. , 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 using a ...

of 80,177, 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 RosenberPopul ...

of 1100 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Akiruno is located in the foothills of the Okutama Mountains of western Tokyo, approximately 40-50 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The

Aki River The Aki River (also, the Akikawa River)Akigawa Valley / Official Tokyo Travel Guide GO TOKYO accessdate: April 13, 2017 is a river in Japan. The Aki River flows west of Tokyo Metropolitan Area. It is a major tributary of the Tama River,Japan ...

and Hirai River flow through the city. It measures approximately 18 kilometers form east-to-west by 12.7 kilometers from north-to-south. Because of its rich nature and calm surroundings compared to central Tokyo, and because of access to transportation, many tourists choose Akiruno for their vacation. Especially Seoto-no-yo Spa is famous for its high quality alkaline spring and is referred to as the “beautiful skin spa”. Also, Akiruno is one of the most popular place for BBQ, biking and hiking. One of the most famous trail running cups in Japan, The Hasetsune Cup, is held in Akiruno.

Surrounding municipalities

Fussa is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 56,786, and a population density of 5600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . About one third of the city area is occup ...

Hamura is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 54,622, and a population density of 5500 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Hamura is approximately in the ...

* Ōme * Hachioji * Hinode *

Okutama is a town located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 4,949, and a population density of 22 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Okutama is located in the Okutama Mo ...

* Hinohara

Climate

Akiruno 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 Akiruno is 13.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1998 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around1.9 °C. During the winter months, snowfall in the mountainous areas is almost daily. There is a difference in climate between the eastern part near the former Akigawa city and the western part near the former Itsukaichi town, and the temperature in the western part is generally lower than that in the eastern part.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Akiruno population statistics
/ref> the population of Akiruno increased slowly over the past century,

History

The area of present-day Akiruno was part of ancient

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

. 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 July 22, 1878, the area became part of Nishitama 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. Kana ...

. The town of Itsukaichi was created on April 1, 1889, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Nishitama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. Itsukaichi expanded through annexation of neighboring villages in 1918 and 1955. Higashiakiru, Nishiakiru, and Tasai grouped together on April 1, 1955, to form the town of Akigawa, which was elevated to city status on May 5, 1971. The city of Akiruno was created on September 1, 1995, by the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of the city of Akigawa with the neighboring town of Itsukaichi.

Government

Akiruno 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 multic ...

city council of 21 members. Akiruno, collectively with the municipalities of Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Hinode, Hinohara and Okutama, contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Tokyo 25th district Tōkyō 25th district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in the westernmost part of Tokyo prefecture. In of 2012, 321,319 eligible voters were registered in the district giving it the highest vote ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

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 paralle ...

Education

Akiruno has ten public elementary schools and six public junior high schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education. There are also one private elementary school, one private middle school, and one private high school. Tokyo Metropolis also operates one special education school for the handicapped. Metropolitan high schools: * * Municipal junior high schools: * Akita ( 秋多中学校) * Higashi (東中学校) * Itsukaichi (五日市中学校) * Masuko (増戸中学校) * Mido ( 御堂中学校) * Nishi (西中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Higashi Akiru ( 東秋留小学校) * Ichinotani (一の谷小学校) * Itsukaichi (五日市小学校) * Kusahana (草花小学校) * Maeda (前田小学校) * Masuko (増戸小学校) * Minami Akiru (南秋留小学校) * Nishi Akiru (西秋留小学校) * Tasai (多西小学校) * Yashiro (屋城小学校) Private: * *

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 are ...

–

Itsukaichi Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Tokyo, Japan. It links Musashi-Itsukaichi Station in the city of Akiruno with Haijima Station in the city of Akishima. From there, some trains travel through to Tachikaw ...

* – – – –

Highway

* *

Sister city relations

* –

Marlborough, Massachusetts Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the ...

, United States, since November 3, 1998

Notable people from Akiruno, Tokyo

* Masato Shibata, Japanese professional wrestler *

Tomoo Amino is a former Japanese professional basketball player. He played for the Aisin Seahorses of the JBL Super League. Amino also was a member of the Japan national basketball team. He played for the team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and the F ...

, Japanese former

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

player

References

External links

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