260px, Pond at JGSDF Camp Asaka 260px, former IJA Officer Preparatory School at JGSDF Camp Asaka is a city located in

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture a ...

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 143,195 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 RosenberPop ...

of 7800 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Located in far southern Saitama Prefecture, Asaka in the center of the

Musashino Terrace The , also translated as Musashino Platform and also named as Musashino Region, is a large tableland (known as a fluvial terrace) in the Kantō region of Honshu, Japan. The Musashino Plateau is a plateau that extends between the Arakawa and Tama ...

on the central reaches of the Arakawa River, which runs along the city border with Saitama in the northeastern part of the city,

Surrounding municipalities

** Saitama ** Shiki ** Toda ** Wako **

Niiza is a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 166,208 in 76,639 households and a population density of 7300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Niiza is located at the southernmost tip ...

*Tokyo Metropolis **

Nerima-ku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Nerima City. , the ward has an estimated population of 721,858, with 323,296 households and a population density of 15,013 persons per km2, while 15,326 foreign residents are r ...

Climate

Asaka 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 Ageo is 15.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1427 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Asaka population statistics
/ref> the population of Asaka has grown roughly tenfold since the 1950s.

History

The area of modern Asaka developed as a series of four post stations on the Kawagoe Kaidō highway from the Muromachi period onwards. During the

Edo Period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterize ...

, the area was noted as a center for copper crafts. Following the

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 r ...

, the village of Hizaori was created within Niikura District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Niikura District was abolished in 1894 and became part of Kitaadachi District. It was raised to town status on May 1, 1921, and renamed Asaka after

Prince Yasuhiko Asaka General was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. Son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of E ...

who was an honorary chairman of the Tokyo Golf Club, which relocated to the area at that time. On April 1, 1955, Asaka annexed the neighboring village of Uchimagi. At the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

in neighboring Tokyo, the town hosted the riding part of the

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the an ...

event at Asaka Nezu Park. Asaka was elevated to city status on March 15, 1967. In 2005, a proposal to merge Asaka with Shiki, Wako, and Niiza to form a new city with a combined population sufficient to qualify for

core city In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city i ...

status was defeated in a referendum, largely due to opposition from Wako.

Government

Asaka 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 24 members. Asaka contributes two members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Saitama 4th district , the House of Representatives of Japan is elected from a combination of multi-member districts and single-member districts, a method called Parallel voting. Currently, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member districts (called proportional r ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two chambers of a 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 come to wield more power or oth ...

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 ...

Economy

Due to its location, Asaka is primarily a

bedroom community 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 ...

with over 37% of its population commuting to the Tokyo metropolis for work. The area is also a distribution hub for northern Tokyo.

Education

Asaka has ten public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education.

Toyo University is a university with several branches in Japan, including Hakusan, Asaka, Kawagoe, Itakura, and Akabane. Overview The predecessor to Toyo University was , which was founded at Rinsho-in Temple by Enryo Inoue in 1887. Inoue felt that the ...

also has a campus in Asaka.

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 ...

–

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 ...

Tōbu Railway -

Tōbu Tōjō Line The is a 75.0 km suburban railway line in Japan which runs from Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, Tokyo to Yorii Station in Yorii, Saitama, operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway. Its official name is the , but it is referr ...

* -

Highway

Military facilities

*JGSDF

Camp Asaka Camp Asaka is a base of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. It lies in four municipalities: Nerima, Tokyo; Asaka, Saitama; Wako, Saitama; and Niiza, Saitama. It serves as the headquarters of the Eastern Army. The camp was originally the site ...

Noted people from Asaka

* Daieishō Hayato, sumo wrestler * Akira Nakamura, professional baseball player * Shohei Takashima, professional baseball player * Yuhi, professional wrestler

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture Venues of the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic modern pentathlon venues Asaka, Saitama