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

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 ...

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 61,159 in 26,380 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 RosenberPopul ...

of . The total area of the city is .

Geography

Chichibu is in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unlike other parts of the prefecture, it is largely mountainous and the population is concentrated in river terraces along the Arakawa River. It is Saitama's largest municipality in terms of surface area and shares borders with

Tokyo 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 37.468 ...

, Yamanashi,

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

and Gunma Prefectures. A large portion of the city belongs to

Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park is a national park in Japan at the intersection of Saitama, Yamanashi, Nagano and Tokyo Prefectures. With eight peaks over 2000 m scattered over 1250 km², there are numerous hiking trails and ancient shrines. The best known landmarks ar ...

. Because the region is not suitable for growing rice, many people have traditionally depended on

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...

farming.

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from

Mount Bukō is a mountain in Chichibu, Saitama is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,159 in 26,380 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chichibu is ...

, which rises south of the city center, is another major source of income for the region. The city is shifting its focus toward sightseeing, taking advantages of its rich natural environment and relative closeness to the Tokyo metropolitan area. The city is also famous for its

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

industry.

Surrounding municipalities

* Hannō * Tokigawa * Kamikawa * Ogano *

Minano is a town located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 9,497 in 3994 households and a population density of 150 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Located in western Saitama Prefectur ...

* Yokoze * Higashichichibu Tokyo Metropolis *

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 ...

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 no ...

Kōshū Kōshū or Koshu may refer to: * ** Kōshū, another name for Kai Province. ** Kōshū, Yamanashi, the present city in Yamanashi Prefecture. ** Koshu (grape) Koshu (甲州 ''kōshū'') is a white wine grape variety that has been grown primarily ...

* Yamanashi *

Tabayama is a village located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 529, and a population density of 5.79 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . Geography Located in the northeastern corner of Yamanas ...

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

* Kawakami

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

* Fujioka * Kanna *

Ueno is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...

Climate

Chichibu 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 Chichibu is 13.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1325 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.0 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Chichibu has decreased gradually over the past 60 years.

History

Chichibu was incorporated as a city on April 1, 1950, although

Chichibu Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Saitama Prefecture. History According to text in the ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'' (''Kujiki''), there was an area called Chichibu Province during the reign of Emperor Sujin. ...

had already existed since before the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

and the region has developed many local traditions. Chichibu Province was incorporated into

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 7th century AD. During premodern times, the town developed as a marketplace of the district as well as the town around Chichibu Shrine. The city's older name,

Ōmiya Ōmiya 大宮 is a Japanese word originally used for the imperial palace or shrines, now a common name, and may refer to: People *Ōmiya (surname), a Japanese surname *Ōmiya, or is a female character in ''The Tale of Genji'', an 11th-century nove ...

("big shrine"), was derived from the shrine. Since its incorporation in 1950, the area of the city has grown through a series of mergers, the most recent in 2005.

Timeline

*708: Deposits of copper are discovered in the region and offered to the Imperial Court. The era name Wadō (和銅, meaning "Japanese copper") is proclaimed in recognition of this welcome event in the initial months of Empress Genmei's reign. The copper is used to mint ''Wadō Kaihō'' or '' Wadōkaichin,'' which are amongst the oldest examples of coinage in Japa
-- see image of ''Wado Kaichin'' from Japan Mint Museum
*1884: The Chichibu incident: uprising of impoverished peasants under the influence of the

Freedom and People's Rights Movement The (abbreviated as ) or Popular Rights Movement was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy in the 1880s. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the Unequal Treaties with the United States and European c ...

. Seven are sentenced to death and over 4,000 people punished. *1889: Ōmiya Town was founded within Chichibu District, Saitama with the establishment of the municipalities system *1914: The Chichibu Railway opened. *1916: Ōmiya Town was renamed Chichibu Town. *1950: Chichibu was elevated to city status. *1954: Chichibu absorbed the villages of Odamaki, Haraya and Kuna. *1957: Chichibu absorbed the villages of Takashino and Ōta. *1958: Chichibu absorbed the town of Kagemori. *1969: The

Seibu Chichibu Line The is a railway line in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, operated by Seibu Railway. It is an extension of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, and connects Agano Station and Seibu-Chichibu Station. Stations All trains go via Agano Station to the Seibu Ikebu ...

opened. *2005: Chichibu absorbed the town of

Yoshida Yoshida (written: 吉田 lit. "lucky ricefield") is the 11th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is 芳田 (lit. "fragrant ricefield"). Notable people with the surname include: *Ai Yoshida, Japanese sailor *, Japanese idol, singer ...

, and the villages of Arakawa and Ōtaki (all from Chichibu District).

Government

Chichibu 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 22 members. Chichibu contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Saitama 11th 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 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 ...

Economy

The local economy of Chichibu remains based on agricultural and forestry, as well as tourism.

Education

Chichibu has 14 public elementary schools and eight public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

Two lines serve the city: the

Chichibu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, owned by the private railway operator Chichibu Railway, linking and , both in Saitama Prefecture. Stations ;Legend * ● - All trains stop * ○ - Some trains stop * ▲ - Some trains pass * ▼ - Trains ...

and

. The Chichibu Railway was constructed along the Arakawa River and first opened in 1914.

Seibu Railway is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism, and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbreviati ...

reached the city in 1969 and considerably reduced the travel time to Tokyo. It takes approximately one and a half hours to travel from

Seibu-Chichibu Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Chichibu, Saitama, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway. Lines Seibu-Chichibu Station is the terminus station of the Seibu Chichibu Line, and is located 19.0 k ...

Ikebukuro Station Ikebukuro Station ( ja, 池袋駅, ) is a major railway station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, shared by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro, and the two private railway operat ...

, one of the major train terminals in Tokyo. These lines carry people as well as limestone from Mount Bukō. The two lines were directly connected on April 1, 1989. Chichibu Railway also operated the Mitsumine Ropeway, which carried passengers visiting . The ropeway was taken out of service since May 19, 2006, and was officially abandoned on December 1, 2007. SeibuRailway mark

–

* 20px Chichibu Railway –

* – – – – – – – – –

Highway

Two national roads, Route 140 and 299, serve the city. Route 140 connects the city to its nearest expressway interchange, Hanazono Interchange of the

Kan-Etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is the ''kanji'' acronym of and the old comprising modern-day Niigata Prefecture. Officially, the Kan-Etsu consists of two routes. Both ...

. The city had no road communication to Yamanashi Prefecture due to steep

Okuchichibu Mountains or the is a mountainous district in the Kantō region and Kōshin'etsu region, Japan. It covers the western part of Tokyo, the western part of Saitama Prefecture, the southwestern part of Gunma Prefecture, the southeastern part of Nagano Prefe ...

, but the opening of the

Karisaka Tunnel The Karisaka Tunnel is a Japanese toll tunnel that opened April 23, 1998 between Chichibu, Saitama, Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture and Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Yamanashi City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Until this tunnel opened, there was no direct road ...

in 1998 enabled the city to connect to Yamanashi.雁坂トンネル
* *

Twin towns and sister cities

Toshima, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku, a ...

, since October 14, 1983 * Sanyō-Onoda, Yamaguchi, since May 20, 1996 * Antioch, California, United States, since September 16, 1967 *

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

, Gangwon-do, South Korea, since February 16, 1983 * Linfen, Shanxi Province, China, since October 7, 1988 *

Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: *Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 *Electoral ...

, Australia, since April 26, 1996 *

Yasothon Yasothon ( th, ยโสธร, ) is a town on the Chi River in the north-eastern region of Thailand. It is the capital and administrative center of Yasothon province and seat of its city district. In this district, subdistrict Nai Mueang ( 'in ...

Yasothon Province Yasothon province ( th, ยโสธร, ), one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat''), lies in central northeastern Thailand also called Isan. The province was established by the revolutionary council of Field Marshal Thanom Kittika ...

, Thailand, since May 6, 1999

Local attractions

Chichibu ryusei Fes 1.jpg, Ryusei festival in Yoshida town Misotsuchi Icicles 120215a.JPG, Icicles of the Misotsuchi Chichibu Yomatsuri.jpg, Chichibu Night Traditional Festival Hitsujiyama-park Phlox subulata 2005.jpg, Hitsujiyama-park Phlox subulata Chichibu-jinja Honden 01.jpg, A main gate in Chichibu Shrine On December 3, Chichibu holds an annual night festival (

Intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

). It attracts crowds from Chichibu, Saitama prefecture, neighboring

, and the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

. Kawase matsuri is Chichibu shrine's summer festival. It takes place every July 19 and July 20. Eight groups carrying special ''dashi'' floats march along to festival music around the city. ''

Mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

'' (sacred portable shrines) are brought to special places in each neighborhood where they are enshrined. Neighborhood association heads wash the ''mikoshi'' in the Arakawa River. Other attractions of the city include: *

Chichibu Muse Park is a Cities of Japan, city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,159 in 26,380 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chichibu is in the westernmost part ...

* Chichibu Shrine * Hitsujiyama Park *

* Lake Chichibu * Mitsumine Shrine *

Nakatsugawa Gorge Magome-juku on the Nakasendō is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,930, and a population density of 120 persons per km2 in 30,788 households The total area of the city was . Geography Nakatsugawa is i ...

* Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage

In popular media

As a picturesque area within fairly easy reach of Tokyo, Chichibu has been much photographed. However, the photography of Chichibu by the Chichibu native

Bukō Shimizu was a Japanese photographer who lived in and photographed Chichibu ( Saitama). Shimizu was born on 12 October 1913 in Chichibu, the eldest son of the family running a photography studio in Kumaki, Chichibu.Teruo Okai (, potted biography of Shimi ...

(1913–1995) is particularly extensive: Shimizu presented photographs of the mountains, people and customs of Chichibu in numerous books for the Japanese market, starting in 1954.Mihashi Sumiyo (), "Shimizu Bukō", ''Nihon shashinka jiten'' () / 328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers (Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000; ), p.175. (Despite the English-language alternative title, all in Japanese.) The town of Chichibu is the setting for the popular anime series '' Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day'' and the anime films ''

The Anthem of the Heart , abbreviated as and subtitled ''Beautiful Word Beautiful World'', is an Anime youth drama film produced by A-1 Pictures released in 2015. The film was directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai and written by Mari Okada. Masayoshi Tanaka served as the chief a ...

'' and ''

Her Blue Sky is a 2019 Japanese animated film produced by CloverWorks. The film is directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai and written by Mari Okada, with Masayoshi Tanaka designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. The trio under the creative team ...

'', all of which were written by Mari Okada who was born in Chichibu.

Possible connection with ''The Mikado''

The city considers itself as the inspiration for

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

's 1885 comic opera, ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''; the name of the opera's setting, "Titipu", is pronounced "Chichipu" in Japanese. Rokusuke Ei, a popular essayist, was convinced that Chichibu, the site of a peasant uprising in 1884, inspired the author, W. S. Gilbert, to set the opera in Japan. Other Japanese researchers have concluded that Gilbert may simply have heard of Chichibu silk, an important export in the 19th century. A theatre company from Chichibu has presented ''The Mikado'' in Japanese in Chichibu on March 10, 2001, performed by local actors, and throughout other locations in Japan. In August 2006, it travelled with this production to the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England.

Notable people from Chichibu

Seijuro Arafune was a Japanese politician and a Minister of Transport. He was a member of Liberal Democratic Party. Arafune resigned the Minister of Transport by the alleged abuse of power in 1966. Among these was requiring a National Railway express train to ...

, Former Minister of Transport * Mari Okada, screenwriter and director *

Akihito Ozawa is a Japanese football player who currently plays for Blaublitz Akita Career Akihito Ozawa joined Japan Football League club SP Kyoto FC in 2015. He moved to the J1 League club Albirex Niigata in 2016, and then to J3 League club Blaublitz Akita ...

, footballer *

Tatsuya Fujiwara is a Japanese actor. Internationally, he is best known for his leading roles as Shuya Nanahara in the '' Battle Royale'' films, Light Yagami in the ''Death Note'' films, Kaiji Itō in the '' Kaiji'' films, and Rikuhiko Yuki in Hideo Nakata's ''Th ...

, actor *

Wakachichibu Komei Wakachichibu Komei (real name Komei Kato, 16 March 1939 – 17 September 2014) was a sumo wrestler from Chichibu, Saitama, Japan. He made his professional debut in May 1954 and reached the top division in September 1958. His highest rank was ...

, former sumo wrestler * Arisa Nakajima, professional wrestler *

, photographer * Akira Taue, professional wrestler

References

External links

Official Website

Institute Chichibu tourism organizations

The Hall of Curious Stones
a private museum in Chichibu] {{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture Chichibu, Saitama Chichibu District, Saitama