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 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 RosenberPop ...

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 terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial te ...

s along the Arakawa River. It is Saitama's largest municipality in terms of surface area and shares borders with Tokyo, Yamanashi, Nagano and

Gunma 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 studi ...

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 when ...

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 the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

industry.

Surrounding municipalities

Hannō is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 79,123 in 35,440 households and a population density of 410 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Hannō is located on the southern ...

* Tokigawa * Kamikawa * Ogano * Minano * Yokoze * Higashichichibu

Tokyo Metropolis 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 ...

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 ...

* Kōshū * Yamanashi * Tabayama

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 nort ...

* 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 P ...

* 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 N ...

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 capi ...

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, ...

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 is a Japanese Shinto shrine at Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture.Kotodamaya.com"Chichibu Jinja" retrieved 2013-1-26. History According to text in the ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'' ('' Kujiki''), Chichibuhiko-no-mikoto, the tenth-generation descendan ...

. The city's older name, Ōmiya ("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 A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

Wadō (和銅, meaning "Japanese copper") is proclaimed in recognition of this welcome event in the initial months of

Empress Genmei , also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through ...

's reign. The copper is used to mint ''Wadō Kaihō'' or ''

Wadōkaichin , also romanized as ''Wadō-kaichin'' or called ''Wadō-kaihō'', is the oldest official Japanese coinage, first mentioned for 29 August 708 on order of Empress Genmei. It was long considered to be the first type of coin produced in Japan. Ana ...

,'' 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 is a district located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population 755 and a density of 77.58 persons per km2. The total area is 796.03 km2. History According to text in the ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'' ('' Kuj ...

with the establishment of the municipalities system *1914: The

Chichibu Railway The is a small-sector private railway company operating a railway line in northern Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In addition to its railway operations, the company deals in the real estate and tourism industries. It managed the Mitsumine Ropeway (� ...

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 opened. *2005: Chichibu absorbed the town of Yoshida, 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 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

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 and Seibu Chichibu Line. The

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 abbreviat ...

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 opera ...

, 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

– Seibu Chichibu Line * 20px

– Chichibu Main Line * – – – – – – – – –

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. Bot ...

. 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, ...

, since October 14, 1983 * Sanyō-Onoda, Yamaguchi, since May 20, 1996 *

Antioch, California Antioch is the third-largest city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The city's population was 115,291 at the 2020 cens ...

, 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 Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976, ...

Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...

, China, since October 7, 1988 * Warringah, 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 Kittik ...

, 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. In ...

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

. 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 *

* Hitsujiyama Park *

* Lake Chichibu * Mitsumine Shrine * Nakatsugawa Gorge * 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 (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'' and '' Her Blue Sky'', all of which were written by

Mari Okada is a Japanese screenwriter, director and manga artist. She is one of the most prolific writers currently working in the anime industry. She won the 16th Animation Kobe Award. Personal life Okada was born in Chichibu. She was often bullied at ...

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 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 '' H.M.S. Pin ...

'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 operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Sav ...

''; 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 Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

, 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 The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan opera performances and fringe events attracts thousands ...

in Buxton, England.

Notable people from Chichibu

* Seijuro Arafune, Former Minister of Transport *

, screenwriter and director * Akihito Ozawa, 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 '' T ...

, 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 is a Japanese professional wrestler. Trained by the Major Girl's Fighting AtoZ promotion, Nakajima made her debut in January 2006, but when the promotion folded the following May, she transferred over to JWP Joshi Puroresu, where she became a ...

, professional wrestler * Bukō Shimizu, photographer *

Akira Taue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is also a former All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and has had fourteen 5 Star Matches as awarded by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. ...

, 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