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 de ...

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 largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

, Japan. , 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 ...

of 54,622, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 5500 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Hamura is approximately in the west-center of Tokyo Metropolis, on 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 Tam ...

. It flanks the

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The rive ...

about upriver from the mouth. Hamura is composed of the following neighborhoods: Fujimidaira, Futabacho, Gonokami, Hane, Hanehigashi, Kawasaki, Midorigaoka, Ozakudai, Shinmeidai, Tamagawa, Yokotakichinai.

Surrounding municipalities

* Ōme * Akiruno * Fussa * Mizuho

Climate

Hamura has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hamura is 13.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1998 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hamura increased rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, but has remained relatively constant for the past 40 years.

History

The area of present-day Hamura has been inhabited since

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC; although any date of human presence before 35,000 BC ...

times, and numerous remains from the Jōmon, Yayoi and Kofun periods have been discovered. During 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, Nara, Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remai ...

, it became 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 ...

. The Tamagawa Josui, an artificial waterway completed in 1653 to divert water from the Tama River and carry it as drinking water to

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

, begins in what is now part of Hamura. 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 r ...

cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, several hamlets (one of which was named Hane-mura) merged to form Nishitama Village in Nishitama District, at that time part of

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 entire district was transferred to the control of Tokyo Prefecture on April 1, 1893. In 1956, Nishitama Village became the town of Hamura. On November 1, 1991, Hamura was elevated to city status.

Government

Hamura 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 multi ...

city council of 18 members. Hamura, collectively with Fussa, Akiruno, 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 of the lower house 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 paral ...

Economy

Hamura is primary a regional commercial center, and 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 ...

for central Tokyo and neighbouring Ōme. Several electronic companies have light industrial or

logistical Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

facilities in Hamura.

Hino Motors Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corpo ...

and

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

have a plant and test track in the city.

Education

Hamura has seven public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has one high school operated by the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education (東京都教育委員会 ''Tōkyō-to Kyōiku Iinkai'') is the board of education in Tokyo, Japan. The board directly manages all of the public high schools in all 23 special wards, the Wester ...

. There is also one special education school for the handicapped. Public junior high schools: * Hamura No. 1 (羽村第一中学校) * Hamura No. 2 (羽村第二中学校) * Hamura No. 3 (羽村第三中学校) Public elementary schools: * Fujimi (富士見小学校) * Hamura Higashi (羽村東小学校) * Hamura Nishi (羽村西小学校) * Musashino (武蔵野小学校) * Ozakudai (小作台小学校) * Sakae (栄小学校) * Shorin ( 松林小学校) The United States

Department of Defense Education Activity The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is a federal school system headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on behal ...

(DoDEA) operates the following schools on

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 p ...

and in the municipality of Hamura for children of United States military personnel: * Yokota West Elementary School For secondary levels, U.S. military-dependent children are directed to Yokota Middle School and Yokota High School, both on base, but in Fussa instead of Hamura.

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 ar ...

–

Ōme Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in western Tokyo, Japan. It links Tachikawa and the Chūō Line with the town of Okutama. Many Chūō Line trains operate via the Ōme Line to Ōme Station, providing no ...

* -

Highway

Local attractions

*Hamura Diversion Weir *Aso Shrine *Hamura Zoo

Notable people from Hamura

* Shinji Jojo, professional soccer player *

Yuzo Kobayashi is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender. National team career In June 2005, Kobayashi was selected Japan U-20 national team for 2005 World Youth Championship. At this tournament, he played full time in all 4 mat ...

, professional soccer player * Shizuka Kudo, actress, singer * Hiroomi Tosaka, singer and actor

References

External links

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