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 61,540 in 27,461 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 2300 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Located in east-central Saitama Prefecture, Hasuda is directly north of the prefectural capital of Saitama City. It consists of the Hasuda Plateau in the center of the city, which is part of the Omiya Plateau , the Shiraoka (Kurohama) Plateau in the east, with Motoara River in between, and the lowlands around the Ayase River that runs west and south.

Surrounding municipalities

* Saitama * Okegawa *

Ageo 260px, Ageo Maruyama Park is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 229,517 in 103,709 households and a population density of 5000 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Ag ...

* Kuki * Shiraoka * Ina

Climate

Hasuda 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 Hasuda is 14.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1363 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hasuda peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly in the decades since.

History

The area of modern Hasuda has been settled since the prehistoric period, and there are numerous archaeological sites, including

shell midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

s and

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a ...

within the city limits. In addition, traces of samurai residences and castles from the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

remain. Much of what is now Hasuda was part of

Iwatsuki Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in Musashi Province (modern-day Saitama Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Iwatsuki Castle in what is now part of Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama. History Iwatsuki was an important ...

under 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 characteriz ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. After 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 ...

, the village of Ayase was created within Minamisaitama District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to town status on October 1, 1934 and renamed Hasuda. Hasuda annexed the neighboring villages of Kurohama and Hirano on May 3, 1954 and was elevated to city status on October 1, 1972. On March 31, 2010, Hasuda was to be merged with the neighboring town of Shiraoka (from Minamisaitama District). However, the merger was canceled shortly after Shiraoka managed to grow its population to 50,000 people, qualifying it as a city.

Government

Hasuda 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 20 members. Hasuda contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Saitama 13th 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

Due to this location, Hasuda 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 half of its population commuting to neighboring Saitama City or to the Tokyo metropolis for work. However, much of the city remains agricultural.

Education

Hasuda has eight public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. ;Kindergarten: * Oyama kindergarten * Kurohama kindergarten * Shirayuri kindergarten * Shinjuku kindergarten * Hasuda Kindergarten ; Nursery * Nakamura home nursery room * Hasuda Municipal Kaizuka nursery * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Nursery * Hasuda Municipal Chuo nursery * Hasuda Municipal Hasuda South nursery * Hasuda Municipal East nursery * Hasuda Municipal Uruido nursery ; Elementary school * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Kita Elementary school * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Elementary School * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Nishi Elementary School * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Minami Elementary School * Hasuda Municipal Hasuda North Elementary School * Hasuda Municipal Hasuda Central Primary School * Hasuda Municipal Hasuda Minami Elementary School * Hasuda Municipal Plain Elementary School ; Middle Schools * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Middle School * Hasuda Municipal Kurohama Nishi Middle School * Hasuda Municipal Hasuda Middle School * Hasuda Municipal Hasuda south Middle School * Hasuda Municipal Hirano Middle School ; High Schools * Saitama Hasuda Shoin High School ; Vocational school * National Hospital Organization Higashisaitamabyoin University School of Nursing ; Special Education School * Saitama Prefectural Hasuda Special Education School

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 ...

–

Utsunomiya Line The Utsunomiya Line ( ja, 宇都宮線, ) is the name given to a 163.5 kilometer section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Tokyo Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Compan ...

Highway

* – Hasuda Service Area and Smart Interchange *

Local attractions

*Kurohama Shell Midden, a

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

National Historic Monument

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture Hasuda, Saitama