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 the western portion of

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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 117,020, 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 9100 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Higashikurume is in the north-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 Tama R ...

, approximately 25 kilometers from downtown Tokyo. The Kurome River flows through the western end of the city, and the Ochiai River flows through the center of the city. The land slopes gently from west to east.

Surrounding municipalities

Kiyose is a city located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 74,972 in 36,376 households, and a population density of 7300 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Kiyose City is roughly in the sha ...

Higashimurayama is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,275, and a population density of 8700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Higashimurayama ...

Kodaira is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 195,207 in 93,654 households, and a population density of 9500 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Kodaira ...

Nishitokyo () is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 206,047, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Nishitokyo is located at t ...

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 ...

* Niiza

Climate

Higashikurume 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 Higashikurume is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Higashikurume increased rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s due to the establishment of many large scale public housing complexes, but has remained relatively constant for the past 40 years, and is now suffering from rapid aging of the population base.

History

The area of present-day Higashikurume was 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, S ...

. 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 ...

cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, Kurume Village were established within Kitatama District 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. The area began development after connection to central Tokyo was established by the Musashino Railway from 1915. In 1956, the village of Kurume attained town status. In the 1960s and 1970s, the population rapidly expanded with the construction of large

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

estates. The city was founded on October 1, 1970.

Etymology of the city name

The origin of the name ''Kurume'' is unclear, but there are several theories: * as a variante of the ancient "kuruma muchibe", maintenance staff of the emperor's

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, ...

* a dialect form of the Japanese word for "walnut" * a word meaning "small, flat place" * The theory that the "Kurome" of the Kuromegawa River：黒目川 flowing through the city turns into the place name of "Kurume". Originally, the Kurome River was also called "Kurume" River, the later people used the kanji notation such as Kurume＝久留米or久留目or来梅・Kurome＝黒目etc. . This was later recognised as the most likely theory. At the time of the founding of the city, the name was changed to ''Higashikurume'' in order to avoid being confused for

Kurume, Fukuoka is a Cities of Japan, city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town o ...

. Since the new name already had already existed since 1915 as the name of the local train station, the name was already familiar to residents and adopted quickly.

Government

Higashikurume 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. Higashikurume, collectively with the city of Kiyose, contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Tokyo 20th district is an electoral district of the Japanese House of Representatives. The district was created in 1994 as part of the move to single-member districts that same year, and the district is currently represented by the Liberal Democratic Party's Seij ...

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 ...

. The mayor is Katsumi Namiki, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate.

City council

The current city council was elected on April 26, 2015, with 21 council seats currently occupied.

Former mayors

* Kenko Fujii (1970 - 1975) * Masaji Ishidsu (1975 - 1978) * Kojiro Ito (1978 - 1982) * Saburo Yoshida (1982 - 1990) * Mitsuo Inaba (1990 - 2001) * Shiyega Nozaki (2002 - 2010) * Kazuhiko Baba (2010 - 2014) * Katsumi Namiki (2014 - )

Economy

Higashikurume 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. According to the 2010 census, the commuting rate to the special wards of Tokyo is 33.2%.

Globeride , formerly until 2009, is a Japanese manufacturing company that produces fishing equipment in addition to tennis, golf and biking gears. Globeride's fishing products, sold under the Daiwa brand, account for the majority of its sales, includ ...

has its headquarters and a factory in the city. Factories of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

and

Yamazaki Baking is a Japanese food company and the world's largest bread-baking corporation, that makes bread, bakery products and confectionery. It was established by Tojuro Iijima in Japan on 9 March 1948 and started mass production of bread in 1955, and is s ...

are also located in the city. A few attractions exist, such as Chukurin Park.

Education

Higashikurume is the site for

Tokyo Gakugei University Tokyo Gakugei University (東京学芸大学, ''Tōkyō gakugei daigaku'') is a national university in Koganei, Tokyo. Founded in 1873, it was chartered as a university in 1949. It is also known as ''Gakudai'' (学大) and TGU, for short. In add ...

's International Student Dormitory. The city has two metropolitan high schools operated by the

Tokyo Metropolitan 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 Western ...

: * * Higashikurume has 13 public elementary school, and seven public junior high schools operated by the city government. Municipal junior high schools: * Chuo (中央中学校) * Daimon (大門中学校) * Higashi (東中学校) * Kurume (久留米中学校) * Minami (南中学校) * Nishi ( 西中学校) * Shimosato ( 下里中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * No. 1 (第一小学校) * No. 2 (第二小学校) * No. 3 (第三小学校) * No. 5 ( 第五小学校) * No. 6 (第六小学校) * No. 7 (第七小学校) * No. 9 (第九小学校) * Hommura (本村小学校) * Koyama (小山小学校) * Minamimachi ( 南町小学校) * Shinho ( 神宝小学校) It is the location of two private schools: Christian Academy in Japan (K-12) and (coeducational elementary and separate gender junior and senior high schools).

Transportation

Railway

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 ...

Seibu Ikebukuro Line The is a railway line of the Japanese private railway operator Seibu Railway. It originates at Ikebukuro Station, a large railway junction in north-western Tokyo, extending to northwest suburbs as far as Tokorozawa, Saitama, and nominally ter ...

Highway

*Musashino is not served by any national highways or expressways

Notable people from Higashikurume

Ken Akamatsu is a Japanese manga artist and politician who has served since 2022 as a member of the House of Councillors. He made his professional manga debut in 1993, and is best known as the author of ''Love Hina'' (1998–2001) and ''Negima! Magister Neg ...

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

(''

A.I. Love You is a Japanese manga series by author Ken Akamatsu. The story follows Hitoshi Kōbe, a high school guy who isn't good at anything but programming. He creates a program in particular named ''Program 30'' which is that of a female, and is shocke ...

'', ''

Love Hina is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from October 1998 to October 2001, with the chapters collected into 14 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Kodansha. The ...

'', ''

Negima! Magister Negi Magi ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from February 2003 to March 2012, with its chapters co ...

'' and ''

UQ Holder! ''UQ Holder!'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 2013 to 2016 and later transferred to ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'', where it was serialize ...

'') *

Akihiro Gono (born October 7, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1994, he is best known for his clever and deceptive fighting style, and for his flashy ring entrances. Gon ...

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighter *

Taichi Kokubun is a Japanese keyboardist and actor. He plays keyboard for Tokio, a Johnny & Associates musical group. Early life Taichi Kokubun was born in Higashikurume, Tokyo. Career As an artist Before debuting with Tokio, Kokubun, like other Tokio m ...

, musician,

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

and actor ( Tokio) *

Nobunaga Sato is a former professional basketball head coach for Aomori Wat's in Japan and the former head coach for Noshiro Technical High School in Noshiro, Akita. Head coaching record , - , style="text-align:left;", Aomori Wat's , style="text-align:l ...

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

Maria Ozawa is a Japanese model and a former pornographic film actress of Canadian and Japanese ancestry. Early in her career as a model, she also used the name . Biography 1986–2002: Early life Ozawa was born in Hokkaido, Japan. Her mother is Japanese ...

, Movie actress, model and former

AV idol An or is a type of pornographic film actress in Japan. It is a sub-category of the idol culture in Japanese pop entertainment. AV idols work in the pornographic business, often both as an actress as well as a model as the video performances ...

Hekiru Shiina is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She debuted as a singer at the age of 17. Her first voice role was Tenshiko in ''K.O. Beast'' in 1992. Some of her major voice roles include Hikaru Shidou in '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', Alpha in ''Yokoha ...

Japanese voice actress Voice acting in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including anime, video games, audio dramas, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In Japan, and a ...

and singer *

SoulJa (rapper) is a Japanese hip-hop musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with singer Thelma Aoyama, "Koko ni Iru yo" and "Soba ni Iru ne" – the latter of which was the former Guinness World Records holder for the best selling digital ...

, musician (Real Name: ''Johannes Maria Leenders Zwaan'') *

Papaya Suzuki , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese celebrity most famous for his dancing and for his afro hairstyle. He originally intended to be a singer, but gave up due to a drastic gain in weight. According to his official web site, he is 178 ...

, musician (Real Name: Hiroshi Suzuki,

Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic languages, Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyu ...

: 鈴木寛, ''Suzuki Hiroshi'') *

Hinano Yoshikawa Hinano Yoshikawa (吉川ひなの, born Ai Takada; December 21, 1979) is a Japanese actress, fashion model and singer. Biography Life and career Yoshikawa was born on December 21, 1979. In Higashikurume, Tokyo, Japan. She started her fashion ...

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

, actress and singer (Real Name: Ai Takada,

: 高田愛, ''Takada Ai'')

References

External links

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