is a city 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 166,208 in 76,639 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 7300 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Niiza is located at the southernmost tip of Saitama Prefecture, and is essentially a suburb of the Tokyo

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

. The entire city is located on the Musashino Plateau, with the Yanase River running through the western part of the city, and the Kurome River running through the eastern part of the city. Niiza includes the southest point of

, which faces

Nishitōkyō () 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 ...

of Tokyo.

Surrounding municipalities

* Asaka * Shiki *

Tokorozawa is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 344,194 in 163,675 households and a population density of 4800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokorozawa is located in the c ...

* Miyoshi

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 ...

Nerima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Nerima City. , the ward has an estimated population of 721,858, with 323,296 households and a population density of 15,013 persons per km2, while 15,326 foreign residents are re ...

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 ...

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 ...

Higashikurume is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,020, and a population density of 9100 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Higashikurume is in the nort ...

Climate

Niiza 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 Niiza is 14.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1449 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 4.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Niiza has increased rapidly from the 1960s to the present day.

History

The area of modern Niiza has been settled since prehistoric times. The was part for Shinra County within

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

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 ...

. Shinra County (新羅郡) was originally written with the same ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequen ...

'' as the ancient Korean kingdom of

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

, and the area was settled by immigrants from

in 758 AD. The name was changed to Niikura County (新座郡) in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japane ...

. The town of Owada was created within Niikura District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Niikura District was abolished in 1896, becoming part of Kitaasachi District. On March 1, 1955, Owada annexed the neighboring village of Katayama becoming Niiza Town, which was raised to city status on November 1, 1970.

Government

Niiza 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 26 members. Niiza contributes two members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Saitama 4th 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 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 ...

. In the 2021 Japanese general election, from

, was elected.

Economy

Toppan or simply Toppan is a Japanese global printing company. Toppan was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Tokyo. History As of March 2013 the company has 169 subsidiary and affiliate companies. Toppan is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange a ...

printing has a large factory in Niiza, which is also home to a number of other light manufacturing, electronics and transportation/warehousing companies. However, due to its proximity to Tokyo, over a third of the workforce commutes daily, making Niiza largely 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 ...

Education

Colleges and universities: *

Atomi University is a private women's college in Niiza, Saitama, Japan, established in 1965. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1875. Atomi Junior College was a private junior college in Bunkyo Ward, in Tokyo, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or ...

Rikkyo University , also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. Rikkyo is known as one of the six leading universities in the field of sports in Tokyo (東京六大学 "Big Six" — Rikkyo University, University of ...

* Jumonji University Primary and secondary schools: *Niiza has 17 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. In addition, there are two private combined junior/senior high schools.

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 ...

–

Musashino Line The is a railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It links Tsurumi Station in Yokohama with Nishi-Funabashi Station in Chiba Prefecture, forming a 100.6 km unclosed loop around central Tokyo. Passenger operations a ...

Tōbu Railway –

Tōbu Tōjō Line The is a 75.0 km suburban railway line in Japan which runs from Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, Tokyo to Yorii Station in Yorii, Saitama, operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway. Its official name is the , but it is referr ...

Highway

* * *

Military Facilities

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, Owada Communication Site Owada Communication Site is former communication site of

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

Sister city relations

Niiza is twinned with: *

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

, Finland (1997) *

Nasushiobara, Tochigi 270px, Shiobara Onsen is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 115,794 in 48,437 households, and a population density of 67 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Nasush ...

, Japan (2000) * Tōkamachi, Niigata, Japan (2002) *

Jiyuan Jiyuan () is a sub-prefecture-level city in northwestern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders the prefecture-level cities of Jiaozuo and Luoyang to the east and southwest respectively, as well as the province of Shanxi to the n ...

, China, (2002) *

Neuruppin Neuruppin (; North Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Fontane (1819–1898) and therefore also referred to as ''Font ...

, Germany (2003)

Local attractions

* Heirin-ji, a large

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan ...

Zen Buddhist Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

temple. The temple is located in Nobidome, close to Niiza City Hall.

Notable people from Niiza

Umika Kawashima is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She is a former member of the Japanese girl group 9nine. Her solo single "Maji de Koi Suru 5 Byō Mae/Ichigo Iro no Kimochi", on the '' Watashi no Yasashikunai Senpai ...

, actress *

Masaaki Taniai is a Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Niiza, Saitama, he attended Kyoto University and received a master's degree in agricultural economy from it. He ...

, politician *

Yoko Mitsuya Yoko may refer to: People * Yoko (name), a Japanese feminine given name; variants include Yōko and Yohko * Yoko Gushiken (具志堅用高, born 1955), Japanese professional boxer * Yoko Taro (横尾太郎, born 1970), Japanese video game di ...

, gravure idol * Yuto Otsuka (basketball, born 1990) * Masaya Kikawada, actor

In popular culture

On April 7, 2003, Niiza gave the

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening o ...

character

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 ''tankōbon'' v ...

an honorary citizenship to mark the date given as his birthdate in the original

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

. Later in 2004, the theme music from the TV series would eventually be used to signal the departure of a train at JR Niiza Station on the JR Musashino Line.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control * Cities in Saitama Prefecture