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 n ...

. , 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 usi ...

of 344,194 in 163,675 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 4800 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Tokorozawa is located in the central part of 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 ...

in southern Saitama, about 30 km west of central Tokyo. Tokorozawa can be considered part of the greater Tokyo area; its proximity to the latter and lower housing costs make it a popular

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 ...

. The Higashikawa and Yanasegawa rivers that flow from the Sayama Hills flow to the eastern part of the city, and finally reach the Arakawa River. The Yamaguchi Reservoir (commonly known as Lake Sayama) is mostly located within city boundaries; Lake Tama also touches the south-western part of the city. The area around

Tokorozawa Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway. Lines Tokorozawa Station is served by the Seibu Ikebukuro Line from in Tokyo to Hannō, and by ...

's west exit is built up as a shopping district with several department stores. Prope Street is a popular shopping arcade.

Surrounding municipalities

** Iruma **

Niiza is a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 166,208 in 76,639 households and a population density of 7300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Niiza is located at the southernmost tip ...

Sayama is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 149,826 in 69,859 households and a population density of 3100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Sayama is located in south-centr ...

** Kawagoe ** 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 ...

** Kiyose **

Higashimurayama is a 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 is located on the ...

** Higashiyamato **

Musashimurayama is a city located in the western side of Tokyo, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,021 in 32,234 households, and a population density of 4,700 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Musashimurayama is located ...

Mizuho Mizuho () literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an ancient name of Japan. It might refer to: Places * Mizuho, Gifu, a city in Gifu * Mizuho, Tokyo, a town in Tokyo * Mizuho Plateau in An ...

Climate

Tokorozawa 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 Tokorozawa 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 Tokorozawa has recently plateaued after several decades of strong growth.

History

Archaeological research has shown that the vicinity of Tokorozawa was settled from about 20,000 years ago. Tokorozawa Shinmei Shrine has a traditional establishment of 110 AD. Hatogamine Hachiman Shrine is believed to date from 921 AD. During the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle b ...

, the

Kamakura Kaidō is the generic name of a great number of roads built during the Kamakura period which, from all directions, converged on the military capital of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei The term itself however was created pr ...

ran through the area and the area was host to a series of battles fought in May 1333 that were part of the Genko War that ultimately ended the

Kamakura Shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no ...

. These include the 1333 Battle of Kotesashi and the

Battle of Kumegawa The was part of the decisive Kōzuke-Musashi Campaign during the Genkō War in Japan that ultimately ended the Kamakura Shogunate. Fought in present-day Higashimurayama, Tokyo at the foot of the Hachikokuyama ridge on May 12, 1333, it pitted ...

. Kotesashi was again the site of another battle nineteen years later. During 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 character ...

(1603–1867) the area's major industry was

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 stud ...

. It was also an important trading center, being located at the intersection of roads connecting

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 ...

with the towns of Hachioji,

Chichibu 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 in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unli ...

, Kawagoe and

Fuchu Fuchu, King of Chu (), clan name Xiong, () was from 227 to 223 BC the last king of the state of Chu during the late Warring States period of ancient China (though sources argue that Lord Changping was the last king of Chu). Fuchu was his give ...

. The town of Tokorozawa was created within Iruma District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Tokorozawa became the site of Japan's first air base and air service academy in 1911. The base was used through the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and fell under the control of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

after the war. The US returned most of its property in Tokorozawa to Japan in 1971, but retains a communications facility in the city which is operated by the

374th Airlift Wing The 374th Airlift Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Fifth Air Force. It is stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is part of Pacific Air Forces. The 374th Airlift Wing is the only airlift wing in PACAF and provides airl ...

of the

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organizat ...

, based at

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 perso ...

to the southwest. The facility houses antennas for communications with USAF aircraft in the region. Much of the land returned to Japan has been converted into the public Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park. Tokorozawa was elevated to city status on November 3, 1950. In 1955, Tokorozawa annexed the neighboring villages of Yanase and Mikajima, and assumed its present boundaries. The development of large scale public housing and railroad development led to a rapid population increase in the 1960s. Tokorozawa was the site of the

Clay pigeon shooting Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting a firearm at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to time ...

event in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Tokorozawa was designated as a special city with increased local autonomy in 2002. It currently meets the conditions to be designated as a

core city In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

but has yet to receive this designation.

Government

Tokorozawa 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 34 members. Tokorozawa contributes four members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Saitama 8th 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 paral ...

Economy

Public sector

Tokorozawa houses the

Tokyo Area Control Center is an air traffic control center located in the Namiki area of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan in the Greater Tokyo Area. The center is north of the special wards of Tokyo. As of 2001 the center controlled airspace in the Kantō, Jōet ...

, which controls airspace in the Kantō, Jōetsu, Tōhoku, Chūbu, and

Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-mod ...

s and a portion of the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

region.

Private sector

Tokorozawa is the headquarters of Seibu Holdings, the parent company of

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 abbrevia ...

and

forms a hub in the Seibu Railway network which serves western Tokyo and southern Saitama. Tokorozawa is at the intersection of Seibu's two main lines, which respectively run to

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 operato ...

and Seibu Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo. Several Seibu group companies, including its railway and bus divisions, are headquartered in the vicinity of

. Seibu owns an amusement park, baseball stadium (

Seibu Prince Dome (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. It is home to the Saitama Seibu Lions, a professional baseball team. The stadium has a roof over the field and the stands, like other indoor ballparks. However, it la ...

) and velodrome (

Seibu-en Velodrome 250px, Seibu-en Velodrome is a velodrome located in Tokorozawa, Saitama that conducts pari-mutuel Keirin racing - one of Japan's four authorized where gambling is permitted. Its Keirin identification number for betting purposes is 26# (26 sharp) ...

) in the "Seibu-en" district near Lake Tama in the southwestern corner of the city.

Citizen Holdings is an electronics company primarily known for its watches and is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Nishitokyo, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Citizen brand watches, it is the parent of American watch company Bulova, ...

operates a watch factory in Tokorozawa.

Education

* Akikusa Gakuen Junior College *

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

– Tokorozawa campus *College of Art,

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. It is one of Japan's leading private universit ...

– Tokorozawa campus *Tokorozawa has 32 public elementary schools and 15 public middle schools operated by the city government, and six public high schools operated by the . In addition the prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. Prefectural 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 ar ...

–

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 ...

* Higashi-Tokorozawa Station SeibuRailway mark

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 t ...

* - - -

Seibu Railway -

Seibu Shinjuku Line The is a Japanese railway line owned by the private railway operator Seibu Railway, connecting Seibu Shinjuku Station in Shinjuku, Tokyo with Hon-Kawagoe Station in Kawagoe, Saitama. The Shinjuku Line is one of two main lines of the Seibu Ra ...

* - -

Seibu Railway -

Seibu Sayama Line The is a commuter railway line in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway. The 4.2 km line extends from Nishi-Tokorozawa Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line to Seibukyūjō-mae Station in Tokorozaw ...

* - -

Seibu Railway - Seibu Yamaguchi Line * -

Highway

* *

Twin towns and sister cities

Tokorozawa is twinned with: *

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in C ...

, United States from May 6, 1966 *

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

, China from April 20, 1992 *

Anyang, Gyeonggi Anyang () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population of approximately 600,000, it is the 20th largest city in South Korea. It is a satellite city of Seoul and located approximately so ...

, Republic of Korea from April 17, 1998

Local attractions

Professional sports teams

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary ...

(baseball, Belluna Dome) *

Saitama Broncos The is a men's professional basketball club based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It calls the whole prefecture home and its main home arenas are Tokorozawa Municipal Gymnasium and Saitama Super Arena in Chūō-ku, Saitama City. It comp ...

(basketball, Tokorozawa Municipal Stadium)

General points of interest

* Belluna Dome: home of the Seibu Lions *

Seibu-en is an amusement park located near Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. It is just outside the Seibuen-yūenchi Station, which is also owned and operated by the Seibu Railway. The park underwent a significant expansion and redesign for the 20 ...

: amusement park *

Ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

Slope: indoor ski and snowboard resort *

Tokorozawa Aviation Museum The is a museum located in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama dedicated to the history of aviation in Japan. It contains aircraft and other displays (many of which are interactive) and an IMAX theatre. Located on the site of Japan's first airfield w ...

: the location of Japan's first airfield. * Tokorozawa Civic Cultural Centre Muse: public auditorium and concert hall * Arahata Fuji Shrine: Shinto Shrine that is a scale reproduction of Mount Fuji offering views of the latter * Hachikokuyama: nature park famous for being the inspiration of Totoro * Kurosuke no ie: office of Totoro fund *

Futagoyama stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, created in 2004 when Takanohana Kōji took over the running of Futagoyama stable from his father Takanohana Kenshi. Formerly of the Nishonoseki '' ichimon'' or group of stables, it became the leader of a breaka ...

: stable of professional sumo wrestlers * Kadokawa Culture Museum: New multiple museum building designed by

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolific writin ...

at Tokorozawa Sakura Town. It features the permanent outdoor art instillation " Resonating Life in the Acorn Forest" by

TeamLab OnlyOffice (formerly TeamLab), stylized as ONLYOFFICE, is a free software office suite developed by Ascensio System SIA, a subsidiary of "New Communication Technologies", a company from Russia, but headquartered in Riga, Latvia. In Russian marke ...

as well as a double-height 8 meter tall library housing fifty thousand plus volumes which can morph into a ‘bookshelf theater’ via

projection mapping Projection mapping, similar to video mapping and spatial augmented reality, is a projection technique used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into display surfaces for video projection. The objects may be complex industrial landscapes, s ...

Historical points of interest

* Battle of Kotesashi: site of an important battle during the Genko War * Tokorozawa Shinmei Shrine: believed to have been founded in the second century A.D. * Shinko-ji: A Buddhist temple that was established during the

* Waterfall Castle: a

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 ...

castle ruin * Hatogamine Hachiman Shrine: an ancient

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

including a 13th-century main shrine building * Sayama Fudōson: important temple of

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

* Konjoin: "Yamaguchi Kanon" Since 810-824

Events

The Tokorozawa

Matsuri Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance ...

is a festival held each year in October and features traditional Japanese parade floats ( ''

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 ...

'' ), ''

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

'' drums, and

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

dancers. A two-day festival featuring music, cultural and sports exhibitions, community group activities and food booths takes place in late October in Kokukoen Park on the grounds of the former airfield. A similar 1-day festival, the Shimin Bunka Fair, takes place in early April in the park. The city and local business community decorates the west side of Tokorozawa station with holiday lights from early December through mid March, and separate lighting ceremonies featuring local musicians, politicians, and sports figures are conducted for various portions of the lighted areas.

Notable people from Tokorozawa

Bokuzen Hidari was a Japanese actor and comedian born in Kotesashi Village (now part of Tokorozawa), Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He appeared in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Lower Depths'' and ''Ikiru''. Hidari was ...

(1894–1971), actor born in Kotesashi Village (which was absorbed into Tokorozawa) *

George Tokoro , better known by the stage name , is a Japanese comedian, TV personality, singer-songwriter, and essayist. Born in Tokorozawa, Saitama, he attended Takushoku University's Commercial Science class. Works Film *'' Madadayo'' (1993) - Amaki *''P ...

(Real Name: Takayuki Haga,

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 or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...

: 芳賀隆之, ''Haga Takayuki''), comedian, TV personality, singer-songwriter and essayist *

Yoshiharu Habu is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. His master is Tatsuya Futakami. He is the only person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles at the same time and is also the only person to qualify as a lifetime tit ...

, professional shogi player *

Toshiaki Kasuga is a Japanese comedian best known as the '' boke'' half of the comedy duo Audrey alongside Masayasu Wakabayashi. On stage, he usually wears a pink vest and white pants. Aside from comedy, he is also known for his participation in sporting event ...

, comedian * Hokutōfuji Daiki, sumo wrestler (Real Name: Daiki Nakamura,

: 中村大輝, ''Nakamura Daiki'') *

Chisato Okai (born June 21, 1994, in Saitama, Japan) is a former Japanese pop singer, actress, model, and television personality. She first gained recognition when she joined Hello! Project Kids and later became one of the main vocalists of the Japanese id ...

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

and former member of the idol group C-ute * Naoto,

, dancer, rapper and member of the groups

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

and

Sandaime J Soul Brothers , formerly simply J Soul Brothers and stylized as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by Hiroy ...

(Real Name: Naoto Kataoka,

: 片岡直人, ''Kataoka Naoto'') * Yoshiji Soeno, Japanese

karateka (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujia ...

and former

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

(

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

)

Tokorozawa in popular culture

*Tokorozawa inspired the setting for the animated film ''

My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. The film—which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi—tells the story o ...

'' (''Tonari no Totoro'').Totoro
/ref> *In the light novel series

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the then-near future and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various vir ...

, much of the story is based in Tokorozawa. *Scenes in the Japanese film '' Shall We Dance?'' were set in Tokorozawa. The

's Sayamagaoka Station features in the film. *Scenes in the Japanese horror film '' Ju-on'' were filmed in Tokorozawa. The area around Tokorozawa Station is identifiable.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture