is one of ten

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s of the city of Saitama, 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 ...

, and is located in the northeastern part of the city. Urawa-ku is the governmental center of Saitama City and houses most of the city's administrative offices including the city hall, as well as the offices of Saitama Prefectural government. Also, there are several newspaper branch offices and three broadcasting stations.

Geography

Urawa Ward is within the Ōmiya Plateau of the

Kantō plain The is the largest plain in Japan, and is located in the Kantō region of central Honshū. The total area of 17,000 km2 covers more than half of the region extending over Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, ...

, in the south-central portion of Saitama City.

Neighboring Municipalities

Urawa-ku is surrounded by Midori-ku (to the east), Minami-ku (south), Chūō-ku (west), Ōmiya-ku (north), and Minuma-ku (northeast) of Saitama city.

History

In 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 ...

, Urawa-ku flourished as

Urawa-shuku was the third of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in Urawa-ku in the present-day city of Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its stone ruins can be found 300 meters from Tsuki Shrine (調神社 ''Tsuki Jinja'').

, a post station on the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 6 ...

highway, which connected Edo with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. Following 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 ...

, Urawa Prefecture was established, and in 1871 merged with Iwatsuki, Urawa, and Oshi Prefectures merged to form

, and Urawa as the capital. The modern town of Urawa was officially created within Kitaadachi District, Saitama with the establishment of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889. After the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

many intellectuals, especially painters, moved to Urawa from Tokyo,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, and other cities in southern

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

. In 1932, Urawa annexed the neighboring villages of Yada and Kisaki, and was elevated to city status on February 11, 1934. Urawa expanded further by annexing the villages of Omagi and Mimuro on April 17, 1940 and town of Mutsuji on April 1, 1942. During

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Urawa was bombed twice by Allied forces in April and May 1945. Urawa continued to expand after the end of the war, absorbing the villages of Tsuchiai and Okubo on January 1, 1955 and part of the town of Toda on April 1, 1959 and part of the village of Misono on May 1, 1962. On May 1, 2001 Urawa merged with

Ōmiya Ōmiya 大宮 is a Japanese word originally used for the imperial palace or shrines, now a common name, and may refer to: People *Ōmiya (surname), a Japanese surname *Ōmiya, or is a female character in ''The Tale of Genji'', an 11th-century nove ...

and

Yono YONO (You Only Need One) is an integrated digital banking platform offered by State Bank of India (SBI) to enable users to access a variety of financial and other services such as flight, train, bus and taxi bookings, online shopping, or medical ...

to form Saitama City. In April 2003 Saitama became a

city designated by government ordinance A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegate ...

, and now the area of former Urawa City was divided between Sakura-ku, Urawa-ku, Minami-ku, and Midori-ku.

Demographics

, the ward 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 166,322 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 14,000 persons per km². Its total area was . Urawa has the second largest population of any ward in Saitama, only behind Minami-ku. The population density is the highest of all the city's wards. As of 2013, the proportion of households with an annual income of 10 million yen (about $102,459) about or more is 15.3%. This is 13th largest of any city ward or municipality in Japan. As of 2010, university graduates account for 43.4% of the population age 25 or older. This ranks 15th in Japan.

Education

Urawa-ku has 12 elementary schools, five junior high schools, and six high schools. The City of Saitama operates Urawashi Junior and Senior High School ( 浦和中学校・高等学校). Public junior high schools: * Kizaki ( 木崎中学校) * Motobuto ( 本太中学校) * Ohara ( 大原中学校) * Tokiwa ( 常盤中学校) * Urawa Junior and Senior High School ( 浦和中学校・高等学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Daito ( 大東小学校) * Harigaya ( 針ヶ谷小学校) * Kami Kizaki ( 上木崎小学校) * Kishicho ( 岸町小学校) * Kita Urawa ( 北浦和小学校) * Kizaki ( 木崎小学校) * Motobuto ( 本太小学校) * Nakacho ( 仲町小学校) * Nakamoto ( 仲本小学校) * Takasogo ( 高砂小学校) * Tokiwa ( 常盤小学校) * Tokiwa Kita ( 常盤北小学校) The Embassy of South Korea in Tokyo maintains the Korea Education Institution ( ko, 사이타마한국교육원, ja, 埼玉韓国教育院) in Urawa Ward.

Transportation

Railway

– Tohoku Main Line /

Takasaki Line The Takasaki Line ( ja, 高崎線, ) is a Japanese railway line which connects Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture and Takasaki Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) ...

–

Keihin Tohoku Line Keihin may refer to: * Keihin region, Japan * Keihin Corporation The is a Japanese automotive and motorcycle parts company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The company is a major supplier to Honda, who owns nearly half of Keihin ...

* - –

Highway

* *

Bus

* Tobu Bus West * Seibu Bus * International Kyogo Bus

Local attractions

*The

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club in the

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

, arguably the biggest club in Japan and in Asia called the city home after strong support from its citizens. Although its official hometown recognized by the league is whole Saitama city and it is now the club is headquartered in

Saitama Stadium , often called or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan an ...

in Midori-ku, the hometown support are strong in the area of former Urawa city. When the team has a match at

Urawa Komaba Stadium The is an athletic stadium in Urawa-ku, Saitama, Japan. It accommodates 21,500 spectators. It was formerly known as Saitama Urawa Komaba Stadium (さいたま市駒場スタジアム). Since May 2012, it has been called Urawa Komaba Stadium. U ...

in Urawa-ku or Saitama Stadium, the town becomes more and more crowded with the supporters.

References

External links

{{Authority control Wards of Saitama (city)