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. , 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 119,298 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 9,300 persons per km². Its total area was . Although Urawa-ku is the governmental center of Saitama City, Ōmiya-ku is the most active commercial and business centre in both Saitama City and Saitama Prefecture thanks to its transport infrastructure, especially railways connected at Ōmiya Station.

Geography

Ōmiya Ward is within the Ōmiya Terrace 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 center of Saitama City. It is in the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

and about 25 km north of central

Tokyo 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 ...

Neighboring Municipalities

Ōmiya-ku is surrounded by Nishi-ku (to the west), Kita-ku (north), Minuma-ku (east), Urawa-ku (southeast), Chūō-ku (south), and Sakura-ku (southwest).

History

Ōmiya derives its name from a famous

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, meani ...

, the Hikawa Shrine, which has been a place of pilgrimage since at least 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 Japanese. ...

. 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 characteriz ...

, the area flourished as

Ōmiya-shuku was the fourth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the Ōmiya ward and Kita ward of the present-day city of Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. History Larger than its two neighboring post towns, Urawa-shuku and ...

, 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 ...

, it became part of Urawa Prefecture which merged with Iwatsuki, Urawa, and Oshi Prefectures in 1871 to form

. The modern town of Ōmiya was officially created within Kitaadachi District, Saitama with the establishment of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On November 3, 1940 Ōmiya merged with the neighboring villages of Mihashi, Osato, Miyahara and Nisshin and was elevated to city status. Ōmiya continued to expand after the end of the war, absorbing the villages of Sashiougi, Mamiya, Uemizu, Katayanagi, Haruoka, and Nanasato on January 1, 1955. On May 1, 2001 Ōmiya merged with Urawa 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 Ōmiya City was divided between Kita-ku (north), Minuma-ku (east), Nishi-ku (west), and Ōmiya-ku (south).

Education

Kokusai Gakuin Saitama Junior College is a private junior college in Saitama, Saitama, Japan, established in 1983. Though the institution is coeducational, female students greatly outnumbers male students. In July 2004 it was selected for Good Practice, a grant program by the Ministr ...

University of Human Arts and Sciences The is a private university, private distance learning university with headquarters in Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama, Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama, Saitama, Japan, established in 2000. It has a satellite campus in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The predecessor of the universit ...

* Urawa-ku has nine elementary schools, eight middle schools, and eight high schools. *The ward also has a North Korean school, Saitama Korean Elementary and Middle School ( 埼玉朝鮮初中級学校). This school was previously in the City of Ōmiya.埼玉朝鮮初中級学校とは？
" Saitama Korean Elementary and Middle School. Retrieved on October 14, 2015. "〒330-0804 埼玉県大宮市堀之内町１の５０１の１"

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 ...

– Tohoku Shinkansen / Joetsu Shinkansen / Akita Shinkansen /

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yamaga ...

Hokuriku Shinkansen The is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), connecting Tokyo with in the Hokuriku region of Japan. The first section, between and in Nagano Pr ...

Kawagoe Line The Kawagoe Line ( ja, 川越線, ) is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which connects the cities of Saitama, Kawagoe, and Hidaka in Saitama Prefecture. The main transfer stations on the line are ...

– 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 ...

* - 35px

Tōbu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second long ...

–

Tōbu Urban Park Line The , formally known as the , is a long railway line in Saitama and Chiba Prefectures operated by the Japanese private railway company Tobu Railway. It connects the satellite cities of Tokyo, such as Saitama, Kasukabe, Noda, Nagareyama, Ma ...

* - -

Saitama New Urban Transit The is a manually driven rubber-tyred people mover system in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, operated by . The 12.7-kilometre that runs north from Ōmiya Station (Saitama), Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama, alongside the Tohoku Shinkansen and Joets ...

("New Shuttle") - Ina Line * –

Highway

Shuto Expressway is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requi ...

Ōmiya Route *

Local attractions

* Ōmiya Park * Hikawa Shrine *

Railway Museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic e ...

*Saitama Red Cross Hospital in Omiya * The

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

nurseries in the neighbouring Kita-ku is usually referred to as the "

Ōmiya Bonsai Village is the nickname for the bonsai nursery precinct in , Kita-ku, Saitama, Japan. Bonsai Village is located near Ōmiya-kōen Station on the Tobu Noda Line. It is closed on every Thursday (unless the Thursday falls on a national holiday). Histor ...

" because it was in the area of former Ōmiya city.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Omiya-ku Wards of Saitama (city)