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,

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 112,211 in 53,051 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 RosenberPopul ...

of 5700 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Located in southwestern Saitama Prefecture, Fujimi is in the middle 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, ...

with an average altitude of 8 to 21 meters above sea level. It is approximately 10 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Saitama and 30 kilometers from downtown Tokyo.The northeastern half of the city area is a lowland with the Arakawa and Shingashi Rivers and the southwestern half part of the Musashino Plateau. The urban area is primarily in the southwest. The city has approximate dimensions of 7.0 kilometers from east-to-west and 6.8 kilometers from north-to-south.

Surrounding municipalities

* Saitama Prefecture ** Kawagoe ** Fujimino ** Saitama ** Shiki ** Miyoshi

Climate

Fujimi 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 Fujimi is 14.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1426 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 4.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Fujimi expanded rapidly in the late 20th century and has grown at a slower rate in the 21st.

History

The area of modern Fujimi is part of ancient Musashi Province. The villages of Tsuruse and Nanbata created within Iruma District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The village of Fujimi was created on September 30, 1956 by the merger of the villages of Tsuruse and Nanbata with the village of Mizutani from Kitaadachi District. Large scale

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 ...

projects and new town developments in the 1960s and 1970s led to a rapid increase in population, and Fujimi attained town status on April 1, 1964 and city status on April 10, 1972.

Government

Fujimi 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 21members. Fujimi contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 7th district of the lower house 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 ...

Elections

* 2008 Fujimi mayoral election

Economy

Due to this location, Fujimi is primarily 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 ...

with over 30% of its population commuting to the Tokyo metropolis for work.

Education

Fujimi has 11 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. In addition the prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

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 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 referred to ...

* - -

Highway

* *

Sister city relations

Šabac Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city ...

, Serbia

Local attractions

*site of Nambada Castle * Mizuko Shell Midden archaeological site

Noted people from Fujimi

* Ryunosuke Kamiki, actor *

Yumi Matsuzawa is a Japanese singer from Fujimi, Saitama. She is best known for her debut release, "You Get to Burning", the opening theme for ''Martian Successor Nadesico'', as well as the movie version's theme song "Dearest" and the song "Chikyuugi", the op ...

, musician * Ryota Imanari, professional baseball player

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture