Nagareyama City Hall 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

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

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 200,136 in 84,800 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 5,700 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Nagareyama is located in the far northwestern corner of Chiba Prefecture, bordered by the

Edogawa River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It splits from the Tone River at the northernmost tip of Noda City in the Sekiyado district, crosses through Nagareyama and Matsudo, and empties into Tokyo Bay at Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The Edo ...

to the west. It is about 30 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba and within 20 to 30 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The city area is long from north to south, and the central and northern parts of the city form part of the

Shimōsa Plateau The is a plateau on the Kantō Plain in central Honshu, Japan. The plateau covers most of northern Chiba Prefecture. The plateau was historically richly agricultural, but in the 20th century the western and central Shimōsa Plateau became one ...

, with almost the entire area as either residential or farmland. The

Edo River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It splits from the Tone River at the northernmost tip of Noda City in the Sekiyado district, crosses through Nagareyama and Matsudo, and empties into Tokyo Bay at Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The Edo ...

runs north and south along the western border of the city, opposite which is

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 ...

. In addition, the Tone Canal runs through the northern part of the city.

Neighboring municipalities

Chiba Prefecture *

Matsudo 260px, Matsudo City Hall is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 498,575 in 242,981 households and a population density of 8100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Matsudo is ...

Kashiwa is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 433,436 in 194,216 households and a population density of 3800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The name of the city is written with a si ...

Noda NoDa (short for "North Davidson") is a popular arts district in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the North Charlotte neighborhood on and around North Davidson Street and 36th Street, approximately one mile northeast of Upt ...

* Misato *

Yoshikawa is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 73,262 in 31,031 households and a population density of 2300 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Located in far southeastern Sait ...

Climate

Nagareyama 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 Nagareyama is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1370 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.0 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Nagareyama population statistics
/ref> the population of Nagareyama has seen strong growth from the 1950s to the present day. As Japan's overall population reached its peak in the early 21st century, Nagareyama's continued growth has been attributed to city policies from 2003 to heavily invest in childcare centers, including a transit service at

Nagareyama-centralpark Station Nagareyama-centralpark Station (流山セントラルパーク駅, ''Nagareyama-sentorarupāku-eki'') is a passenger railway station in the city of Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Its station number is TX11. Line Nagareyama-centralpark St ...

where parents can drop off their children on their way to work, with the children then shuttled with buses to daycare centers. Senior people of the local community help caring for the children. Many parents say this transit service was one of the biggest reasons for them to move to Nagareyama. There are also many local events and community spaces where children and elderly interact. There is also a summer camp which children can attend while their parents work during holidays. These family friendly approaches lured young working parents from Tokyo to Nagareyama.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

History

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 ...

, Nagareyama was a river port on the

and was noted for its production of ''

mirin is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation pro ...

'', a sweetened ''

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and in ...

'' used for cooking. After 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 ...

, Nagareyama Town was created in

Inba District is a district located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the district has an estimated population of 43,480 and a density of 845 persons per km2. The total area is 51.48 km2. There are two towns within the district. * Sakae *Shisui ...

, Chiba Prefecture on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. On January 1, 1952, it merged with neighboring Edogawa Town. Nagareyama was raised to city status on January 1, 1967.

Government

Nagareyama 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 28 members. Nagareyama contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Chiba 7th 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

Nagareyama is a regional commercial center and a

commuter town 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 ...

for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. The commuting rate is 33.5% to central of Tokyo and 12.5% to

Education

Universities

Edogawa University is a private university in Nagareyama, Chiba, Japan, established in 1990. The school has two divisions, a College of Sociology and a College of Media and Mass Communication. Academics College of Sociology * Department of Psychology and Hum ...

Toyo Gakuen University , also known by the acronym TGU, founded in 1926, is a small private college located in the greater Tokyo area of Japan. The university has two campuses. The original campus, which presently houses the School of Business Administration, is located ...

* Edogawa Junior College

Primary and secondary education

Nagareyama has 17 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by the city government, and four public high schools operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private elementary school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railway

Ryūtetsu -

Nagareyama Line The is a commuter rail line in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by between Mabashi Station in Matsudo and Nagareyama Station in Nagareyama. The line and the operator company was called the and respectively until the renaming on August 1, ...

* – –

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 Prefecture, Saitama and Chiba Prefecture, Chiba Prefectures operated by the Japanese private railway company Tobu Railway. It connects the satellite cities of Tokyo, such as Saita ...

* - -

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 ...

Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company The is a third-sector railway operating company in Japan. It was established on 15 March 1991 to construct the 58.3 km Tsukuba Express (then known as the ''Jōban Shinsen'') commuter railway line from in Tokyo to in Ibaraki Prefecture ...

Tsukuba Express The , or TX, is a Japanese railway line operated by the third-sector company Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, which links Akihabara Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The route was inaugurated on 24 Aug ...

* - -

Highway

* *

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Nagareyama is twinned with: *

Sōma, Fukushima is a city located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 34,631, and a population density of 180 persons per km2 in 14,358 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Sōma is located in northeas ...

, Japan (1977) *

Shinano, Nagano is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,339 in 3351 households, and a population density of 56 persons per km². The total area of the town is . History The area of present-day Shinano was ...

, Japan (1997) *

Noto, Ishikawa is a town located in Hōsu District (formerly Fugeshi District), Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 17,840 in 7,689 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km2. The total area of the town was ...

, Japan (2012)

Noted people from Nagareyama

Hidekazu Otani is a Japanese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He made over 600 career appearances for Kashiwa Reysol and stayed with them for his entire career. He is currently first-team coach for J1 League ...

, professional soccer player *

Yukiko Sumiyoshi is a female Japanese manga artist. She has been creating manga since her debut title ''Ten no Otoshimono'' first released in 2004. She is also notable as the artist for the manga version of Key's visual novel '' Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Li ...

, manga artist

In fiction

*The fictional Nagarekawa of

Locodol , short for , is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kōtarō Kosugi. The manga was serialized in Ichijinsha's ''Manga 4-Koma Palette'' magazine starting with the October 2011 issue. An anime television series adapt ...

is based on Nagareyama. After the anime's release, the characters have become the city's official tourism concierge.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture