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 ...

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 ...

. On January 1, 2021, 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 69,937 in 31,890 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 . The total area of the city is .

Geography

Tsurugashima is located in the geographic center of Saitama Prefecture. Tsurugashima Station is approximately 40 minutes from

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 ...

in Tokyo on the

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 t ...

by direct express train. Tsurugashima is located at the tip of the Iruma Plateau, and the elevation is about 30 to 50 meters above sea level, gently descending from the southwest to the northeast.

Surrounding municipalities

** Kawagoe ** Sakado ** Hidaka

Climate

Tsurugashima 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 Tsurugashima is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1448 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Tsurugashima population statistics
/ref> the population of Tsurugashima has recently plateaued after several decades of strong growth.

History

The area around Tsurugashima has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and a number of large

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

from the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

are preserved within the city limits. 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 ...

, the area was largely under the control of

Kawagoe Domain Kawagoe Castle daimyō residence, administrative headquarters of Kawagoe Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Musashi Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Kawagoe Castle, locate ...

. The village of Tsurugashima was created within Koma District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Koma District was abolished in 1896, becoming part of Iruma District.Tsurugashima was elevated to town status on April 1, 1966. The city of Tsurugashima was founded when the former town of Tsurugashima was elevated to

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

on September 1, 1991.

Government

Tsurugashima 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 18 members. Tsurugashima contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 10th district 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

Formerly an agricultural community, Tsurugashima has increasingly become 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 a third of its population commuting to the Tokyo metropolis or the city of Kawagoe.

Education

Tsurugashima has eight public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education.

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 Ogose Line *

Highway

* – Ken-Ō Tsurugashima Interchange, Tsurugashima Junction * – Tsurugashima Interchange, Tsurugashima Junction *

Bus

* Tsuru Bus community bus service * Tsuru Wagon community minibus service

Local attractions

* Zennōji Temple *Wakaba Walk Shopping Centre

Notable people from Tsurugashima

* Aria Jasuru Hasegawa, footballer * Jin Katagiri, comedian and member of the Rahmens duo * Ryuji Kawai, footballer *

Atsuko Sakurai Atsuko is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Atsuko can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *惇子, "kind, child" *淳子, "pure, child" *敦子, "kindliness, child" *篤子, "fer ...

, actress *

Hideaki Takeda is a former Japanese football player. Career On 7 March 2012, it was announced that he had signed a two-year contract with Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is b ...

, footballer * Jun Uruno, footballer *

Haruka Shimazaki is a Japanese actress, singer, and former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48. Her supposed apathetic attitude toward idol fans led to the popularity of the buzzword in Japanese media. Since graduating from AKB48 in 2016, Shimazaki has work ...

, actress and former

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with i ...

member

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Saitama Prefecture Tsurugashima, Saitama