is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 114,566 in 53,053 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 7800 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Fujimino is located in southern Saitama, in flat land on the northern edge of the Musashino Terrace. It is located approximately 30 kilometers from downtown Tokyo. The Shingashi River, which was a waterway for boat transportation connecting Kawagoe and Tokyo until early modern times, runs along the northern city border. The city measures approximately 7.5 kilometers from east-to-west by 6.0 kilometers from north-to-south.

Surrounding municipalities

** Fujimi ** Kawagoe ** Miyoshi

Climate

Fujimino has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Fujimino is 14.8 °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 4.0 °C.

Demographics

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

History

Earthenware pottery fragments from the Kamifukuoka Shell Mound dating to the Early

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

, were discovered beneath the Dainihon Print Company in Fujimino, indicating a long period of settlement. The city also has an important early

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 ...

archaeological site, the Gongenyama Tumuli Cluster, from the late 3rd century. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the port of Fukuoka was an important river port on a branch of the Arakawa River and was under the control of Kawagoe Domain. The village of Fukuoka was created within Iruma District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The first

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

estates (Uenodai and Kasumigaoka) in Japan were built in Fukuoka after the Second World War. The village was raised to town status in 1960 as population expanded rapidly due to

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

developments, and to city status on April 10, 1972, changing its name to Kamifukuoka to avoid confusion with the more famous city of

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. The city of Fujimino was established on October 1, 2005, from the merger of the city of Kamifukuoka, and the neighboring town of Ōi (from Iruma District).

Government

Fujimino 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 21 members. Fujimino, together with the town of Miyoshi, contributes two members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 8th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Due to its location, Fujimino 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 25% of its population commuting to the Tokyo metropolis for work. There are a number of

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

s in the city.

Education

Fujimino has 13 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. Bunkyo University also has a campus in Fujimino.

Public facilities

There are two libraries, two public swimming pools (summer season only), and a number of public halls and community centres.

Transportation

Railway

Tōbu Railway -

Tōbu Tōjō Line The is a 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 as on T ...

* Confusingly, Fujimino Station is located in the neighbouring city of Fujimi

Highway

Local attractions

*Benten-no-mori Park, which has a small temple noted for

cherry blossom The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

s in spring, and

kudzu Kudzu (), also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot, is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands. It is invasive species, invasive in ...

in autumn. *Jizoin Temple, famous for a weeping cherry tree which is more than 300 years old. * Chūō Park. *Green Park, on the bank of the Shingashi River, noted as a location where

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

used to go falconing. * Shingashi River, used for transporting goods in the

, with a warehouse from the 1870s now called the Fukuokagashi Riverside Heritage Hall. Chūō Park during the cherry blossom season

Festivals

There are two major festivals in Fujimino: the Kamifukuoka

Tanabata , also known as the , is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milk ...

Festival and the Oi Festival.

Kamifukuoka Tanabata Festival

This is a lively festival held on the first Saturday and Sunday of August every year since more than 50 years ago. It includes a bamboo decoration contest, ''

Awa Odori The is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and mu ...

'' dancing, ''

Bon Odori or just is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ance ...

'' dancing, and traditional ''

taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

'' drumming.

Oi Festival

Oi Festival is held in the middle of July every year and features historic '' mikoshi'' portable shrines and a parade of floats, with '' Yosakoi'' dancing by dancers with ''naruko'' clappers in their hands.

Noted people from Fujimino

Mari Hoshino is a Japanese actress and singer. Background She graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Most well known for her lead role as Otome Sakamoto in the TBS Television (Japan), TBS drama, ''Kinpachi-sensei'', Hoshino has starred in several dramas in ...

, actress * Aoi Hiiragi, manga artist *

Yumi Kakazu is a Japanese voice actress from Kamifukuoka, Saitama (now Fujimino, Saitama). Filmography Anime series *'' After War Gundam X'' (Sala Tyrell) (voice acting debut) *'' AKB0048'' (Katagiri Tsubasa / Shinoda Mariko The 7th) *'' Ask Dr. Rin!'' ...

, voice actress *

Eri Nitta is a Japanese singer, actress, lyricist, and tarento. She made her professional debut as the fourth member of the all-female singing group Onyanko Club in 1985. She made her solo debut with the hit song on January 1, 1986. Nitta performed the ...

, musician and actress * Hikari Ōta, comedian * Shigenobu Shima, professional baseball player

References

External links

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