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 the western portion of the

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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 117,020, 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 9100 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Higashikurume is in the north-center of Tokyo Metropolis, on the Musashino Terrace, approximately 25 kilometers from downtown Tokyo. The Kurome River flows through the western end of the city, and the Ochiai River flows through the center of the city. The land slopes gently from west to east.

Surrounding municipalities

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 ( ...

* Niiza

Higashimurayama is a city located in the western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,275, and a population density of 8700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Higashimurayama is located o ...

* Kiyose * Kodaira * Nishitokyo

Climate

Higashikurume 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 Higashikurume is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Higashikurume increased rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s due to the establishment of many large scale public housing complexes, but has remained relatively constant over the past 40 years. As with Japan as a whole, the city's population has aged rapidly in recent decades.

History

The area of present-day Higashikurume was part of ancient

Musashi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

. In the post-

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, Kurume Village were established within Kitatama District of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

. The entire district was transferred to the control of Tokyo Prefecture on April 1, 1893. The area began development after connection to central Tokyo was established by the Musashino Railway from 1915. In 1956, the village of Kurume attained town status. In the 1960s and 1970s, the population rapidly expanded with the construction of large

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. The city was founded on October 1, 1970.

Etymology of the city name

The origin of the name ''Kurume'' is unclear, but there are several theories: * as a variante of the ancient "kuruma muchibe", maintenance staff of the emperor's

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...

* a dialect form of the Japanese word for "walnut" * a word meaning "small, flat place" * The theory that the "Kurome" of the Kuromegawa River：黒目川 flowing through the city turns into the place name of "Kurume". Originally, the Kurome River was also called "Kurume" River, the later people used the kanji notation such as Kurume=久留米or久留目or来梅・Kurome=黒目etc. . This was later recognised as the most likely theory. At the time of the founding of the city, the name was changed to ''Higashikurume'' in order to avoid being confused for

Kurume, Fukuoka is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 295,367 in 137,140 households, and a population density of 1309 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kurume is located in the Chikugo Plain ...

. Since the new name already had already existed since 1915 as the name of the local train station, the name was already familiar to residents and adopted quickly.

Government

Higashikurume 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 22 members. Higashikurume, collectively with the city of Kiyose, contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tokyo 20th 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 ...

. The mayor is Ryōma Tomita, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate.

City council

The current city council was elected on April 23, 2023, with 21 council seats currently occupied.

List of mayors

* Kenko Fujii (1970 - 1975) * Seiju Ishidzuka (1975 - 1978) * Kojiro Ito (1978 - 1982) * Saburo Yoshida (1982 - 1990) * Michio Inaba (1990 - 2001) * Shigeya Nozaki (2002 - 2010) * Kazuhiko Baba (2010 - 2014) * Katsumi Namiki (2014 - 2021) * Ryōma Tomita (2021 - )

Economy

Higashikurume is primary a regional commercial center, and 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 ...

for central Tokyo. According to the 2010 census, the commuting rate to the special wards of Tokyo is 33.2%.

Globeride , formerly until 2009, is a Japanese manufacturing company that produces fishing equipment in addition to tennis, golf and biking gears. Globeride's fishing products, sold under the Daiwa brand, account for the majority of its sales, including ...

has its headquarters and a factory in the city. Factories of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

and Yamazaki Baking are also located in the city. A few attractions exist, such as Chukurin Park.

Education

Higashikurume is the site for

Tokyo Gakugei University Tokyo Gakugei University (東京学芸大学, ''Tōkyō gakugei daigaku'') is a Japanese national university, national university in Koganei, Tokyo. Founded in 1873, it was chartered as a university in 1949. It is also known as ''Gakudai'' (学� ...

's International Student Dormitory. The city has two metropolitan high schools operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education: * * Higashikurume has 13 public elementary school, and seven public junior high schools operated by the city government. Municipal junior high schools: * Chuo (中央中学校) * Daimon (大門中学校) * Higashi (東中学校) * Kurume (久留米中学校) * Minami (南中学校) * Nishi ( 西中学校) * Shimosato ( 下里中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * No. 1 (第一小学校) * No. 2 (第二小学校) * No. 3 (第三小学校) * No. 5 ( 第五小学校) * No. 6 (第六小学校) * No. 7 (第七小学校) * No. 9 (第九小学校) * Hommura (本村小学校) * Koyama (小山小学校) * Minamimachi ( 南町小学校) * Shinho ( 神宝小学校) It is the location of two private schools: Christian Academy in Japan (K-12) and (coeducational elementary and separate gender junior and senior high schools).

Transportation

Railway

Seibu Railway is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism, and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbrevi ...

Seibu Ikebukuro Line The is a railway line of the Japanese private railway operator Seibu Railway. It originates at Ikebukuro Station, a large railway junction in north-western Tokyo, extending to northwest suburbs as far as Tokorozawa, Saitama, and nominally term ...

Highway

*Musashino is not served by any national highways or expressways

Notable people from Higashikurume

Ken Akamatsu is a Japanese manga artist and politician who has served since 2022 as a member of the House of Councillors. He made his professional manga debut in 1993, and is best known as the author of '' Love Hina'' (1998–2001) and ''Negima! Magister Ne ...

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

('' A.I. Love You'', '' Love Hina'', ''

Negima! Magister Negi Magi ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from Febru ...

'' and ''

UQ Holder! ''UQ Holder!'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 2013 to 2016 and later transferred to ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'', where it was serialized ...

'') * Akihiro Gono,

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter *

Taichi Kokubun is a Japanese keyboardist and actor. He plays keyboard for Tokio, a musical group of Starto Entertainment formerly known as Johnny & Associates. Early life Taichi Kokubun was born in Higashikurume, Tokyo. Career As an artist Before de ...

, musician,

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

and actor (

Tokio Tokio may refer to: * , the capital of Japan, used primarily in non-English-speaking countries may also refer to: Music * Tokio (band), a Japanese pop/rock band ** ''Tokio'' (album), their debut album * Tokio Hotel, a German rock band * Tok ...

) * Maria Ozawa, Movie actress, model and former AV idol * Nobunaga Sato,

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

Hekiru Shiina is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She debuted as a singer at the age of 17. Her first voice role was Tenshiko in '' K.O. Beast'' in 1992. Some of her major voice roles include Hikaru Shidou in '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', Alpha in '' Yok ...

, Japanese voice actress and singer * SoulJa (rapper), musician (Real Name: ''Johannes Maria Leenders Zwaan'') * Papaya Suzuki, musician (Real Name: Hiroshi Suzuki,

Nihongo is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. ...

: 鈴木寛, ''Suzuki Hiroshi'') * Hinano Yoshikawa,

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in American English) entails using one's body to represent someone ...

, actress and singer (Real Name: Ai Takada,

: 高田愛, ''Takada Ai'')

References

External links

Higashikurume City Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Tokyo Western Tokyo