is a special city 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 233,278 in 108,328 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 . The total area of the city is . Kasukabe is famous for the production of , traditional '' tansu'' dressers made from

paulownia ''Paulownia'' ( ) is a genus of seven to 17 species of hardwood trees (depending on taxonomic authority) in the family Paulowniaceae, the order Lamiales. The genus and family are native to east Asia and are widespread across China. The genus, o ...

wood. The cultural and economic value of the paulownia is reflected in its designation as the official town tree.

Geography

Kasukabe is located in far eastern Saitama Prefecture, divided between the Shimosa Plateau and the Omiya Plateau by the Nakagawa lowlands and the Edogawa River. The eastern portion of the city is still rural, with the largest area of paddy fields in Saitama.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

** Noda *

** Koshigaya ** Matsubushi ** Miyashiro ** Saitama ** Shiraoka ** Sugito

Climate

Kasukabe 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 Kasukabe is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kasukabe peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly since.

History

The area of Kasukabe 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. ...

and has been settled since at least the Jomon period as evidenced by many shell middens and ancient burial mounds. 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 ...

, Kasukabe prospered as a post station on the Nikkō Kaidō highway linking Edo with

Nikkō is a Cities of Japan, city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city's population was 80,239, in 36,531 households. The population density was 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Nikkō is a popular destination for Japanese and ...

. The town of Kasukabe was created within Minamisaitama District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1944, Kasukabe annexed the neighboring village of Uchimaki. On July 1, 1954, Kasukabe was elevated to city status after annexing the villages of Toyoharu, Takesato, Komatsu and Toyono. On October 1, 2005, old Kasukabe city and the town of Shōwa (from Kitakatsushika District) were merged into the new and expanded city of Kasukabe. Kasukabe was elevated to special city status on April 1, 2008, giving it increased local autonomy.

Government

Kasukabe 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 32 members. Kasukabe contributes three members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 16th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Kasukabe is a regional commercial center with a mixed economy.

Education

* Kyoei University *Kasukabe has 22 public elementary schools and 11 public middle schools operated by the city government, and five public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education, including the Saitama Prefectural Kasukabe High School and Kasukabe Girls' Senior High School. In addition, there is one private combined middle/high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the disabled.

Transportation

Railway

Tōbu Railway - Tobu Skytree Line * - - - Tōbu Railway - Tobu Urban Park Line * - - - -

Highway

* *

Sister cities

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, United States, friendship city since July 3, 1993. Pasadena's Junior Chamber of Commerce does an exchange program each summer, alternating every year with Kasukabe residents going to Pasadena one summer and Pasadena residents coming to Kasukabe the next summer. * Fraser Coast Region,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, friendship city since April 29, 2007

Local attractions

*Kasukabe Hachiman-gu *

Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel The , popularly known as G-Cans, is an underground water infrastructure project in Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan. It is the world's largest underground flood water diversion facility, built to Flood mitigation, mitigate overflowing of the city's majo ...

has a public entrance in Kasukabe. Also known as G-CANs, this huge underground flood control system was completed in 2009. The monumental main storage chamber, sometimes called the "underground temple", has been the setting for TV shows and commercials. It is open to tours. *Ushijima Wisteria *Uchiaki Park

Shopping

Kasukabe is home to what was formerly one of the two Robinsons department stores in Japan, which became a Seibu department store in March 2013. The large, seven-story American-style store is a landmark for residents. It is located on the east side of Kasukabe Station. However, Seibu is scheduled to close its doors due to a shortage of business, likely caused by competition with Aeon Mall. Close to the west entrance to the station is a shopping mall, known as Lala Garden, housing several chain retail stores, such as Uniqlo, Gap, ABC-Mart, as well as a supermarket, 100-yen shop, and more. There is also an

Ito-Yokado is a Japanese Hypermarket, general merchandise, shopping center, grocery store and department store originally founded in 1920. In 2005, it was reorganized, as part of a corporate restructuring, as a subsidiary of the Seven & I Holdings Co. ...

on the west side of the station. Showa oodako 001

In March 2013, an Aeon mall opened on National Route 16, which shoppers can either reach by car, or by taking a regularly scheduled bus from the east entrance of the station. This mall, as well as Lala Garden, has a movie theatre.

In popular culture

Kasukabe is the setting of the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series '' Lucky Star'' and ''

Crayon Shin-chan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui. ''Crayon Shin-chan'' made its first appearance in 1990 in a Japanese weekly magazine called ''Weekly Manga Action'', which was published by Futabasha. Due to the death of ...

''. Shin-chan's creator Yoshito Usui also lived in Kasukabe.

References

External links

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