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 195,207 in 93,654 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 9500 persons per km². The total area of the city was .

Geography

Kodaira is located in the

Musashino Terrace The , also translated from Japanese as Musashino Platform and also named Musashino Region, is a large tableland that sits between the Arakawa and Tama rivers in the Kantō region of Honshu, Japan. The plateau consists of an alluvial fan formed ...

near the geographic centre of Tokyo Metropolis.

Surrounding municipalities

* Higashiiyamato *

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 ...

* Higashikurume * Koganei * Kokubunji *

Nishitokyo () is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 206,047, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Nishitokyo is located at th ...

Tachikawa file:Autumn colors in Showa memorial park.jpg, 250px, Showa Memorial Park is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 184,383 in 93,428 househ ...

Climate

Kodaira 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 Kodaira 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 25.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kodaira increased rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s and has continued to grow at a slower rate in the decades since.

History

The area of present-day Kodaira 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. ...

, but was a largely unpopulated area under the opening of the

Tamagawa Aqueduct is a 43-kilometer long Japanese aqueduct located in Tokyo. It was constructed by the Tokugawa shogunate to supply drinking and fire-fighting water from the Tama river to Edo, providing irrigation water around farm villages. The aqueduct was ma ...

in 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 ...

made agriculture possible. 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 July 22, 1878, the area became part of Kitatama District in

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 village of Kodaira was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. Kitatama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. The population of the area expanded after the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

with the relocation of universities and housing areas from central Tokyo. Kodaira was elevated to town status in 1944 and to city status on October 1, 1962.

Government

Kodaira 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 28 members. Kodaira contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tokyo 18th 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 ...

Education

Universities

Tsuda College is a Private school, private women's university based at Kodaira, Tokyo, Kodaira, Tokyo. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious higher educational institutions for women in Japan, contributing to the advancement of women in society for mor ...

Kaetsu University is a private university in Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan, established in 2001. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1903. The school was founded by Taka Kaetsu in 1903 as a women's commercial school. It was renamed Japan Commercial Girls’ Schoo ...

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

Hitotsubashi University , formerly known as , is a national university, national research university in Tokyo, Japan. Often regarded as Japan’s foremost institution for the study of the social sciences, particularly commerce, economics, law, political science, sociolog ...

(Kodaira campus) * Shiraume Gakuen College * Shiraume Gakuen Junior College

Primary and secondary schools

The

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education (東京都教育委員会 ''Tōkyō-to Kyōiku Iinkai'') is the board of education in Tokyo, Japan. The board directly manages most of the Public school (government funded), public secondary schoo ...

operates three public high schools. There is also one special education school for the handicapped. * * * Kodaira has 19 public elementary school and eight public junior high schools. Public junior high schools: * Hana Koganei Minami ( 花小金井南中学校) * Josui ( 上水中学校) * Kodaira No. 1 ( 小平第一中学校) * Kodaira No. 2 ( 小平第二中学校) * Kodaira No. 3 ( 小平第三中学校) * Kodaira No. 4 ( 小平第四中学校) * Kodaira No. 5 ( 小平第五中学校) * Kodaira No. 6 ( 小平第六中学校) Public elementary schools: * Gakuen Higashi (学園東小学校) * Hana Koganei (花小金井小学校) * Kamijuku ( 上宿小学校) * Kodaira No. 1 ( 小平第一小学校) * Kodaira No. 2 (小平第二小学校) * Kodaira No. 3 (小平第三小学校) * Kodaira No. 4 ( 小平第四小学校) * Kodaira No. 5 ( 小平第五小学校) * Kodaira No. 6 ( 小平第六小学校) * Kodaira No. 7 ( 小平第七小学校) * Kodaira No. 8 (小平第八小学校) * Kodaira No. 9 ( 小平第九小学校) * Kodaira No. 10 ( 小平第十小学校) * Kodaira No. 11 (小平第十一小学校) * Kodaira No. 12 ( 小平第十二小学校) * Kodaira No. 13 ( 小平第十三小学校) * Kodaira No. 14 (小平第十四小学校) * Kodaira No. 15 (小平第十五小学校) * Suzuki ( 鈴木小学校) There are two private elementary schools, three private junior high schools, and three private high schools. * * * * Salesians of Don Bosco Salesian Primary and Junior High School ( サレジオ小学校・中学校) *

Miscellaneous school A miscellaneous school is a classification of schools under the education laws of Japan and South Korea. Japan Overview ''Kakushu gakkō'' (), sometimes translated as "miscellaneous vocational school", is a classification of schools in Japan, es ...

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 are in ...

–

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 unclosed loop around central Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tok ...

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 Shinjuku Line The is a Japanese railway line owned by the private railway operator Seibu Railway, connecting Seibu Shinjuku Station in Shinjuku, Tokyo with Hon-Kawagoe Station in Kawagoe, Saitama. The Shinjuku Line is one of two main lines of the Seibu Ra ...

* -

Seibu Tamako Line The is a single-track railway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway. The line is part of the Seibu Shinjuku group of railway lines that connects suburban areas of western Tokyo to Seibu and JR East main ...

* -

Seibu Kokubunji Line The is a railway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway. The line is part of the Seibu Shinjuku group of railway lines and connects suburban areas of western Tokyo to Seibu and JR main lines that run to ...

* -

Seibu Haijima Line The is a railway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Seibu Railway. It acts as a branch line of the Seibu Shinjuku Line, with direct trains to Seibu-Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Haijima Liner ''Haijima Liner'' is a reserved seat express servi ...

* - <''Hagiyama''> -

Highway

Kodaira is not served by any national highways or expressways.

Local attractions

* Koganei Park *

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum The is an open-air museum located within Koganei Park, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1993 as a branch of the Edo-Tokyo Museum and is operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, a public interest incorporated foundation. T ...

*Kodaira Municipal Cemetery * Kodaiara Hirakushi Denchu Art Museum *Gas Museum

Notable people from Kodaira

* Ryuhei Kawada, politician * Nobuaki Kojima, contemporary sculptor *

Shun Oguri is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and Voice acting in Japan, voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor. He started in small roles as extra in the works ...

, actor *

Kōji Tsujitani was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and director of audiography credited for voicing many anime and video game characters. He was formerly affiliated with Sigma Seven. He married Kumiko Watanabe in 2012. He died of a stroke on October 1 ...

, voice actor

References

External links

Kodaira City Official Website
* {{Authority control Cities in Tokyo Western Tokyo