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,

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 76,423 in 38,825 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 9,400 persons per km². Approximately 41.9% of the city population is over 65 years in age. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kunitachi is located in the Musashino Terrace of central Tokyo Metropolis. Kunitachi is known for its broad main avenue, Daigaku Dori (University Avenue). This cherry-tree-lined

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

stretches from Kunitachi Station on the Chūō Main Line toward the banks of the Tama River.

Surrounding municipalities

Tokyo Metropolis * Fuchū * Hino * Kokubunji *

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

Kunitachi 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 Kunitachi is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.5 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kunitachi population statistics
/ref> the population of Kunitachi expanded rapidly in the postwar decades and has continued to grow at a slower rate since then.

History

Kunitachi lies along the historical Kōshū Kaidō, a route that connected Edo with Kofu in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Kai (present-day

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

). The area was noted for its abundant spring water. The villages of Ishida, Aoyagi and Yabo were created within Tama 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 ...

during the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The district was transferred from Kanagawa to Tokyo in 1893. In the 1920, much of the land was obtained by Kojiro Tsutsumi, the founder of Seibu, who began large-scale development of a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, which he intended to become a university town modeled after

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

in Germany. The Tokyo University of Commerce (

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 ...

) was relocated from central Tokyo to this location, and a train station was opened on Chūō Main Line in 1926. The station was named "Kunitachi", taking one ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' from the names of the stations to either side, namely Kokubunji Station and Tachikawa Station. The three villages were merged to form Kunitachi town in 1951. Kunitachi was elevated to city status on January 1, 1967.

Government

Kunitachi 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. Kunitachi, together with Kokubunji, contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tokyo 21st 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

Kunitachi remains a university town, but is also increasing a

commuter town 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, with an estimated 25.1% of the population commuting to central Tokyo daily, per the 2015 census.

Education

Tertiary: *

The city was originally home to the Kunitachi College of Music. The tertiary-level branch of the conservatory is now located far outside the city, but its attached high school and business affiliate, Kunitachi Gakki (Western Tokyo's largest community music center), remain in central Kunitachi. The city has two public high schools operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. * * Kunitachi has eight public elementary schools and three junior high schools operated by the city government. Municipal junior high schools: * Kunitachi No. 1 ( 国立第一中学校) * Kunitachi No. 2 ( 国立第二中学校) * Kunitachi No. 3 ( 国立第三中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Kunitachi No. 1 (国立第一小学校) * Kunitachi No. 2 (国立第二小学校) * Kunitachi No. 3 (国立第三小学校) * Kunitachi No. 4 (国立第四小学校) * Kunitachi No. 5 (国立第五小学校) * Kunitachi No. 6 (国立第六小学校) * Kunitachi No. 7 ( 国立第七小学校) * Kunitachi No. 8 (国立第八小学校) There are also three private high schools. There are also three private elementary schools and one private junior high school. * *

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 ...

– Chūō Main Line *

–

Nambu Line The Nambu Line () is a Japanese railway line which connects Tachikawa Station in Tachikawa, Tokyo and Kawasaki Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. For most of its length, it parallels the Tama River, the natural border between Tokyo and Kanagawa prefec ...

* -

Highway

* Chūō Expressway *

Local attractions

* Yabo Tenman-gū, a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

established in 903 AD

References

External links

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