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 ...

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 ...

. On January 1, 2021, 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 69,937 in 31,890 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 .

Geography

Tsurugashima is located in the geographic center of Saitama Prefecture. Tsurugashima Station is approximately 40 minutes from

Ikebukuro Station Ikebukuro Station () is a major railway station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, shared by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro, and the two private railway operators Seibu Railw ...

in Tokyo on the

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 ...

by direct express train. Tsurugashima is located at the tip of the Iruma Plateau, and the elevation is about 30 to 50 meters above sea level, gently descending from the southwest to the northeast.

Surrounding municipalities

** Hidaka ** Kawagoe ** Sakado

Climate

Tsurugashima 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 Tsurugashima is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1448 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Tsurugashima population statistics
/ref> the population of Tsurugashima has recently plateaued after several decades of strong growth.

History

The area around Tsurugashima has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and a number of large

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

from the

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 ...

are preserved within the city limits. 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 area was largely under the control of

Kawagoe Domain Kawagoe Castle daimyō residence, administrative headquarters of Kawagoe Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Musashi Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Kawagoe Castle, locate ...

. The village of Tsurugashima was created within Koma District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Koma District was abolished in 1896, becoming part of Iruma District.Tsurugashima was elevated to town status on April 1, 1966. The city of Tsurugashima was founded when the former town of Tsurugashima was elevated to

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

on September 1, 1991.

Government

Tsurugashima 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 18 members. Tsurugashima contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Saitama 10th district , the House of Representatives of Japan is elected from a combination of multi-member districts and single-member districts, a method called parallel voting. Currently, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member districts (called proportional re ...

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

Formerly an agricultural community, Tsurugashima has increasingly become 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 a third of its population commuting to the Tokyo metropolis or the city of Kawagoe.

Education

Tsurugashima has eight public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Tōbu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and '' keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second lon ...

Tōbu Ogose Line The is a , mostly single-track branchline in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway. It runs from Sakado Station (Saitama), Sakado Station on the Tobu Tojo Line to Ogose Station, connecting with the JR ...

Highway

* – Ken-Ō Tsurugashima Interchange, Tsurugashima Junction * – Tsurugashima Interchange, Tsurugashima Junction *

Bus

* Tsuru Bus community bus service * Tsuru Wagon community minibus service

Local attractions

*Wakaba Walk Shopping Centre * Zennōji Temple

Notable people from Tsurugashima

* Aria Jasuru Hasegawa, footballer *

Jin Katagiri is a comedian, actor, sculptor, and potter from Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from Kasukabe High School and Tama Art University. Outside Japan, he is most well known for playing the PC (opposite Kentarō Kobayashi who plays the Mac ...

, comedian and member of the

Rahmens is a Japanese comedy duo, referred to as an '' owarai kombi'', consisting of Jin Katagiri () and Kentarō Kobayashi (). Formation Katagiri and Kobayashi met as students and formed a conte group in 1996 while studying printmaking at Tama Art Uni ...

duo *

Ryuji Kawai is a former Japanese association football, football player. Playing career Kawai was born in Itabashi, Tokyo on July 14, 1978. After graduating from high school, he joined J1 League club Urawa Reds in 1997. However he could not play at all in ...

, footballer * Atsuko Sakurai, actress *

Haruka Shimazaki is a Japanese actress, singer, and former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48. Her supposed apathetic attitude toward idol fans led to the popularity of the buzzword in Japanese media. Since graduating from AKB48 in 2016, Shimazaki has work ...

, actress and former

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

member *

Hideaki Takeda is a former Japanese football player. Career On 7 March 2012, it was announced that he had signed a two-year contract with Estonian Meistriliiga side JK Nõmme Kalju. Takeda made the league debut for the club on 10 March 2012, in a goalless dra ...

, footballer * Jun Uruno, footballer

References

External links

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