is one of ten wards of the city of Saitama, in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, and is located in the northeastern part of the city. Urawa-ku is the governmental center of Saitama City and houses most of the city's administrative offices including the city hall, as well as the offices of Saitama Prefectural government. Also, there are several newspaper branch offices and three broadcasting stations.

Geography

Urawa Ward is within the Ōmiya Plateau of the Kantō plain, in the south-central portion of Saitama City.

Neighboring Municipalities

Urawa-ku is surrounded by Midori-ku (to the east), Minami-ku (south), Chūō-ku (west), Ōmiya-ku (north), and Minuma-ku (northeast) of Saitama city.

History

In the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, Urawa-ku flourished as Urawa-shuku, a post station on the Nakasendō highway, which connected

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

. Following the Meiji restoration, Urawa Prefecture was established, and in 1871 merged with Iwatsuki, Urawa, and Oshi Prefectures merged to form Saitama Prefecture, and Urawa as the capital. The modern town of Urawa was officially created within Kitaadachi District, Saitama with the establishment of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889. After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake many intellectuals, especially painters, moved to Urawa from Tokyo, Yokohama, and other cities in southern Kantō region. In 1932, Urawa annexed the neighboring villages of Yada and Kisaki, and was elevated to city status on February 11, 1934. Urawa expanded further by annexing the villages of Omagi and Mimuro on April 17, 1940 and town of Mutsuji on April 1, 1942. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Urawa was bombed twice by Allied forces in April and May 1945. Urawa continued to expand after the end of the war, absorbing the villages of Tsuchiai and Okubo on January 1, 1955 and part of the town of Toda on April 1, 1959 and part of the village of Misono on May 1, 1962. On May 1, 2001 Urawa merged with Ōmiya and Yono to form Saitama City. In April 2003 Saitama became a city designated by government ordinance, and now the area of former Urawa City was divided between Sakura-ku, Urawa-ku, Minami-ku, and Midori-ku.

Demographics

, the ward had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

of 166,322 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

of 14,000 persons per km². Its total area was . Urawa has the second largest population of any ward in Saitama, only behind Minami-ku. The population density is the highest of all the city's wards. As of 2013, the proportion of households with an annual income of 10 million yen (about $102,459) about or more is 15.3%. This is 13th largest of any city ward or municipality in Japan. As of 2010, university graduates account for 43.4% of the population age 25 or older. This ranks 15th in Japan.

Education

Urawa-ku has 12 elementary schools, five junior high schools, and six high schools. The City of Saitama operates Urawashi Junior and Senior High School ( 浦和中学校・高等学校). Public junior high schools: * Kizaki ( 木崎中学校) * Motobuto ( 本太中学校) * Ohara ( 大原中学校) * Tokiwa ( 常盤中学校) * Urawa Junior and Senior High School ( 浦和中学校・高等学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Daito ( 大東小学校) * Harigaya ( 針ヶ谷小学校) * Kami Kizaki ( 上木崎小学校) * Kishicho ( 岸町小学校) * Kita Urawa ( 北浦和小学校) * Kizaki ( 木崎小学校) * Motobuto ( 本太小学校) * Nakacho ( 仲町小学校) * Nakamoto ( 仲本小学校) * Takasogo ( 高砂小学校) * Tokiwa ( 常盤小学校) * Tokiwa Kita ( 常盤北小学校) The Embassy of South Korea in Tokyo maintains the Korea Education Institution ( ko, 사이타마한국교육원, ja, 埼玉韓国教育院) in Urawa Ward.

Transportation

Railway

– Tohoku Main Line / Takasaki Line * JR logo (east)

– Keihin Tohoku Line * - –

Highway

* *

Bus

* Tobu Bus West * Seibu Bus * International Kyogo Bus

Local attractions

*The Urawa Red Diamonds

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club in the J. League, arguably the biggest club in Japan and in Asia called the city home after strong support from its citizens. Although its official hometown recognized by the league is whole Saitama city and it is now the club is headquartered in Saitama Stadium in Midori-ku, the hometown support are strong in the area of former Urawa city. When the team has a match at Urawa Komaba Stadium in Urawa-ku or Saitama Stadium, the town becomes more and more crowded with the supporters.

References

External links

{{Authority control Wards of Saitama (city)