is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 town 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 32,851 in 14,689 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 510 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in northwestern Saitama Prefecture, Yorii is on the central reaches of the Arakawa River, just downstream of Nagatoro, and is approximately 70 kilometers from downtown Tokyo.

Surrounding municipalities

Fukaya is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 229,517 in 142,803 households in 60804 households and a population density of 1023 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is famous for a ...

* Higashichichibu * Minano * Misato * Nagatoro * Ogawa * Ranzan

Climate

Yorii 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 Ageo is 13.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1746 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Yorii peaked around the year 2000 and had declined since.

History

Yorii developed as a post station on the pilgrimage route to the temples of the Chichibu area from the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, and was a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

Hachigata Castle was a Sengoku period Japanese castle, located in the town of Yorii, Saitama Prefecture, in the Kantō region of Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1932. Overview Hachigata Castle was located on a peninsula su ...

during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. The town of Yorii was created within Hanzawa District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Hanzawa District was abolished in 1896, becoming part of Ōsato District. In February 1955, the town expanded by annexing the neighboring villages of Orihara, Hachigata, Obusuma, and Yodo.

Government

Yorii 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 ...

town council of 16 members. Yorii, together with the town of Misato and city of Fukaya, contributes three members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Saitama 11th 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

Honda has an automobile assembly plant in Yorii, which is a major local employer.

Education

Yorii has six public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

Chichibu Railway The is a small-sector private railway company operating a railway line in northern Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In addition to its railway operations, the company deals in the real estate and tourism industries. It managed the Mitsumine Ropeway (� ...

Chichibu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, owned by the private railway operator Chichibu Railway, linking and , both in Saitama Prefecture. Stations * Rolling stock , the Chichibu Railway operates the following fleet of rolling stock on the line ...

* – –

Tobu 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 longes ...

–

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 ...

* – - - , -

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 ...

–

Hachikō Line The is a 92.0 km (57.2 mi) regional railway line owned and operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is located within Tokyo, Saitama, and Gunma Prefectures in Japan. It connects Hachiōji Station in Hachiōji, Tokyo w ...

* - -

Highway

* *

Sister cities

* Marysville,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States, since 2013

Local attractions

*Saitama Museum of Rivers *Tamayodo Dam *Tsuburada Dam

Noted people from Yorii

* Chizuru Arai, Olympic gold medal judoka * Kazuichi Hanawa, Mangaka

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Saitama Prefecture