Kawaguchi, Saitama
Kawaguchi, Saitama
| Kawaguchi 川口 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Special city — | |||
| 川口市 | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
 |
|||
 Kawaguchi
|
|||
| Coordinates: 35°48′N 139°43′E / 35.8°N 139.717°ECoordinates: 35°48′N 139°43′E / 35.8°N 139.717°E | |||
| Country | Japan | ||
| Region | Kanto | ||
| Prefecture | Saitama | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Koshiro Okamura (since May 1997) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 55.75 km2 (21.5 sq mi) | ||
| Population (January 1, 2011) | |||
| - Total | 517,171 | ||
| - Density | 9,276.61/km2 (24,026.3/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) | ||
| City symbols | |||
| - Tree | Camellia sasanqua | ||
| - Flower | Lilium longiflorum | ||
| Phone number | 048-258-1110 | ||
| Address | 2-1-1 Aoki 332-0031 |
||
| Website | Japanese English | ||
Kawaguchi (川口市 Kawaguchi-shi) is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1933.
As of January 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 517,171 and a population density of 9,276.61 persons per km². The total area is 55.75 km². Kawaguchi is partially served by Warabi Station in neighbouring Warabi on the Keihin-Tōhoku Line. It is due to absorb the city of Hatogaya in October 2011.
Recently Kawaguchi has grown and now includes some major shopping malls (Ario, Lala Garden and Aeon Mall Carat), a huge library and a movie theater.
The area of Nishi Kawaguchi (West Kawaguchi), particularly the area west of Nishi-Kawaguchi Station (also on the Keihin-Tōhoku Line), was, and still is to an extent, infamous as a red light district.
A little league baseball team from this city played in the 2006 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and was defeated 2-1 in the final by Columbus, Georgia.
Contents |
History
After the last ice age, during early and middle Jomon period, most of the area which is now Kawaguchi City were under sea level except for the area which is now Omiya Tableland. (Japanese: ) Ancient people living in this area left several shell heaps, in which a lot of shells, Jomon pottery, and pit houses were dug up.
In Kofun period, countless barrows were constructed particularly in the west of Japan. Some barrows were also found in Kawaguchi, the largest one is Takainari Barrow, which was destroyed because of the use of the soil in 1960.
In middle ages, Kawaguchi was part of Musashi province, which included entire Saitama, Tokyo, and part of Kanagawa prefecture. It is not known when people started using the name Kawaguchi, but in a tale of war named Gikeiki, which was reportedly written in around 1300, there was a name of Ko Kawaguchi, that means little Kawaguchi. However, it is not proven that the name designated current Kawaguchi.
Once Tokugwa Ieyasu, a founder of Tokugawa Shogunate, died in 1616, Tokugawa shogunate established Kawaguchi Juku(Japanese:川口宿) on the Nikko Onari Kaido, a road used by shoguns to visit Nikko Toshogu, a shrine for worship of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hence, a dozen hotels were built to serve travelers there.
As Edo, now Tokyo, increased its importance as both political and industrial gravity, demand for metal products increased. Because of proximity to Tokyo and convenient water transportation using Arakawa River, Kawaguchi became the center of casting industry. A lot of orders of military weapons from Tokugawa shogunate and many Daimyos, governors of a province, to fight against foreign countries during late Edo period made Kawaguchi more and more competitive casting town. Since then casting have been the symbol of Kawaguchi.
In 1910 Kawaguchi-machi Station opened, which was the first train station in Kawaguchi.
On April 1, 1933, Kawaguchi City was established with merger of Kawaguchi-machi, Aoki-mura, Minami-Hirayanagi-mura, and Yokozone-mura. Kawaguchi City was the second city in Saitama Prefecture, after Kawagoe City. Following this merger, in 1940 with Hatogaya-machi, Shiba-mura, Kamine-mura, and Shingo-mura, in 1956 with part of Angyo-mura, in 1962 with part of Misono-mura, Kawaguchi City expanded its territory. However, Hatogaya-machi separated from Kawaguchi City in 1948 in accordance with the referendum. Kawaguchi had been the most populous city in Saitama until Urawa overtook Kawaguchi. Now, Kawaguchi is the second most populated city in Saitama Prefecture after Saitama City, the capital city of Saitama Prefecture.
Kawaguchi underwent a lof of disasters, such as flood, earthquake and war. Arakawa River inundated Kawaguchi countless times and ruined agricultures, which resulted in devastating famine. Also in 1923, Great Kanto Earthquake struck Kawaguchi, and 99 people were killed, but fortunately no fire occurred unlike Tokyo and Yokohama. It could have been much worse.
Currently, the population of Kawaguchi continues to increase, and many tall apartment buildings are being built around train stations, so Kawaguchi Station area looks like skyscraper. This is because many casting foundries moved to suburb industrial parks and the sites turned into apartment buildings, whereas in suburb areas nature still remains and they are good healing spots for citizens of Kawaguchi.
On 11 October, 2011, Kawaguchi will merge Hatogaya, which is surrounded by Kawaguchi and was once part of Kawaguchi. The name of the new city will remain Kawaguchi.
Demographics
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1933 | 45,573 |
| 1945 | 97,709 |
| 1955 | 130,545 |
| 1965 | 231,193 |
| 1975 | 335,864 |
| 1980 | 373,123 |
| 1990 | 433,262 |
| 2000 | 455,886 |
| 2009 | 491,343 |
As of May 1, 2010, registered population was 516,409, including 20,808 alien residents, continuing a trend of population growth in the city since 1933 when the city was founded. There has been a gradual increase in the number of non-Japanese residents living in the city because of the convenient location to Tokyo and relatively low rent. Now, the number of people from China is the largest, followed by Korea and Philippines.
Kawaguchi is a typical suburb city in Tokyo metropolitan area, in which there is a big difference between population during weekdays and weekend, due to commuters to outside the city, in particular Tokyo. In mid 1990s, population growth rate declined, but recent apartment construction boom in the city helps increase population again. The number of children continues to decrease, in 2009 the number of birth accounting for 4,735, the highest 7,932 in 1971. By contrast, the rate of people over the age of 65 is increasing, approximately 18.5% as of January 1, 2010, which is below the average of the whole country.
Transportation
Railways
Three railway lines run through Kawaguchi: the Keihin-Tohoku Line south to north in the west, the Musashino Line east to west in the north, and the Saitama Rapid Railway Line south to north in the central. Kawaguchi Station is the busiest station in the city in term of the number of passengers. The Keihin-Tohoku Line and Saitama Rapid Railway Line directly connect the city with central Tokyo.
Train stations
- JR Keihin-Tohoku Line: Kawaguchi, Nishi-Kawaguchi
- JR Musashino Line: Higashi-Kawaguchi
- Saitama Rapid Railway Line: Kawaguchi Motogo, Araijuku, Tozuka Angyo, Higashi-Kawaguchi
Buses
Kawaguchi City has a highly developed bus network, mainly operated by Kokusai Kogyo Bus. The east region of the city is relatively far from train stations, many people use buses to the nearest train stations. Some bus routes have over twenty bus services an hour in the morning.
Bus operators
- Kokusai Kogyo Bus
- Tobu Bus Central
Highways
Three Highway routes listed below run through the city.
- Highway Interchanges
- Tohoku Expressway: Kawaguchi Junction
- Tokyo Gaikan Expressway: Kawaguchi-Nishi, Kawaguchi-Chuo, Kawaguchi Junction, Kawaguchi-Higashi
- Shuto Expressway: Kawaguchi Junction, Araijuku, Angyo, Shingo, Higashi Ryoke
Education
Overview
Most elementary and junior high school students living in the city attend the schools administered by the city. It was not until recently that could students choose the school they would attend, they had to go to the school in the district in which they lived. In 2003, junior highs, in 2005 elementary schools, the city educational council reformed the system to allow students to have an option, but if applications were overbooked, a lottery would be conducted.
List of schools
Universities and colleges
- Saitama Gakuen University
- Kawaguchi Junior College
- Kawaguchi Art School of Waseda University
High schools
- Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi High School
- Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi Kita High School
- Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi Technical High School
- Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi Seiryo High School
- Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi Higashi High School
- Kawaguchi Municipal High School
- Kawaguchi Municipal Kenyo High School
- Kawaguchi Municipal Sogo High School
Junior high schools
(all managed by the city)
|
|
|
Elementary schools
(all managed by the city)
|
|
|
Special schools
- Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi Special Educational School
Points of interest
- Kawaguchi Green Center
- ^ "Sex businesses vanishing from greater Tokyo metropolitan area". The Tokyo Reporter. February 7, 2009. http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2009/02/07/sex-businesses-vanishing-from-greater-tokyo-metropolitan-area/.
- ^ The short history of Kawaguchi 川口市史縮小版. Kawaguchi City Office. 1996.
- ^ a b 川口市統計書 平成21年版 [The statistics of Kawaguchi (2009)]. Kawaguchi City Office. 2010.
- ^ Ministry of Justice. "Press release June 2009". http://www.moj.go.jp/nyuukokukanri/kouhou/press_090710-1_090710-1.html.
- ^ Kokusai Bus.com
- ^ Kawaguchi city office (4 June 2009). "中学校選択制について". http://www.city.kawaguchi.lg.jp/kbn/72010022/72010022.html.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Saitama Prefecture
|
|||||||||||||||||||