Kawaguchi, Saitama

Kawaguchi 川口市
Special city
View of downtown Kawaguchi
Flag Seal
Location of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture
Kawaguchi Location of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture
Coordinates: 35°48′27.7″N 139°43′26.8″E / 35.807694°N 139.724111°E / 35.807694; 139.724111Coordinates: 35°48′27.7″N 139°43′26.8″E / 35.807694°N 139.724111°E / 35.807694; 139.724111
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Saitama Prefecture
Government
• -Mayor	Nobuo Okunoki (since February 2014)
Area
• Total	61.95 km2 (23.92 sq mi)
Population (February 2016)
• Total	578,727
• Density	9,340/km2 (24,200/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree	Camellia sasanqua
- Flower	Lilium longiflorum
Phone number	048-258-1110
Address	2-1-1 Aoki, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama-ken 332-0031
Website	www.city.kawaguchi.lg.jp/index.html

Kawaguchi city office

Kawaguchi (川口市, Kawaguchi-shi) is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, in the central Kantō region of Japan. As of 1 February 2016, the city had an estimated population of 578,727 and a population density of 9340 persons per km². Its total area was 61.95 square kilometres (23.92 sq mi). It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 9th most populated city (after Hachioji) and second largest in Saitama Prefecture.

Geography

Kawaguchi is located near the center of the Kantō Plain in southern Saitama Prefecture, and is bordered by the Tokyo wards of Kita-ku and Adachi-ku to the south. The city area is mostly flat and mainly residential except for the Omiya tableland, which occupies part of the north and east area. The Arakawa River runs across the border with Kita-ku to the south.

Surrounding municipalities

• Saitama Prefecture
  • Koshigaya
  • Sōka
  • Saitama
  • Warabi
  • Toda
• Tokyo Metropolis
  • Kita-ku
  • Adachi-ku

Demographics

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.^[2]

Kawaguchi is a typical suburb city of Tokyo metropolitan area, where population greatly changes between daytime and nighttime due to commute to big cities, especially to Tokyo. In mid 1990s, population growth rate declined, but recent apartment construction boom in the city helps increase population growth rate again. The number of children continues to decrease in accordance with the decline of number of birth: 4,735 in 2009 down from the highest number of 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. Yet the number is below the national average.^[1]

History

Honchō, Kawaguchi

After the last ice age, during early and middle Jōmon period, most of the area which is now Kawaguchi was under sea level except for the area which is now Omiya Tableland. Ancient peoples living in this area left several shell middens, in which shells, Jōmon pottery, and pit houses have been discovered by archaeologists. Many Kofun period barrows were also found in Kawaguchi, however many have also been destroyed by urban development. From the Heian period onwards, Kawaguchi was part of Musashi Province. The name “Kawaguchi” appears in the Kamakura period chronicle Gikeiki, but it is not proven that this name designated current area of Kawaguchi.

During the Edo period, Kawaguchi-juku developed as a post station on the Nikkō Onari Kaidō, a highway used by the Tokugawa shogun and daimyō to visit Nikkō Tōshō-gū. Towards the Bakumatsu period and into the Meiji period, the demand for metal products increased. Because of proximity to Tokyo and convenient water transportation using Arakawa River, Kawaguchi became the center of metal casting industry, for which it has remained famous until modern times.

The modern town of Kawaguchi was established within Kitaadachi District, Saitama on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the municipalities system. Kawaguchi was elevated to city status on April 1, 1933 by the merger of Kawaguchi with the neighboring villages of Aoki, Minami-Hirayanagi and Yokozone. The city expanded by annexing the town of Hatogaya and villages of Shiba, Kamine and Shingō in 1940. However, Hatogaya separated from Kawaguchi in 1948 in accordance with the results of a referendum.

Kawaguchi has experienced many disasters, including flood, earthquake and war. The Arakawa River has inundated Kawaguchi countless times and ruined agriculture, which resulted in famines. Also the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake damaged buildings in Kawaguchi, killing 99 people.

Currently, the population of Kawaguchi continues to increase, and many tall apartment buildings are being built around train stations. This is because many casting foundries moved to suburban industrial parks and the former sites were turned into residential areas.^[3]

On April 1, 2001 Kawaguchi was designated a special city, with increased local autonomy.

On October 11, 2011, Kawaguchi re-absorbed the city of Hatogaya.

Arakawa River at Kawaguchi

Education

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
• Saitama Prefectural Hatogaya High School
• Kawaguchi Municipal High School
• Kawaguchi Municipal Kenyo High School
• Kawaguchi Municipal Sogo High School

Middle schools

(all managed by the city)

Elementary schools

(all managed by the city)

Special schools

• Saitama Prefectural Kawaguchi Special Educational School
• Saitama Korean Kindergarten (埼玉朝鮮幼稚園) - North Korean school^[4]

Transportation

Railway

• JR East - Keihin-Tohoku line
  • Kawaguchi - Higashi-Kawaguchi
• JR East - Musashino line
  • Higashi-Kawaguchi
• Saitama Rapid Railway Line
  • Kawaguchi Motogō - Minami Hatogaya - Hatogaya - Araijuku - Tozuka-angyō - Higashi-Kawaguchi

Buses

Kawaguchi 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.^[5]

Bus operators

• Kokusai Kogyo Bus
• Tobu Bus Central

Highway

• Tohoku Expressway: Kawaguchi Junction
• Tokyo Gaikan Expressway: Kawaguchi-Nishi, Kawaguchi-Chuo, Kawaguchi Junction, Kawaguchi-Higashi
• Shuto Expressway: Kawaguchi Junction, Araijuku, Angyo, Shingo, Higashi Ryoke
• Japan National Route 122
• Japan National Route 298

Local attractions

Kawaguchi Jinja

• Kawaguchi Green Center
• Kawaguchi Shrine

Noted people from Kawaguchi

• Yoshitaka Shindō, politician
• Yukio Tomioka, politician
• Yukio Ninagawa, stage director
• Kumiko Ohba, actress

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kawaguchi.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kawaguchi, Saitama.

• Kawaguchi City official website (Japanese)
• Article on Kawaguchi City Council

Saitama Prefecture
Saitama (capital)
Wards of Saitama	Chūō Iwatsuki Kita Midori Minami Minuma Nishi Ōmiya Sakura Urawa
Core cities	Kawagoe Koshigaya
Special cities	Kasukabe Kawaguchi Kumagaya
Cities	Ageo Asaka Chichibu Fujimi Fujimino Fukaya Gyōda Hannō Hanyū Hasuda Hidaka Higashimatsuyama Honjō Iruma Kazo Kitamoto Kōnosu Kuki Misato Niiza Okegawa Sakado Satte Sayama Shiki Shiraoka Sōka Toda Tokorozawa Tsurugashima Wakō Warabi Yashio Yoshikawa
Chichibu District	Higashichichibu Minano Nagatoro Ogano Yokoze
Hiki District	Hatoyama Kawajima Namegawa Ogawa Ranzan Tokigawa Yoshimi
Iruma District	Miyoshi Moroyama Ogose
Kitaadachi District	Ina
Kitakatsushika District	Matsubushi Sugito
Kodama District	Kamikawa Kamisato Misato
Minamisaitama District	Miyashiro
Ōsato District	Yorii
List of mergers in Saitama Prefecture