Saitama (city)

Saitama

さいたま市
Saitama さいたま市
Designated city
	Saitama City
	From top left: Saitama Stadium 2002, Urawa Parco, Gyokuzouin, Hikawa Shrine, Saitama New City Center, Saitama Super Arena, Musashi urawa
	Flag Seal
	Location of Saitama in Saitama Prefecture
	Saitama
	Coordinates: 35°51′41″N 139°38′44″E / 35.86139°N 139.64556°E
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Saitama Prefecture
Area
• Total	217.43 km2 (83.95 sq mi)
Population (February 2016)
• Total	1,266,656
• Density	5,830/km2 (15,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Zelkova serrata
- Flower	Primula sieboldii
Phone number	048-829-1111
Address	6-4-4 Tokiwa, Urawa-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama-ken 330-9588
Website	Official website

Saitama is the capital city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan. It is in the south-east of the prefecture. It includes the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. It is about 15 - 30 kilometres north of central Tokyo, so many people commute from here into Tokyo. More people live in Saitama than any other prefecture in Saitama.

History

The city was founded on May 1, 2001, and was designated on April 1, 2003 as a government ordinance.

On April 1, 2005, it merged with the city of Iwatsuki to its east, which became a new ward, Iwatsuki-ku.

Geography

The city is 20 to 30 km north of central Tokyo. This is the center of the Kantō Plain. The city is mostly below 20 meters above sea level. There are no mountains or hills in the city.

Wards

Saitama has ten wards (ku), which were assigned official colours as of April 2005:

■1 - Chūō-ku	中央区	(Rose red)
■2 - Iwatsuki-ku	岩槻区	(Ochre)
■3 - Kita-ku	北区	(Dark green)
■4 - Midori-ku	緑区	(Green)
■5 - Minami-ku	南区	(Lemon yellow)
■6 - Minuma-ku	見沼区	(Sky blue)
■7 - Nishi-ku	西区	(Blue)
■8 - Ōmiya-ku	大宮区	(Orange)
■9 - Sakura-ku	桜区	(Cherry blossom pink)
■10 - Urawa-ku	浦和区	(Red) - administrative center

Economy

Manufacturing includes automotive (Honda manufactures the Honda Legend here), food, optical, precision and pharmaceutical products. Iwatsuki is famous for manufacturing hinamatsuri dolls and ornate kabuto (samurai helmets).

Transportation

Saitama is a regional transportation hub for both passengers and freight. Ōmiya Station is the biggest railway hub in the prefecture. The closest major airports are Haneda Airport and Narita International Airport, both about two hours away.^[1]

Railway Stations

■ East Japan Railway Company

■ Tōhoku, Akita, Yamagata, Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen

- Ōmiya -

■ Utsunomiya Line

- Urawa - Saitama-Shintoshin - Ōmiya - Toro - Higashi-Ōmiya -

■ Takasaki Line

- Urawa - Saitama-Shintoshin - Ōmiya - Miyahara -

■ Keihin-Tōhoku Line

- Minami-Urawa - Urawa - Kita-Urawa - Yono - Saitama-Shintoshin - Ōmiya

■ Saikyō Line

- Musashi-Urawa - Naka-Urawa - Minami-Yono - Yonohommachi - Kita-Yono - Ōmiya

■ Musashino Line

- Nishi-Urawa - Musashi-Urawa - Minami-Urawa - Higashi-Urawa -

■ Kawagoe Line

Ōmiya - Nisshin - Nishi-Ōmiya - Sashiōgi -

■ Saitama Railway Corporation

■ Saitama Rapid Railway Line

- Urawa Misono

■ Tobu Railway

■ Tōbu Noda Line

Ōmiya - Kita-Ōmiya - Ōmiya-kōen - Ōwada - Nanasato - Iwatsuki - Higashi-Iwatsuki -

■ Saitama New Urban Transit

■ New Shuttle

Ōmiya - Tetsudō-Hakubutsukan - Kamonomiya - Higashi-Miyahara - Komba - Yoshinohara

Culture

Education

Universities

Mejiro University
Nihon University Faculty of Law
The Open University of Japan Omiya Study Center
Saitama University
Shibaura Institute of Technology
University of Human Arts and Sciences
Urawa University

Junior Colleges

Kokusai Gakuin Saitama Junior College
Urawa University Junior College

High Schools

Omiya Nishi High School
Omiya Kita High School
Urawa High School
Urawa Minami High school

Professional Graduate School

Omiya Law School

Sports

Saitama has two J. League football (soccer) teams: the Urawa Red Diamonds and Omiya Ardija.

Origin of the name "Saitama"

The name "Saitama" originally comes from the Sakitama district of what is now the city of Gyōda in the northern part of what is now known as Saitama Prefecture. "Sakitama" has an ancient history and is mentioned in the famous 8th century poetry anthology Man'yōshū. The pronunciation has changed from Sakitama to Saitama over the years.

With the merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono it was decided that a new name, one fitting for this newly-created prefectural capital, was needed. The prefectural name "Saitama" was changed from kanji into hiragana, thus Saitama City was born. It is the only prefectural capital in Japan whose name is always written in hiragana, and belongs to the list of hiragana cities.

However, Saitama written in hiragana (さいたま市) actually finished in second place in public polling to Saitama written in kanji (埼玉市). Despite this, government officials decided to name the new city Saitama in hiragana, not kanji. In third place in the poll was Ōmiya (大宮市). In fourth was Saitama (彩玉市), written with an alternative kanji for "sai" (彩) which means "colorful". The "sai" (埼) used in the prefectural name is a rare form of a common character (崎) that means cape or promontory.