Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, Kantō Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Koshigaya is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 January 2021, the city had an estimated population density of 5,700 persons per km². The total area of the city is 60.24 square km (23.26 sq mi). It is famous for producing daruma dolls.

Geography Koshigaya is situated in eastern Saitama Prefecture, in the alluvial plain of the Nakagawa basin between the Omiya plateau and the Shimosa plateau. Most of the city area is flat with an average elevation of only five meters above sea level. Many rivers, including the Motoara River, Naka River, Ayase River, Furutone River, and Sakagawa River flow in the city. Koshigaya, which is about 25 km north of Tokyo and developed as a transportation for water and land transportation from premodern times.

Surrounding municipalities Saitama Prefecture ◦ Saitama ◦ Kasukabe ◦ Kawaguchi ◦ Sōka ◦ Yoshikawa ◦ Matsubushi.

Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Koshigaya has increased rapidly from the 1960s.

History The area around Koshigaya was an inlet of the sea in the Jōmon period and was settle during the Yayoi or early Kofun period. In the Nara period, it was a border area straddling Musashi and Shimōsa Provinces. Koshigaya-shuku prospered during the Edo period as a post station on the Nikkō Kaidō and the Ōshū Kaidō highways, and the town served as the temporary residence of the Tokugawa shōgun after the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki which destroyed Edo Castle. The town also had a riverine connection with Edo and served as a transportation and transshipment center.

Municipal timeline • The town of Koshigaya (then spelled 越ヶ谷) was created within Minamisaitama District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. • It annexed the neighboring villages of Ozawa, Niikata, Sakurai, Obukuro, Ogishima, Dewa, Gamo, Osagami, and Masubayashi on November 3, 1954 and changed the spelling of its name to its present form. • Koshigaya annexed the neighboring village of Soka on November 3, 1955. • Koshigaya was elevated to city status on November 3, 1958.

Koshigaya was elevated further to special city status on April 1, 2003 and to core city status on April 1, 2015.

Government Koshigaya has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 32 members. Koshigaya contributes four members to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy Koshigaya is a major regional commercial centre with a diversified industrial base.

Education • Bunkyo University • Saitama Prefectural University • Saitama Toho Junior College • Koshigaya has 30 public elementary schools and 15 public middle schools operated by the city government, and six public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. In addition, there are one private middle school and two private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

Transport: Rail JR East – Musashino Line • Minami-Koshigaya - Koshigaya-Laketown; Tōbu Railway - Tōbu Isesaki Line • Gamō - Shin-Koshigaya - Koshigaya - Kita-Koshigaya - Ōbukuro - Sengendai.

Transport: Road • National Route 4 • National Route 463.

Local attractions • Aritaki Arboretum • Aeon Laketown shopping mall.