Saitama (city)

**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:
|<span style="color:#f8355c;">■</span>1 - Chūō-ku|中央区|(Rose red)|
| --- | --- | --- |
|<span style="color:#f90;">■</span>2 - Iwatsuki-ku|岩槻区|(Ochre)|
|<span style="color:#006342;">■</span>3 - Kita-ku|北区|(Dark green)|
|<span style="color:#33a34d;">■</span>4 - Midori-ku|緑区|(Green)|
|<span style="color:#ffe600;">■</span>5 - Minami-ku|南区|(Lemon yellow)|
|<span style="color:#67b3d3;">■</span>6 - Minuma-ku|見沼区|(Sky blue)|
|<span style="color:#1aa9cb;">■</span>7 - Nishi-ku|西区|(Blue)|
|<span style="color:#fe4c10;">■</span>8 - Ōmiya-ku|大宮区|(Orange)|
|<span style="color:#fbb4ce;">■</span>9 - Sakura-ku|桜区|(Cherry blossom pink)|
|<span style="color:#fc0019;">■</span>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.

#### Railway Stations

- East Japan Railway Company
- Tōhoku, Akita, Yamagata, Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen
    - -  -
- Utsunomiya Line
    - -  -  - Ōmiya -  -  -
- Takasaki Line
    - - Urawa - Saitama-Shintoshin - Ōmiya -  -
- Keihin-Tōhoku Line
    - -  - Urawa -  -  - Saitama-Shintoshin - Ōmiya
- Saikyō Line
    - -  -  -  -  -  - Ōmiya
- Musashino Line
    - -  - Musashi-Urawa - Minami-Urawa -  -
- Kawagoe Line
    - Ōmiya -  -  -  -
- Saitama Railway Corporation
- Saitama Rapid Railway Line
    - -
- Tobu Railway
- Tōbu Noda Line
    - Ōmiya -  -  -  -  -  -  -
- Saitama New Urban Transit
- New Shuttle
    - Ōmiya -  -  -  -  -

#### 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.

## Sister cities

Saitama has six sister cities.

- Toluca, Mexico (1979)
- Zhengzhou, China (1981)
- Hamilton, New Zealand (1984)
- Richmond, Virginia, United States (1994)
- Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (1996)
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (1998)

## Tourist attractions

- Akigase Park
- Besshonuma Park
- Hikawa Shrine
- John Lennon Museum
- Minuma Rice Paddies
- Ōmiya Bonsai Village
- Railway Museum
- Saitama Museum of Modern Art
- Saitama Stadium 2002
- Saitama Super Arena
- Sonic City

## Other websites

- Official website in Japanese
- Official website in English

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Saitama
- **official name**: Saitama City
- **native name lang**: ja
- **settlement type**: Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, Designated city
- **image skyline**: Saitama city montage.jpg
- **image caption**: From top left: Saitama Stadium 2002, Urawa Parco, Gyokuzouin, Hikawa Shrine (Saitama), Hikawa Shrine, Saitama New City Center, Saitama Super Arena, Musashi urawa
- **image flag**: Flag of Saitama, Saitama.svg
- **image seal**: Emblem of Saitama, Saitama.svg
- **image map**: Saitama in Saitama Prefecture Ja.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Saitama in Saitama Prefecture
- **pushpin map**: Japan
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: Japan
- **subdivision type1**: List of regions of Japan, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Kantō region, Kantō
- **subdivision type2**: Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture
- **subdivision name2**: Saitama Prefecture
- **area total km2**: 217.43
- **population total**: 1,266,656
- **population as of**: February 2016
- **population density km2**: 5830
- **timezone1**: Japan Standard Time
- **utc offset1**: +9
- **blank name sec1**: City Symbols
- **blank1 name sec1**: - Tree
- **blank1 info sec1**: Zelkova serrata
- **blank2 name sec1**: - Flower
- **blank2 info sec1**: Primula sieboldii
- **blank3 name sec1**: - Bird
- **blank name sec2**: Phone number
- **blank info sec2**: 048-829-1111
- **blank1 name sec2**: Address
- **blank1 info sec2**: 6-4-4 Tokiwa, Urawa-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama-ken 330-9588