Tachikawa, Tokyo
Geography. Tachikawa is located on the Musashino Terrace of western Tokyo, approximately 40 km west of the center of Tokyo. The Tama River flows between Tachikawa and the neighboring city of Hino. The "Tamagawa-jousui" (Tamagawa Aqueduct) flows north of the city, with a great promenade on both banks. Surrounding municipalities. Tokyo Metropolis Climate. Tachikawa has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen "Cfa") characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Tachikawa is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The  temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.4 °C. Demographics. Per Japanese census data, the population of Tachikawa increased steadily of the past century. History. The area of present-day Tachikawa was part of ancient Musashi Province and was controlled from the Heian period through then Sengoku period by the Tachikawa clan. In the Edo period, it was little more than a village along the Koshu Kaido. In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reform of July 22, 1878, the area became part of Kitatama District in Kanagawa Prefecture  In the Meiji period, the opening of what would later become the Chuo Main Line in 1889 led to a large-scale land development and on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities law, the village of Tachikawa was created. Kitatama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. Tachikawa Airfield Was established in 1922 by the Imperial Japanese Army, and Tachikawa was elevated to town status the following year. On December 1, 1940 Tachikawa was elevated to city status. Before the war, Tachikawa was a military town centered on Tachikawa  Airfield, and even after the war, it was a major base for the US military until 1977. Notable events. On May 12, 2011, a robbery of the largest amount of money in Japanese history took place in the city. On that day at 3 a.m., two men wearing masks broke into the office of a security company, bound the sole security guard, beat him until he revealed the code to the company's vault, and then made off with 70 bags of cash containing ¥604 million. The security guard, 36, was seriously injured. Hideaki Ueki, 31, Yutaka Watanabe, 41 , Tsutomu Sakuma, 37, and three others were later arrested and charged with perpetrating the crime. All the men allegedly had ties to the Yakuza. Government. Tachikawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 28 members. Tachikawa contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tokyo 21st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Economy. Tachikawa is a regional commercial center, and is also a commuter town for downtown Tokyo. It is the central city of the  populous "Tokyo Santama district", and commercial facilities such as department stores and offices are concentrated around Tachikawa Station. Agriculture is now largely vestigial, but Tachikawa was formerly known for its production of "udo". Education. Primary and secondary schools. Tachikawa has 19 public elementary and nine public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has two public high schools operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education and three private high schools Public libraries. The Tokyo Metropolitan Library Tama Library opened in Tachikawa in 1987 to relieve municipal libraries. Transportation. Railway. JR East – Chūō Main Line JR East  – Nanbu Line - Seibu Railway - Seibu Haijima Line Highway. Tachikawa is not served by any national expressways or national highways.