Warabi, Saitama
Geography. Warabi is located southeastern part of Saitama Prefecture, bordering Saitama City in the north, Toda in the west, and Kawaguchi in the east. The city area is in the Arakawa lowland and averages 4.8 meters above sea level. Land use mainly consists of residential areas. Surrounding municipalities. Saitama Prefecture Climate. Warabi has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen "Cfa") characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Warabi is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1482 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest  on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.2 °C. Demographics. Per Japanese census data, the population of Warabi has remained relatively constant over the past 50 years. History. Warabi developed from the Muromachi period as Warabi-shuku, a post town on the Nakasendō highway. It was created as a town with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on 1 April 1889 and was elevated to city status on 1 April 1959. Government. Warabi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council  of 18 members. Warabi contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 15th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The directly-elected executive mayor is Hideo Yoritaka, a member of the Japanese Communist Party. Economy. Warabi has many small and medium-sized factories, which have employed many foreign workers. In particular, many Iranians and Kurds fled the ethnic problems and wars in the Middle East, and have settled in Warabi. Recently, the ratio of Chinese residents is the highest in Saitama Prefecture. The bulk of  the working population commutes to Saitama City or Tokyo Metropolis, making Warabi largely a commuter town. Education. Warabi has seven public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one combined private middle/high school. Transportation. Railway. JR East – Keihin-Tohoku line