Ōmiya, Saitama
On May 1, 2001, Ōmiya was merged with the cities of Urawa and Yono to create the city of Saitama. Since April 1, 2003, the area of former Ōmiya City has been divided into 4 wards: Kita-ku, Minuma-ku, Nishi-ku and Ōmiya-ku of Saitama City. History. Origin and pre-modern history. Ōmiya is an indigenous Japanese language word which can be decomposed to "Ō" (大, kun'yomi (Japanese reading) おお: large, great) and "miya" (宮, kun'yomi み-や: noble or holy - house; palace or shrine) after the Hikawa Shrine. The town was on the Nakasendō, a  main national road in the feudal Edo period and the predecessor to a part of National Highway Route 17, and the Takasaki Line. Its name was derived from the famous shrine. Education. A North Korean school, Saitama Korean Elementary and Middle School (), was previously in the City of Ōmiya.