Saitama (city)

Saitama ( さ い た ま 市 , Saitama-shi, pronounced [saꜜitama]) is the

capital and largest city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area Saitama
incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It さいたま市
is a city designated by government ordinance. As of 1 February 2021,
Designated city
the city had an estimated population of 1,324,854, and a population
density of 6,093 people per km² (15,781 people per mi²). Its total area Saitama City
is 217.43 square kilometres (83.95 sq mi).[1]

Etymology
The name Saitama originally comes from the Sakitama District (埼玉
郡) 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 2001 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" (埼玉県) was changed from
kanji into hiragana, thus Saitama City (さいたま市) 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.
From top left: Saitama Stadium 2002, Urawa
However, Saitama written in hiragana (さいたま市) actually finished Parco, Gyokuzouin, Hikawa Shrine, Saitama New
in second place in public polling to Saitama written in kanji (埼玉市). Urban Center, Saitama Super Arena, Musashi-
Urawa Station
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
Flag
"cape" or "promontory". Seal

Geography
The city is located 20 to 30 km north of central Tokyo, roughly at the
center of the Kantō Plain. Situated in the southeast of Saitama
Prefecture, the city is topographically comprised by lowlands and
plateaus, at mostly less than 20 m above sea level, with no mountain
ranges or hills within the city boundaries. The western portion of the
city lies on the lowland created by the Arakawa River along with
those created by small rivers such as the Moto-Arakawa River, Shiba
River, and Ayase River. The rest of the area mostly resides on the Location of Saitama in Saitama Prefecture
Ōmiya Plateau lying in the north-south direction. Dispersed in this
region, major rivers flow southward, almost paralleling to one another.

Surrounding municipalities
Saitama Prefecture
Ageo Saitama
Asaka
Fujimi
Hasuda
Kasukabe
Coordinates: 35°51′41″N 139°38′44″E
Kawagoe
Kawaguchi Country Japan
Koshigaya Region Kantō
Prefecture Saitama
Shiki
Shiraoka Government
Toda • Mayor Hayato Shimizu

Warabi Area
• Total 217.43 km2 (83.95 sq mi)
Population (March 1, 2021)
Climate • Total 1,324,854
Saitama has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized • Density 6,100/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The Time zone UTC+9 (Japan Standard
average annual temperature in Saitama is 15.2 °C (59.4 °F). The Time)
average annual rainfall is 1,371.3 mm (53.99 in) with September as Phone number 048-829-1111
the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, Address 6-4-4 Tokiwa, Urawa-ku,
at around 27.0 °C (80.6 °F), and lowest in January, at around 3.9 °C Saitama-shi, Saitama-ken
(39.0 °F).[2] 330-9588
Climate Cfa
Website Official website (https://www.c
ity.saitama.lg.jp/en/index.html)
Symbols

Flower Primula sieboldii

Tree Zelkova serrata

Saitama City Hall

 Climate data for Saitama (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1976−present)

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record high 18.7 25.5 26.9 31.2 34.2 38.0 39.3 38.7 37.4 33.1 26.0 25.1 39.3
°C (°F) (65.7) (77.9) (80.4) (88.2) (93.6) (100.4) (102.7) (101.7) (99.3) (91.6) (78.8) (77.2) (102.7)

Mean daily
9.4 10.3 13.7 19.2 23.8 26.5 30.5 31.8 27.7 21.9 16.5 11.7 20.3
maximum
(48.9) (50.5) (56.7) (66.6) (74.8) (79.7) (86.9) (89.2) (81.9) (71.4) (61.7) (53.1) (68.5)
°C (°F)

Daily mean 3.9 4.9 8.4 13.7 18.6 22.0 25.9 27.0 23.2 17.5 11.4 6.2 15.2
°C (°F) (39.0) (40.8) (47.1) (56.7) (65.5) (71.6) (78.6) (80.6) (73.8) (63.5) (52.5) (43.2) (59.4)

Mean daily
−1.1 −0.2 3.3 8.4 13.9 18.3 22.2 23.2 19.5 13.5 6.8 1.2 10.8
minimum °C
(30.0) (31.6) (37.9) (47.1) (57.0) (64.9) (72.0) (73.8) (67.1) (56.3) (44.2) (34.2) (51.4)
(°F)

Record low −9.8 −8.8 −5.0 −2.0 4.8 11.5 14.7 16.3 9.5 3.6 −2.4 −6.7 −9.8
°C (°F) (14.4) (16.2) (23.0) (28.4) (40.6) (52.7) (58.5) (61.3) (49.1) (38.5) (27.7) (19.9) (14.4)

Average
42.4 39.6 88.0 101.9 121.4 144.8 148.0 164.0 202.8 196.8 70.9 45.2 1,371.3
precipitation
(1.67) (1.56) (3.46) (4.01) (4.78) (5.70) (5.83) (6.46) (7.98) (7.75) (2.79) (1.78) (53.99)
mm (inches)

Average
precipitation
3.8 4.6 8.7 9.0 10.0 11.6 11.8 8.8 10.8 10.0 6.7 4.4 100.8
days
(≥ 1.0 mm)

Average
−5 −4 1 8 13 18 22 23 19 12 6 −1 9
dew point
(23) (25) (34) (46) (55) (64) (72) (73) (66) (54) (43) (30) (49)
°C (°F)

Mean
monthly
201.4 186.4 186.6 187.1 185.3 128.4 152.5 181.9 135.6 135.1 156.6 181.1 2,018
sunshine
hours

Source 1: Japan Meteorological Agency[2]

Source 2: Time and Date (dewpoints, 1985-2015)[3]

See or edit raw graph data.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data,[4] the population of Saitama has increased steadily over the past century.

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% Year Pop. ±%
1920 123,655 — 1975 817,712 +24.4%
1925 140,357 +13.5% 1980 879,291 +7.5%
1930 158,304 +12.8% 1985 922,757 +4.9%
1935 178,012 +12.4% 1990 1,007,569 +9.2%
1940 202,689 +13.9% 1995 1,078,545 +7.0%
1945 257,368 +27.0% 2000 1,133,300 +5.1%
1950 320,453 +24.5% 2005 1,176,314 +3.8%
1955 364,088 +13.6% 2010 1,222,434 +3.9%
1960 420,442 +15.5% 2015 1,263,979 +3.4%
1965 530,675 +26.2% 2020 1,324,025 +4.8%
1970 657,425 +23.9%

Wards
Saitama has ten wards (ku), which were assigned official colors as of April 2005:
 Wards of Saitama

Place name Map of Saitama

Area
Rōmaji Kanji Color
(km2)

1 Chūō-ku 中央区 ■ (rose red) 8.39

2 Iwatsuki-ku 岩槻区 ■ (ochre) 49.17

■ (dark
3 Kita-ku 北区 16.86
green)

4 Midori-ku 緑区 ■ (green) 26.44

■ (lemon
5 Minami-ku 南区 yellow)
13.82

6 Minuma-ku 見沼区 ■ (sky blue) 30.69

7 Nishi-ku 西区 ■ (blue) 29.12

8 Ōmiya-ku 大宮区 ■ (orange) 12.80

■ (cherry
9 Sakura-ku 桜区 18.64
blossom pink)

■ (red) -
10 Urawa-ku 浦和区 administrative 11.51
center

History
The city was founded on May 1, 2001, and was designated on
April 1, 2003 as a government ordinance. For the histories of
Urawa, Ōmiya and Yono before the merger, see:

Urawa-ku, Saitama
Ōmiya-ku, Saitama and
Yono, Saitama, respectively.
On April 1, 2005, Saitama absorbed the city of Iwatsuki to its
east, which became a new ward, Iwatsuki-ku. The city evaded
the major impact of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and
tsunami.[5]

Government
Saitama has a mayor-council form of government with a
directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 64
members. Saitama contributes 14 members to the Saitama
Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is
divided between the Saitama 1st district, Saitama 5th district Pink: former Urawa
and Saitama 15th districts of the lower house of the Diet of Blue: former Ōmiya
Japan. Green: former Yono
Yellow: former Iwatsuki

Elections
2005 Saitama mayoral election
The executive mayor, who is directly elected, is Sōichi Aikawa, an independent backed by the Liberal Democratic Party and
Komeito. On May 24, 2009, Aikawa lost his bid for reelection against Hayato Shimizu, who was backed by the opposition
DPJ.[6]

Economy
Saitama's economy is principally constituted by commercial business. The city is one of many commercial centers of the
Greater Tokyo area and serves Saitama Prefecture, North Kanto, and northeast Honshu.

Saitama is also home to various manufacturers, exporting automotive (Honda manufactures the Honda Legend at Sayama
Plant), food, optical, precision and pharmaceutical products. Calsonic Kansei, a global automotive company is
headquartered in the city.[7] Iwatsuki is famous for manufacturing of hinamatsuri dolls and ornate kabuto (samurai helmets).

Land use
The political and administrative center of the city is Urawa Ward (Urawa Station area), and the economic, commercial, and
transportation center is Omiya Ward (Omiya Station area). Located approximately 20 km to 35 km from central Tokyo,
Saitama City is a satellite city and bed town in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with a day-night population ratio of 92.8 in
2010, which is less than 100 despites being the prefectural capital and an ordinance-designated city (the southeastern part of
Saitama Prefecture).

Of the 747,000 commuters permanently residing in the city, 175,000, or 23.5%, commute to the Tokyo Special Wards area,
making the city home to many so-called "Saitama Tomin". On the other hand, the former Urawa and Omiya cities were
designated as core business cities in 1988, and in 2000, Saitama New Urban Center was opened and local branches of
various central government offices were relocated from Tokyo. The southeastern area of Saitama Prefecture tends to be a
suburb of Tokyo, and the day/night population ratio is particularly low in Minami ward and Midori ward, which are close to
the center of Tokyo. In part for this reason, the southern part of the city, which is closer to Tokyo, tends to have a higher
population density than the northern part. In addition, population tends to be concentrated along the Keihin Tohoku Line,
Utsunomiya Line, Takasaki Line, and Saikyo Line, which directly connect to central Tokyo, and where both conditions
overlap, there is a series of high population density areas of over 20,000 people/km2 from Minami ward to Urawa and Chuo
ward.

Urban functions such as administration, commerce, and business are concentrated around major stations such as Urawa,
Omiya, and Saitama-new urban stations, which have formed the central urban area since the time of the former Urawa and
Omiya cities. The former Omiya City developed as a railroad town and commercial center, and Omiya Station in particular
is one of the busiest and most prominent terminal stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with all Shinkansen bullet trains
stopping there. The Urawa area is also known as an educational district with Saitama University and Saitama Prefectural
Urawa High School, as well as an upscale residential area. The Iwatsuki Station area on the Tobu Noda Line (Tobu Urban
Park Line) is also a part of the former Iwatsuki City's central urban area. The center of the former Yono City is Yono-
honmachi Station

Transportation
Representative station is Urawa Station. Saitama is a regional transportation hub for both passengers and freight train lines.
Ōmiya Station, part of the Shinkansen high-speed train network, serves as the biggest railway hub in the prefecture.

The closest major airports are Haneda Airport and Narita International Airport, both about two hours away.[8] Honda Airport
in Okegawa is for general aviation and offers no scheduled transport services. Commuter helicopter flights to Narita Airport
are offered from Kawajima.[9]

Railway stations

JR East
 ■ Tōhoku, Akita, Yamagata, Jōetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen
Ōmiya
■ Utsunomiya Line
Urawa - Saitama-Shintoshin - Ōmiya - Toro - Higashi-Ōmiya
■ Takasaki Line
(<<Through to the Utsunomiya Line<<) - Ōmiya - Miyahara
■ Keihin-Tōhoku Line
Omiya Station, a major railway hub
Minami-Urawa - Urawa - Kita-Urawa - Yono - Saitama-Shintoshin - in Saitama
Ōmiya
■ Saikyō Line
Musashi-Urawa - Naka-Urawa - Minami-Yono - Yonohommachi - Kita-Yono - Ōmiya
■ Musashino Line
Nishi-Urawa - Musashi-Urawa - Minami-Urawa - Higashi-Urawa
■ Kawagoe Line
Ōmiya - Nisshin - Nishi-Ōmiya - Sashiōgi

Saitama Rapid Railway Line

Urawa Misono

Tōbu Railway - Tōbu Urban Park Line

Ōmiya - Kita-Ōmiya - Ōmiya-kōen - Ōwada - Nanasato - Iwatsuki - Higashi-Iwatsuki

Saitama New Urban Transit ("New Shuttle") - Ina Line

Ōmiya - Tetsudō-Hakubutsukan - Kamonomiya - Higashi-Miyahara - Konba - Yoshinohara

Highways
Tōhoku Expressway
Tokyo Gaikan Expressway
Shuto Expressway Ōmiya Route
Shuto Expressway Saitama Shintoshin Route
National Route 16
National Route 17
National Route 122
National Route 298
National Route 463

Culture

Education

Universities
Mejiro University
Nihon University Faculty of Law
Nippon Institute of Technology
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

Professional graduate school

Omiya Law School

High schools
Saitama Prefectural Board of Education operates prefectural high schools.

The following municipal high schools are operated by the city:

Saitama Municipal Ohmiya International Secondary School

Saitama Municipal Omiya Kita High School
Saitama Municipal Urawa Junior and Senior High School
Saitama Municipal Urawa Minami High School

Sports
Saitama was one of the host cities for the playoffs and the final of the official 2006 Basketball World Championship.

It is home to two J.League football teams: the Urawa Red Diamonds, formerly owned by Mitsubishi, and RB Omiya Ardija,
formerly owned by NTT.

The city and Tokorozawa are home to the Japan Professional Basketball League team the Saitama Broncos.

Urawa Red Diamonds - J.League football

RB Omiya Ardija - J.League football
Saitama Broncos - bj league basketball (The base is Saitama Prefecture, main is Saitama, Tokorozawa.)
Saitama Seibu Lions - NPB (baseball)
NJPW Dojo - NJPW (professional wrestling)
Since 2013, the city has hosted the Saitama Criterium cycling race sponsored by the Tour de France, held at the end of
October.

Mass media
Most of Saitama Prefecture's mass media presence is concentrated in this city. See Mass media in Saitama Prefecture for
details.

Sister cities
Saitama has seven sister cities.[10]

Toluca, State of Mexico, Mexico, since 1979

Zhengzhou, Henan, China, since 1981
Hamilton, New Zealand, since 1984
Richmond, Virginia, United States, since 1994
 Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, since 1996
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, since 1998
Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, since 2020

Visitor attractions
Akigase Park
Besshonuma Park
Hikawa Shrine
Irumagawa stable
Minuma Rice Paddies
Minuma Tsūsen-bori
Ōmiya Bonsai Village
Railway Museum
Saitama Museum of Modern Art Saitama Museum of Modern Art
Saitama New Urban Center
Saitama Stadium 2002
Saitama Super Arena

References
1. "Saitama city official statistics" (https://www.city.saitama.jp/006/013/005/001/p077762.html) (in Japanese).
Japan.
2. 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値） (https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/index.php?prec_no=43&block
_no=0363&year=&month=&day=&view=). Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
3. "Climate & Weather Averages in Saitama Suijō Kōen" (https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/@11019459/cli
mate). Time and Date. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
4. Saitama population statistics (https://www.citypopulation.de/php/japan-saitama.php)
5. Gorman, Toby (March 24, 2011). "Nanaimo's Japanese sister city escapes brunt of earthquake" (https://nanai
mobulletin.com/news/nanaimos-japanese-sister-city-escapes-brunt-of-earthquake-1025884). Nanaimo News
Bulletin. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
6. "DPJ Triumphs in Saitama Election (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090525a4.html)", The Japan
Times, 25 May 2009.
7. "Company Profile (http://www.calsonickansei.co.jp/english/company/data.html) Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20170211204805/http://www.calsonickansei.co.jp/english/company/data.html) 2017-02-11 at the
Wayback Machine." Calsonic Kansei. Retrieved on January 29, 2015.
8. Haneda bus (http://5931bus.com/kosoku/haneda.html) and Narita bus (https://web.archive.org/web/20071007
114941/http://www.chiba-bus.jp/onliner.html)
9. Connecting TOKYO and Narita Int'l Airport – NARITA HELI EXPRESS (http://www.heli-express.com/index.ht
ml?lan=en)
10. 姉妹友好都市 (http://www.stib.jp/kokusai/sister_cities.shtml) [Sister Cities] (in Japanese). Saitama Tourism
and International Relations Bureau. Retrieved 12 May 2013.

External links
Official Website (http://www.city.saitama.jp/) (in Japanese)

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