Saitama
About Saitama
Saitama is the capital city of one of the prominent prefectures of Japan named, Saitama. It is located in the southeastern area of the prefecture and a strategic point of eastern Japan and a crossroads for JR Lines, private railway lines, and five Shinkansen lines including the Tohoku and Joetsu lines.
Created very recently, in the year of 2001, Saitama city was born by merging of the former cities of Urawa, Omiya and Yono and Iwatsuki. The city occupies an area of 217.49 km2.
The city is located 20 to 30 km north of central Tokyo, roughly at the center of the Kanto Plain. Within Saitama Prefecture, the location corresponds to the southeastern portion bordered by Ageo City, Hasuda City, and Shiraoka Town to the north; Asaka City, Kawaguchi City, Toda City, and Warabi City to the south; Koshigaya City to the east; Kasukabe City to the northeast; and Kawagoe City, Shiki City, and Fujimi City to the west.
Situated within the Kanto Plain, the city is topographically comprised by lowlands and plateaus, mostly falling below 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 Omiya Plateau lying in the north-south direction. Dispersed in this region, major rivers flow southward, almost paralleling to one another.
Demography
As of April 1, 2008, Saitama’s population is 1,204,461 with a total of 505,157 households, thus ranking as the ninth largest city nationwide. With pride in having a young citizenry with an average age of 40.6, second to only the Tokyo/Yokohama area, Saitama City has the labor force population necessary for corporate activities.
Economy and Culture
The economy of the city is basically as one of the commercial centres in the Greater Tokyo Area and as a business centre to serve Saitama Prefecture, North Kanto or northeast Honshu.
A variety of industries are located in Saitama City. For manufacturing fields, the product shipment value for chemical engineering and precision machinery instruments is 36%
of that of the entire city.
There are 36,769 businesses located within the city. Looking at businesses by industry shows that many are in the wholesale/retail sales and service industries. There are a variety of industries located here like restaurant, construction, manufacturing and others.
The total of goods shipped by city manufacturers amounted to 919,719 million, with the majority coming from chemical industries such as pharmaceutical products, and precision machinery instrument manufacturing such as optical equipment and lenses.
Agriculture there is to supply foods for the residents of Greater Tokyo.
Manufacturing includes automotive, food, optical, precision and pharmaceutical products. Iwatsuki is famous for manufacturing of hinamatsuri dolls and ornate kabuto (samurai helmets).
Biotechnology is also an important industry in the city.
Weather
The climate is moderate and provides a comfortable living environment throughout the year with persistent blue skies and comparatively little precipitation during the winter due to the effects of the Pacific coastal climate.
Administrative Divisions
Saitama has 10 wards (ku):
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