Tokorozawa, Saitama

Tokorozawa, Saitama

Japanese city
Name = Tokorozawa
JapaneseName = 所沢市
Map



Region = Kantō
Prefecture = Saitama Prefecture
Area_km2 = 71.99
Population = 340,947
Coords =
LatitudeDegrees = 35
LatitudeMinutes = 48
LatitudeSeconds =
LongtitudeDegrees = 139
LongtitudeMinutes = 28
LongtitudeSeconds =
Density_km2 = 4736.03
PopDate = 2008
Mayor = Yoshiko Toma
Tree = ginkgo
Flower = tea flower
Bird = skylark
Symbol
!border
SymbolDescription= Flag
CityHallPostalCode = 359-8501
CityHallAddress = 1-1-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama
CityHallPhone = 04-2998-1111
CityHallLink = [http://www.city.tokorozawa.saitama.jp City of Tokorozawa]

nihongo|Tokorozawa|所沢市|Tokorozawa-shi is a city in Saitama, Japan. It is located in the central part of the Musashino plain, about 30 km west of downtown Tokyo. Tokorozawa can be considered part of the greater Tokyo area; its proximity to the latter and lower housing costs make it a popular bedroom community.

Location

Tokorozawa borders the Tokyo communities of Kiyose, Higashimurayama, Higashiyamato, Musashimurayama, and Mizuho; and the Saitama communities of Iruma, Sayama, Kawagoe, Miyoshimachi, and Niiza.

Most of Lake Sayama falls within city boundaries; Lake Tama also touches the south-western part of the city. Today the city is an agricultural market for locally grown Sayama green tea. Other agricultural products include spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, burdock, pears and grapes.

The area around Tokorozawa Station's west exit is built up as a shopping district with several department stores. Prope Street is a popular shopping arcade.

Tokorozawa houses the Tokyo Area Control Center, which controls airspace in the Kantō, Jōetsu, Tōhoku, Chūbu, and Hokuriku regions and a portion of the Kansai region. [" [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?nn20010203a1.htm Blame pinned on air traffic controllers] ," "The Japan Times"]

History

Tokorozawa was established as a city on November 3, 1950.

During the Kamakura period, the area was host to a series of battles fought in May 1333 that were part of the Genko War that ultimately ended the Kamakura Shogunate. These include the Battle of Kotesashi (1333) and the Battle of Kumegawa. Kotesashi was again the site of another battle nineteen years later.

During the Edo period (1603–1867) the area's major industry was silk textile production.

Tokorozawa is known as "the birthplace of Japanese aviation." It was the site of the first airfield in Japan, opened in 1911.

Professional sports teams

"Club" "Sport" "League" "Venue" "Established" "Championships"

Saitama Seibu Lions baseball Pacific League Seibu Dome 1950 12 (Japan Series)

Saitama Broncosbasketball BJ Tokorozawa Municipal Stadium 1999 0

General Points of interest

* Goodwill Seibu Dome, home of the Seibu Lions
* Seibu-en, an amusement park
* Tokorozawa Aviation Museum, the location of Japan's first airfield.
* Sayama Ski Slope, an indoor ski and snowboard resort
* Muse, Tokorozawa Civic Cultural Centre [http://www.muse-tokorozawa.or.jp/index3.html]
* Hachikokuyama, nature park famous for being the inspiration of Totoro

Historical Points of interest

* Battle of Kotesashi: site of an important battle during the Genko War
* Waterfall Castle: a Sengoku Period castle ruin
* Tokorozawa Shinmei Shrine: believed to have been founded in the second century A.D.
* Hatogamine Hachiman Shrine: an ancient Shinto shrine including a 13th century main shrine building

Events

The Tokorozawa Matsuri is a festival held each year in October and features parade floats (mikoshi), taiko drums, and samba dancers.

Transportation

Railways

*Main station: Tokorozawa Station

*Seibu Ikebukuro Line:
**Tokorozawa Station, Nishi-Tokorozawa Station, Kotesashi Station, Sayamagaoka Station

*Seibu Shinjuku Line:
**Tokorozawa Station, Koku-koen (Aviation Park) Station, Shin-Tokorozawa Station

*Seibu Sayama Line:
**Nishi-Tokorozawa Station, Shimo-Yamaguchi Station, Seibu-Kyujomae (Seibu Dome) Station

*Seibu Yamaguchi Line:
**Seibu-Kyujomae (Seibu Dome) Station, Yuenchi-Nishi (Amusement Park, West) Station

*JR East Musashino Line:
**Higashi-Tokorozawa Station

Bus

The city is served by Seibu Bus.

Buses run frequently between Tokorozawa and both Haneda domestic airport and Narita international airport. Buses leave from Tokorozawa Station (east exit) and Higashi-Tokorozawa Station.

Areas

* Namiki

Notable people

Born in Tokorozawa

*Bokuzen Hidari (1894–1971), actor born in Kotesashi Village (which was absorbed into Tokorozawa)
*Tokoro Joji (Takayuki Haga), comedian

Living in Tokorozawa

*Hayao Miyazaki, animated film director
*Hideshi Hino, horror manga artist
*Tom Dillon, humorist, newspaper columnist for "The Japan Times", and author of "Japanese Made Funny" (ISBN 4-915645-21-5)

Tokorozawa in popular culture

*Tokorozawa inspired the setting for the animated film "My Neighbor Totoro" ("Tonari no Totoro"). [ [http://apike.ca/anime_totoro.html Totoro ] ]

*Scenes in the Japanese film "Shall We Dance?" were set in Tokorozawa. The Seibu Ikebukuro Line's Sayamagaoka Station features in the film.

*Scenes in the Japanese horror film "Ju-on" were filmed in Tokorozawa. The area around Tokorozawa station is identifiable.

ister cities

*flagicon|United States Decatur, Illinois 1966
*flagicon|China Changzhou 1992
*flagicon|South Korea Anyang, Gyeonggi 1998

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.city.tokorozawa.saitama.jp/ Tokorozawa official website] in Japanese


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tokorozawa (Saitama) — 所沢市 Tokorozawa …   Wikipedia Español

  • Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama — Communication tower of the Tokyo Area Control Center Namiki (並木?) is an area in To …   Wikipedia

  • Tokorozawa — shi 所沢市 Geographische Lage in Japan …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Saitama Seibu Lions — Established 1950 Team logo …   Wikipedia

  • Saitama — shi (さいたま市) Shintoshin : le nouveau centre de Saitama Administration Pays Japon Région Kantō Préfecture …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saitama Broncos — The nihongo|Saitama Broncos|埼玉ブロンコス|Saitama Buronkosu is a men s professional basketball club based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It calls the whole prefecture home and its main home arenas are Tokorozawa Civic Gymnasium and Saitama… …   Wikipedia

  • Tokorozawa Station — infobox japan station namerom=Tokorozawa name=所沢 imagesize= caption=West gate pref=Saitama city=Tokorozawa ward= town= village= district= address=1 14 5 Kusunokidai jaloc=埼玉県所沢市くすのき台1 14 5 [ [http://www.seibu… …   Wikipedia

  • Tokorozawa Shinmei Shrine — An ancient Japanese Shinto Shrine in Tokorozawa, Saitama. History Tradition holds that Tokorozawa Shimei Shrine was founded in the year 110 A. D. by Yamatotakeru no mikoto during his conquest of eastern Japan. Three Shinto gods are enshrined:… …   Wikipedia

  • Tokorozawa Aviation Museum — The nihongo|Tokorozawa Aviation Museum|所沢航空発祥記念館|Tokorozawa Kōkū Hasshō Kinenkan is dedicated to the history of aviation in Japan. The museum is located in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama and contains aircraft and other displays (many of which… …   Wikipedia

  • Tokorozawa — (所沢市) Vue sur la ville depuis Hachikokuyama Administration Pays Japon Région Kantō …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”