- Urawa-ku, Saitama
Urawa (浦和区; -ku) is a ward (pop. 137,500) of Saitama City,
Japan . It is surrounded by Midori-ku (to the east), Minami-ku (south), Chūō-ku (west), Ōmiya-ku (north), and Minuma-ku (northeast) of Saitama city. It is a part of theGreater Tokyo Area and located about 20kilometre s north of centralTokyo .Urawa-ku houses most of the city's administrative offices including the city hall of Saitama City, as well as the offices of Saitama Prefectural government. Also, there are several newspaper branch offices and three broadcasting stations. It is the governmental center of Saitama City.
At the same time, this area has developed itself to the second busiest commercial district in Saitama City after Ōmiya-ku. Especially the west side area of
Urawa Station has many department stores and shops.Former Urawa city (1934-2001) and current Urawa-ku
Until May 1, 2001 it was a central area of former Urawa City, the capital city of
Saitama Prefecture , Japan. It then merged with Ōmiya City and Yono City to form the new capital City, Saitama. InApril 2003 Saitama became a city designated by government ordinance, and now the area of former Urawa City comprises Sakura-ku, Urawa-ku, Minami-ku, and Midori-ku of Saitama City.The
Urawa Red Diamonds football (soccer) club in theJ. League , arguably the biggest club in Japan and in Asia called the city home after strong support from its citizens. Although its official hometown recognised by the league is whole Saitama city and it is now the club is headquartered inSaitama Stadium in Midori-ku, the hometown support are strong in the area of former Urawa city. When the team has a match atUrawa Komaba Stadium in Urawa-ku or Saitama Stadium, the town becomes more and more crowded with the supporters.History
In the
Edo period , Urawa-ku flourished as a posting station of national high wayNakasendō , which connectedEdo (modern-dayTokyo ) toKyoto . But it was not so big a town as Iwatsuki, which was the onlycastle town in the area of modern-day Saitama City.In 1869 (Meiji period in Japan), the Prefectural Government ofUrawa Prefecture was set up, and the Government's Office was located in Urawa Town. In1871, Iwatsuki, Urawa, and Oshi Prefectures merged to formSaitama Prefecture , and Urawa Town became the capital of this new Prefecture.After the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923,Tokyo and many other cities near Tokyo was heavily damaged. Urawa Town is not so far from Tokyo, and yet was not so entirely damaged compared to Tokyo,Yokohama , and other cities in southern Kanto area, so many intellectuals, especially painters, moved to Urawa, and so this old posting station started to change into a modern city. After that several neighboring villages were merged to Urawa, and in 1934, Urawa Town became a city.The city existed up until the 2001 merger with Ōmiya and Yono to form Saitama.External links
* [http://www.so-net.ne.jp/urawa-reds/index_e.html Urawa Red Diamonds Official Site]
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