Kasukabe, Saitama - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

is a city

Cities of Japan

||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

in eastern Saitama

Saitama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, approximately 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north of Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. It was formerly located in Kitakatsushika

Kitakatsushika District, Saitama

is a district located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.As of July 1, 2011, the district has an estimated population of 77,583 and a population density of 1,680 persons per km²...

and Minamisaitama districts. Kasukabe once prospered as part of the Nikkō Kaidō

Nikko Kaido

The was one of the five routes of the Edo period and it was built to connect Edo with the Nikkō Tōshō-gū, which is located in the present-day city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1617 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, in order for him to have a smoother route to the shrine...

highway, an important trade route that linked Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

with Nikkō.

Overview

The city was founded on July 1, 1954 and its mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

is Ryozo Ishikawa.

On October 1, 2005 Kasukabe City absorbed the town of Shōwa

Showa, Saitama

was a town located in Kitakatsushika District, Saitama, Japan.As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 37,047 and a density of 1,316.06 persons per km². The total area was 28.15 km²....

, from Kitakatsushika District

Kitakatsushika District, Saitama

is a district located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.As of July 1, 2011, the district has an estimated population of 77,583 and a population density of 1,680 persons per km²...

, to form the current Kasukabe City.

As of 2003 before the merger, the city had an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

of 204,109 and a density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

of 5,395.43 persons per km². As of March 1, 2010, the estimated population is of 236,106 and the density of 3,580 persons per km². The total area is 65.98 km². According to the Kasukabe Guidebook for Foreign Residents, more than 1,700 foreign nationals live in the city, and a person who lives in or loves Kasukabe is referred to as a Kasukabian (かすかびあん).

Kasukabe is famous throughout Japan for the production of kiri-tansu (桐箪笥), traditional dressers made from paulownia

Paulownia

Paulownia is a genus of from 6 to 17 species of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and sometimes included in the Scrophulariaceae. They are native to much of China, south to northern Laos and Vietnam, and long cultivated elsewhere in eastern Asia, notably in Japan and Korea...

wood. The cultural and economic value of the paulownia is reflected in its designation as the official town tree. The city's official flower is the fuji (藤) or wisteria

Wisteria

Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan. Aquarists refer to the species Hygrophila difformis, in the family Acanthaceae, as Water Wisteria...

.

Kasukabe is also well-known in Japan as the setting of the manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

and anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

series Lucky Star and Crayon Shin-chan
Crayon Shin-chan
is a Japanese manga and anime series written by Yoshito Usui.Crayon Shin-chan follows the adventures of five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara and his parents, baby sister, neighbors, and friends and is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan....

. Shin-chan's creator Yoshito Usui

Yoshito Usui

, born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, was a manga artist known for the popular manga Crayon Shin-chan. He and his wife raised two daughters; both had moved out of the house at the time of Usui's death.-Biography:...

also lived in Kasukabe.

Transport

Kasukabe Station is served by the Isesaki and Noda lines of the private Tobu Railway

Tobu Railway

is a Japanese commuter railway company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. It operates in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Tochigi, and Gunma Prefectures...

; they connect to the JR

East Japan Railway Company

is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....

train network at Shin-Koshigaya and Omiya

Omiya

-People:*Ōmiya, or is a female character in The Tale of Genji, an 11th century novel-Places:*Ōmiya Palace*Ōmiya Bonsai Village, famous for bonsai pot gardening is located in Kita-ku, Saitama, Japan...

stations, respectively.

Shopping

Kasukabe is home to one of two Robinsons
Central Group
The Central Group of Companies is a family-owned conglomerate holding company in Thailand that is involved in retailing, real estate, hotels and restaurants...

department stores in Japan. The large, seven-story American-styled store is a landmark for local residents.

Sister cities

Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Jajmau

Jajmau is a city near Kanpur, India. It is situated on the banks of the Ganges River . Jajmau is an industrial suburb. It is believed as the oldest inhabited place in the region. The main industry is the leather industry. It is home to some of the Biggest Leather tanneries in Northern India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

Elche, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

Pasadena, California

's Junior Chamber of Commerce does an exchange program each summer, alternating every year with Kasukabians going to Pasadena one summer and Pasadena residents coming to Kasukabe the next. This exchange has continued for 26 years.

External links

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