Sagamihara

Sagamihara 相模原市
Designated city
Sagamihara City
From top left: Tanzawa mountains, USARJ Sagami General Depot, Lake Sagami, Hashimoto District, Odakyu Sagami-Ōno Station, JAXA Sagamihara Campus, Sakura Festival
Flag Seal
Location of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture
Sagamihara
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa Prefecture
Government
• Mayor	Toshio Kayama
Area
• Total	328.84 km2 (126.97 sq mi)
Population (June 1, 2012)
• Total	719,677
• Density	2,190/km2 (5,700/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree	Zelkova serrata
- Flower	Hydrangea
- Bird	Skylark
Phone number	042-754-1111
Address	2-11-15 Chūō, Chūō-ku, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa-ken 252-5277
Website	www.city.sagamihara.kanagawa.jp

Sagamihara (相模原市, Sagamihara-shi) is a city in north-central Kanagawa Prefecture, bordering Tokyo, Japan. It is the third most populous city in the prefecture, after Yokohama and Kawasaki, and the fifth most populous suburb of Greater Tokyo. Its northern neighbor is Machida, with which a cross-prefectural merger has been proposed.

As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 719,677 and a population density of 2,190 persons per km². The total area was 328.84 km².

On April 1, 2010, the city became the nation's 19th city designated by government ordinance. As a result of this, the city established three wards: Midori-ku, Chūō-ku and Minami-ku.

Geography

Sagamihara covers a large area of northwestern Kanagawa Prefecture. The main areas of commercial activity in Sagamihara are located near Hashimoto Station on the JR East Yokohama Line and Keio Sagamihara Line; Sagamihara Station on the Yokohama Line; and Sagami-Ōno Station on the Odakyu Odawara Line. Western Sagamihara is within the Tanzawa Mountains.

Wards

• Midori-ku
• Chūō-ku - administrative center
• Minami-ku

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture

• Zama
• Yamato
• Atsugi
• Aikawa
• Kiyokawa
• Yamakita

Tokyo

• Machida
• Hachioji
• Hinohara

Yamanashi Prefecture

• Uenohara
• Dōshi

History

A street view in Sagamihara

Sagamihara city hall

The area of modern Sagamihara has been settled since ancient times, and has a number of remains from the Japanese Paleolithic period and Kofun period have been found. It was home to the Yokoyama clan, one of the seven warrior clans of the Musashi region during the early Kamakura period. During the Edo period, the lands around Sagamihara were tenryō territory theoretically administered directly by the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo; however, in reality, the area was a patchwork of small fiefs held by various hatamoto, as well as exclaves under the control of the Ogino-Yamanaka Domain and Karasuyama Domain.

After the Meiji Restoration, the eastern portion was part of Kōza District, and the western portion was part of Tsukui District. The Kōza District portion was administratively divided into six villages on April 1, 1889. The area was the location of extensive training facilities and arsenals of the Imperial Japanese Army during the 1930s. These villages were merged on April 29, 1941 together with neighboring Zama Town to create Sagamihara Town. At the time of its formation, it was the largest town in Japan in terms of area.

On September 1, 1948, Zama was administratively separated into Zama Town. The remaining portion became Sagamihara City on November 20, 1954. The city population had grown steadily, partly due to local industrial development, and partly due to the city's excellent transportation infrastructure connecting it to Yokohama, Tokyo and Hachiōji. It was designated a core city with increased autonomy in 2003.

On March 20, 2006, Sagamihara absorbed the towns of Tsukui and Sagamiko (both from Tsukui District). The merged city consisted of two geographically separate areas, as two other towns of Tsukui District (Fujino and Shiroyama) elected to remain separate. A further merger on March 11, 2007 joined Fujino and Shiroyama with Sagamihara, thus geographically unifying the city, and dissolving former Tsukui District. In 2007, the population of Sagamihara exceeded 700,000. In 2010, Sagamihara was redesignated as a government ordinance city and split into 3 wards Midori-ku, Chūō-ku, and Minami-ku.

Transportation

Rail

• JR East - Yokohama Line
  • Kobuchi - Fuchinobe - Yabe - Sagamihara - Hashimoto
• JR East - Sagami Line
  • Sōbudai-shita - Shimomizo - Harataima - Banda - Kamimizo - Minami-Hashimoto - Hashimoto
• JR East - Chūō Main Line
  • Sagamiko - Fujino
• Odakyu Electric Railway - Odakyu Odawara Line
  • Sagami-Ono - Odakyū-Sagamihara - Higashi-Rinkan
• Keio Corporation - Sagamihara Line
  • Hashimoto

Highways

• Chūō Expressway
• Ken-Ō Expressway
• Japan National Route 16
• Japan National Route 20
• Japan National Route 129
• Japan National Route 412
• Japan National Route 413

Tourist attractions

• Sagami Lake
• Yōgen Temple (妙現寺), built in 1598
• Sagamihara Prefectural Park

Sports

• Mitsubishi Dynaboars
• S.C. Sagamihara

Sister cities

• Toronto, Ontario, Canada since January 1, 1998
• Trail, British Columbia, Canada, since April 15, 1991
• Wuxi, China, since October 6, 1985

External links

• (Japanese)