Kamagaya

Kamagaya 鎌ヶ谷市
City
Kamagaya Daibutsu
Location of Kamagaya in Chiba
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Chiba
Government
• Mayor	Kiyoshi Shimizu (since July 2002)
Area
• Total	21.11 km2 (8.15 sq mi)
Population  (February 2011)
• Total	108,142
• Density	5,120/km2 (13,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
-Tree	Osmanthus
- Flower	Japanese pear and Chinese bellflower
Phone number	047-445-1141
Address	2-6-1, Shinkamagaya, Kamagaya-shi, Chiba-ken 273-0195
Website	City of Kamagaya

Kamagaya City Hall

Kamagaya (鎌ヶ谷市, Kamagaya-shi) is a city located in northern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 108,142 and a population density of 5120 persons per km². The total area was 21.11 km².

Geography

Kamagaya is located in the northwestern corner of Chiba Prefecture.

Neighboring municipalities

• Kashiwa, Chiba
• Shiroi, Chiba
• Matsudo, Chiba
• Ichikawa, Chiba
• Funabashi, Chiba

History

The area around Kamagaya has been inhabited since prehistory, and archaeologists have found Jōmon period shell middens in the area. During the Kamakura period, the area was controlled by the Sōma clan. Kamagaya flourished in the Edo period 1603–1868 when the area was largely tenryō territory within Shimōsa Province controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate. One part of present-day Kamagaya was part of the Kogane Ranch, which raised war horses for the army of the Tokugawa shogunate. In the Edo period Kamagaya also was a thriving shukuba post on the Kioroshi Road, which connected present-day Inzai on the Tone River to Tokyo|Edogawa-ku in Tokyo. The road was utilized to bring fresh fish and other marine products from the Tone River region to the Edo capital. After the Meiji Restoration, it became part of Chiba Prefecture. Kamagaya Village was one of several villages created on April 1, 1889 under Inba District. In 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army appropriated the former Musashino Country Club, turning the golf course into an air field. The base was turned over to the United States Air Force after World War II, becoming Shiroi Air Base, and was transferred to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 1959, becoming JMSDF Shimofusa Air Base. Kamagaya became a town on August 1, 1968, and achieved city status on September 1, 1971.

Economy

Kamagaya, formerly a farming area, is now a regional commercial center. Due to its numerous train connections it serves as a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. Kamagaya's trademark produce is the round, Nashi Pear, and there are many pear orchards dotted about the city, whose white blossoms open toward the end of the cherry blossom season.

Education

The city operates five junior high schools and nine elementary schools. English lessons at elementary school begin in either the fifth, fourth, or first grade, varying from school to school, and some elementary schools also offer an English Club. Kamagaya City is one of the closest locations to Tokyo to employ JET Scheme ALTs.

Transportation

Railway

• Tōbu Railway - Tōbu Noda Line
  • Shin-Kamagaya - Kamagaya

• Shin-Keisei Electric Railway - Shin-Keisei Line
  • Kunugiyama - Kita-Hatsutomi - Shin-Kamagya - Hatsutomi - Kamagaya-Daibutsu
• Hokusō Railway - Hokusō Line
  • Shin-Kamagaya
• Keisei Electric Railway - Narita Sky Access
  • Shin-Kamagaya

Highway

• Route 464 (Japan)

Local attractions

• Kamagaya Daibutsu

Sister City relations

• Whakatane, New Zealand, since November 16, 1997.

See also

• Kamagaya International Friendship Association, or KIFA, organises inexpensive language lessons (in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean), and cultural events. KIFA has an office in Kamagaya City Hall.

External links

• Kamagaya official website in Japanese
• Kamagaya International Friendship Association (KIFA) in Japanese