Sagamihara

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sagamihara has grown steadily over the past 70 years.

History

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 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. 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 three wards Midori-ku, Chūō-ku, and Minami-ku.

On July 25, 2016, 19 people were killed and 26 injured in a mass stabbing incident at a disabled care home in the city by Satoshi Uematsu, the perpetrator.

Government

Sagamihara has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 49 members. Sagamihara contributes eight members to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city was divided between the Kanagawa 14th district and Kanagawa 16th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan until the 2024 Japanese general election when it became represented by the Kanagawa 14th district and the newly formed Kanagawa 20th district.

Economy

In terms of economy and geography such as railroads and roads, Sagamihara has stronger ties with Tokyo than other cities in the prefecture, especially with the Tama area such as Machida and Hachioji. In addition, it is positioned by the national government as the core of the southwestern part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. However, due to the successive withdrawal of large factories in the city, the aspect of Sagimahara as a commuter town has become stronger, and the percentage of commuters to work and school in Tokyo in 2015 was 24.6%.

Education

• Azabu University
• Izumi Junior College
• Sagami Women's University
• Sagamihara has 13 public high schools and one combined middle/high school operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education, and the prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. There are also two private high schools.

Transportation

Railway

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
• National Route 16
• National Route 20
• National Route 129
• National Route 412
• National Route 413

Local attractions

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

Sports

• Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
• SC Sagamihara
• Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara
• Nojima Sagamihara Rise

Sister cities

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

Notable people from Sagamihara

• Ryo Aitaka, heavyweight kickboxer
• Jin Akimoto, retired mixed martial artist
• Jiro Akama, politician
• Hiroko Anzai, actress, model and gravure idol
• Hayato Arakaki, professional baseball pitcher and player (Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Nippon Professional Baseball – Pacific League)
• Akira Asahara, professional Magic: The Gathering player
• Nana Eikura, model, actress, and radio show host
• Tsuneo Enari, photographer
• Masato Fukae, professional baseball outfielder
• Tatsunori Hara, baseball manager (Yomiuri Giants, Nippon Professional Baseball)
• Tasuku Hatanaka, actor, voice actor and singer
• Tomoki Hayakawa, professional football player
• Yūki Himura, comedian, actor and voice actor
• Akiko Ichikawa, Japanese American interdisciplinary artist, editor, writer and activist
• Akira Iida, Super GT racing driver
• Yu Inaba, actor (Kamen Rider Drive)
• Megumi Inoue, sport shooter
• Yōzaburō Kanari, manga story writer (Kindaichi Case Files)
• Tsutomu Kashiwakura, voice actor and sound director
• Ukyo Katayama, former Formula One driver and team manager
• Tsuyoshi Kawagishi, former Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher (Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Pacific League)
• Hidetaka Kawagoe, former Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher
• Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara, former baseball player
• Yuna Kotani, female curler
• Keiichiro Koyama, musician, leader of NEWS
• Tomoyoshi Koyama, professional motorcycle road racer
• Togi Makabe, professional wrestler (New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
• Mai Murakami, Olympic gymnast
• Ayako Nishikawa, female TV star, tarento, comedian, and cosmetic surgeon
• Hiroyuki Nishimura, internet entrepreneur, self-help author and TV personality
• Yukio Ozaki, politician
• Kenji Ozawa, world-famous conductor
• Plaek Phibunsongkhram, former Thai Prime Minister died here in exile.
• Reita, bassist for the Gazette (band)
• Makoto Sasamoto, Greco-Roman wrestler
• Shin'ya Satō, professional shogi player ranked 7-dan
• Ryōichi Sekiya, ultramarathon and marathon runner
• Masaki Shirai, guitarist for Alexandros
• Shinya Tasaki, sommelier
• Ai Tominaga, fashion model and actress
• Yuki Tsunoda, Formula One racing driver
• Momo Watanabe, professional wrestler (World Wonder Ring Stardom)
• Yuuya Watanabe, professional Magic: The Gathering player
• Mika Yoshikawa, middle- and long-distance runner