Chichibu, Saitama

Oku-Chichibu ("Further Chichibu") Mountains

Chichibu is in the westernmost part of Saitama. Unlike other parts of the prefecture, it is largely mountainous and the population is concentrated in river terraces along the Arakawa River. It is Saitama's largest municipality in terms of surface area and shares borders with Tokyo, Yamanashi, Nagano and Gunma Prefectures. A large portion of the city belongs to Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park.[2]

Because the region is not suitable for growing rice, many people have traditionally depended on sericulture (silk farming). Limestone from Mount Bukō, which rises south of the city center, is another major source of income for the region. The city is shifting its focus toward sightseeing, taking advantage of its rich natural environment and relative closeness to the Tokyo metropolitan area. The city is also famous for its brewing industry.

Per Japanese census data,[6] the population of Chichibu has decreased gradually over the past 60 years.

Chichibu was incorporated as a city on April 1, 1950, although Chichibu Province had already existed since before the Nara period and the region has developed many local traditions. Chichibu Province was incorporated into Musashi Province in the 7th century AD. During premodern times, the town developed as a marketplace of the district as well as the town around Chichibu Shrine. The city's older name, Ōmiya ("big shrine"), was derived from the shrine. Since its incorporation in 1950, the area of the city has grown through a series of mergers, the most recent in 2005.

Chichibu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 22 members. Chichibu contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Saitama 11th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The local economy of Chichibu remains based on agricultural and forestry, as well as tourism.

Chichibu has 14 public elementary schools and eight public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped.

• Toshima, Tokyo, since October 14, 1983
• Sanyō-Onoda, Yamaguchi, since May 20, 1996
• Antioch, California, United States, since September 16, 1967
• Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea,[10] since February 16, 1983
• Linfen, Shanxi Province, China,[10] since October 7, 1988
• Warringah, Australia,[10] since April 26, 1996
• Yasothon, Yasothon Province, Thailand,[10] since May 6, 1999

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  Ryusei festival in Yoshida town
• 
  Icicles of the Misotsuchi
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  Chichibu Night Traditional Festival
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  Hitsujiyama-park Phlox subulata
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  A main gate in Chichibu Shrine

On December 3, Chichibu holds an annual night festival (Intangible cultural heritage). It attracts crowds from Chichibu, Saitama prefecture, neighboring Tokyo, and the Kantō region. Kawase matsuri is Chichibu shrine's summer festival. It takes place every July 19 and July 20. Eight groups carrying special dashi floats march along to festival music around the city. Mikoshi (sacred portable shrines) are brought to special places in each neighborhood where they are enshrined. Neighborhood association heads wash the mikoshi in the Arakawa River.

Other attractions of the city include:

• Chichibu Muse Park
• Chichibu Shrine
• Hitsujiyama Park
• Okuchichibu Mountains
• Lake Chichibu
• Mitsumine Shrine
• Nakatsugawa Gorge
• Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage

As a picturesque area within fairly easy reach of Tokyo, Chichibu has been much photographed. However, the photography of Chichibu by the Chichibu native Bukō Shimizu (1913–1995) is particularly extensive: Shimizu presented photographs of the mountains, people and customs of Chichibu in numerous books for the Japanese market, starting in 1954.[11][12]

The town of Chichibu is the setting for the popular anime series Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and the anime films The Anthem of the Heart and Her Blue Sky, all of which were written by Mari Okada who was born in Chichibu.

• Seijuro Arafune, Former Minister of Transport
• Mari Okada, screenwriter and director[16]
• Akihito Ozawa, footballer
• Tatsuya Fujiwara, actor[17]
• Wakachichibu Komei, former sumo wrestler
• Arisa Nakajima, professional wrestler[18]
• Bukō Shimizu, photographer[12]
• Akira Taue, professional wrestler[19]

• Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chichibu, Saitama.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Chichibu.

• Official Website (in Japanese)
• Chichibu Area Tourism Organization
• Institute Chichibu tourism organizations
• The Hall of Curious Stones, a private museum in Chichibu]