Tachikawa, Tokyo


Tachikawa is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan., the city had an estimated population of 184,183, and a population density of 7560.88 persons per km². Its total area is.

Geography

Tachikawa is located on the Musashino Terrace of western Tokyo, approximately 40 km west of the center of Tokyo. The Tama River flows between Tachikawa and the neighboring city of Hino. The Tamagawa-jousui flows north of the city, with a great promenade on both banks.

Surrounding municipalities

The area of present-day Tachikawa was part of ancient Musashi Province. In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reform of July 22, 1878, the area became part of Kitatama District in Kanagawa Prefecture. The village of Tachikawa was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of municipalities law. Kitatama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. Tachikawa Airfield Was established in 1922 by the Imperial Japanese Army, and Tachikawa was elevated to town status the following year. On December 1, 1940 Tachikawa was elevated to city status.

Notable events

On May 12, 2011, a robbery of the largest amount of money in Japanese history took place in the city. On that day at 3 a.m., two men wearing masks broke into the office of a security company, bound the sole security guard, beat him until he revealed the code to the company's vault, and then made off with 70 bags of cash containing ¥604 million. The security guard, 36, was seriously injured. Hideaki Ueki, 31, Yutaka Watanabe, 41, Tsutomu Sakuma, 37, and three others were later arrested and charged with perpetrating the crime. All the men allegedly had ties to the Yakuza.

Education

Universities and colleges

Tachikawa has twenty public elementary and nine public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has two public high schools operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education and three private high schools

International schools

The Tokyo Metropolitan Library Tama Library opened in Tachikawa in 1987 to relieve municipal libraries.

Transportation

Railway

Tachikawa is not served by any national expressways or national highways.

Local attractions