Matsudo City Hall
Location of Matsudo in Chiba Prefecture
|• Mayor||Kenji Hongoya (since July 2010)|
|• Total||61.38 km2 (23.70 sq mi)|
|Population (February 2016)|
|• Density||7,880/km2 (20,400/sq mi)|
|Time zone||Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)|
|-Tree||Castanopsis, eucalyptus, sakura, Pyrus pyrifolia|
|- Flower||Azalea, hydrangea and Asteroideae|
|- Bird||Ural owl, barn swallow and white heron|
|Address||387-5, Nemoto, Matsudo-shi, Chiba-ken 271-8588|
As of February 2016[update], the city has an estimated population of 483,796 and a population density of 7,880 persons per km2. The total area was 61.38 square kilometres (23.70 sq mi).
Matsudo is located in the far northwestern corner of Chiba Prefecture, bordered by the Edogawa River to the west.
The area around Matsudo has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have found remains from the Jōmon period, as well as burial tumuli from the Kofun period. During the Edo period, the area was tenryō controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, and contained a number of horse ranches providing war horses for the Shogun’s armies. It also developed as a post station on the Mito Kaido connecting Edo with Mito. After the Meiji Restoration, Matsudo Town was created in Higashikatsushika District Chiba Prefecture in 1878. Matsudo attained city status on October 1, 1943.
On September 1, 1954, the neighboring town of Kashiwa merged with neighboring Kogane Town and Tsuchi and Tanaka villages to form the new city of Tokatsu (東葛市 Tokatsu-shi?). However, many politicians in Kogane Town were vehemently opposed to the merger, and forced its dissolution on October 15, 1954 with most of former Kogane Town merging with Matsudo instead. Beginning in the 1960s, the rapid economic growth in Japan (and the Tokyo area in particular) led to a construction boom in Matsudo and the development of the area as a major suburb of Tokyo. Matsudo is now the third-largest city in Chiba Prefecture and a major bedroom community (11th largest city) in the Greater Tokyo Area.
Matsudo is a regional commercial center and a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. The city has a mixed industrial base. The small electric motor manufacturer, Mabuchi Motor is headquartered in Matsudo.
- Chiba University, Matsudo Campus
- Nihon University, Matsudo Dental Campus
- Seitoku University
- Ryutsu Keizai University, Matsudo Campus
- Seitoku University Junior College
Primary and secondary education
Matsudo has 44 public and one private elementary school, 20 public and two private middle schools, and eight public and two private high schools.
- Velodrome: Matsudo Velodrome
- East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Jōban Line
- East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Musashino Line
- Shin-Keisei Electric Railway - Shin-Keisei Line
- Hokuso Railway Company - Hokuso Line
- Keisei Electric Railway - Keisei Narita Airport Line
- Tobu Railway – Tobu Urban Park Line
- Ryūtetsu – Nagareyama Line
- Manman-ji – Buddhist temple
- Showa no Mori Museum
Sister city relations
- – Box Hill, Victoria, Australia, since May 12, 1971. When Box Hill amalgamated with Nunawading in December 1994, the relationship was re-affirmed with the new City of Whitehorse. A small, multi-story department store attached to Matsudo train station bears the name "Box Hill".
- – Kurayoshi, Tottori, Japan
Notable people from Matsudo
|This section does not cite any sources. (June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)|
- Sadao Abe, actor, musician
- Sayaka Akimoto, singer, actress, former AKB48 member
- Shūichi Higurashi, manga illustrator
- Hiroshi Kamiya, voice actor
- Akiyuki Kido, figure skater
- Yasunori Matsumoto, voice actor
- Haruko Obokata, stem-cell biologist
- Matsunobori Shigeo, sumo wrestler
- Yuji Unozawa, professional soccer player
- Yutaka Wada, professional baseball player
- Hideaki Wakui, professional baseball player
- Naoko Yamazaki, astronaut
- Tsutomu Yamazaki, actor
- "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Retrieved 21 November 2015.
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