On May 1, 2001, Urawa was merged with the cities of
Ōmiya and
Yono to create the city of
Saitama.
Since April 1, 2003, the area of former Urawa City has been divided into 4 wards:
Urawa-ku,
Midori-ku,
Minami-ku and
Sakura-ku of Saitama City. The city hall and the prefectural government building are located in Urawa-ku.
History
Origin and pre-modern history
In the
Edo period, the area that became Urawa flourished as a posting station of the
Nakasendō, a highway connecting
Edo (modern-day
Tokyo) and
Kyoto. But it was not as big a town as
Iwatsuki, which was the only
castle town in the area of the modern-day city of Saitama.
Modern Urawa
In 1869, the Prefectural Government of
Urawa Prefecture was set up, and the Government's Office was located in Urawa.
In 1871, Iwatsuki, Urawa, and Oshi Prefectures merged to form
Saitama Prefecture, and Urawa became the capital of this new Prefecture.
The
1923 Great Kantō earthquake heavily damaged Tokyo and many nearby cities. Although Urawa is not far from Tokyo, it suffered less damage than Tokyo,
Yokohama, and other cities in
Kantō region, so many intellectuals, especially painters, moved to Urawa, and this old posting station started to change into a modern city.
Several neighboring villages then merged into Urawa, and in 1934, Urawa became a city.
Saitama City era
On May 1, 2001, Urawa was merged with the cities of Ōmiya and Yono to create the new capital city of
Saitama. At that time, the city had a population of 488,000.
On April 1, 2003, when Saitama became a
designated city, the former area of Urawa City has been divided into 4 wards: Urawa-ku, Midori-ku, Minami-ku and Sakura-ku.