Editing Saitama Prefecture (section)

== History of Kujiki ==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2021}}
According to ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'' ({{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kujiki]]}}), Chichibu was one of 137 provinces during the reign of [[Emperor Sujin]].<ref>Enbutsu, Sumiko. (1990). [http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=kujiki+%2B+chichibu&btnG=  ''Chichibu: Japan's hidden treasure,'' p. 13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016050040/http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=kujiki+%2B+chichibu&btnG= |date=2020-10-16 }}.</ref> [[Chichibu Province]] was in western Saitama.

The area that would become Saitama Prefecture in the 19th century is part of [[Musashi Province]] in the [[Ritsuryō]] (or ryō-system; ritsu stands for the penal code, ryō for the administrative code) Imperial administration of antiquity (see [[Provinces of Japan]] and the [[Gokishichidō|5 (go) capital area provinces (ki)/7 (shichi) circuits (dō)]] system) which was nominally revived in the Meiji restoration but has lost much of its administrative function since the Middle Ages.<ref>Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|p. 780|page=780}}.</ref> [[Saitama District, Musashi|Saitama District]] ''(Saitama-gun)'' was one of Musashi's 21 ritsuryō [[Districts of Japan|districts]].

In the fifth year of the [[Keiun]] [[Japanese era names|era]] (708), deposits of copper were reported to have been found in the [[Chichibu District, Saitama|Chichibu District]] of what is now Saitama Prefecture.

The Saitama area was historically known as a fertile agricultural region which produced much of the food for the Kantō region. During the [[Edo period]], many ''[[fudai]] [[daimyō]]s'' ruled small domains within the Saitama area.

At the end of the early modern [[Edo period]], large parts of present-day Saitama were part of the shogunate domain (''[[tenryō|baku-ryō]]'') or the often subsumed holdings of smaller vassals ''([[hatamoto]]-ryō)'' around Edo, major areas were part of the fiefdoms ''([[Han system|-han]])'' [[Kawagoe Domain|Kawagoe]] (ruled by Matsui/[[Matsudaira clan|Matsudaira]], ''fudai''), [[Oshi Domain|Oshi]] (Okudaira-Matsudaira, ''fudai'') and [[Iwatsuki Domain|Iwatsuki]] ([[Ōoka clan|Ōoka]], ''fudai''); few territories were held by domains seated in other provinces.

[[File:Saitama Prefectural Office in the Taisho era.JPG|thumb|The prefectural government building of Saitama in the early 20th century]]
In the [[Meiji Restoration]], after being briefly united with other rural shogunate territories in Musashi under Musashi governors ''(Musashi chikenji)'', many former shogunate/hatamoto territories in Northwestern Musashi became '''Ōmiya Prefecture''' (大宮県, ''Ōmiya-ken''), soon renamed to '''Urawa''' (浦和県, ''-ken'') in 1868/69, with some territories held by other short-lived prefectures ({{ill|Iwahana Prefecture|ja|岩鼻県|lt=Iwahana}}/later mainly Gunma and {{ill|Nirayama Prefecture|ja|韮山県|lt=Nirayama}}/later mainly Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Tokyo). In the [[Abolition of the han system|replacement of ''-han'' with ''-ken'']], the associated territorial consolidation (removal of feudal era ex-/enclaves) and first wave of prefectural mergers in 1871/72, Oshi and Iwatsuki prefectures were merged into Urawa; after consolidation, it consisted of the entire Saitama District and Northern parts of [[Adachi District, Musashi|Adachi]] and [[Katsushika District, Musashi|Katsushika]] (But at that time, "major and minor districts", 大区, ''daiku'' and 小区, ''shōku'', served as administrative subdivisions) and was renamed to '''Saitama'''. The government of the prefecture was to be set up in Iwatsuki Town, Saitama District in November 1871 by the [[Dajōkan]] ordinance to set up the prefecture, but ultimately remained in Urawa's previous prefectural government seat in Urawa Town in Adachi District.

Kawagoe Prefecture was consolidated with other territories into {{ill|Iruma Prefecture|ja|入間県}} (入間県, ''Iruma-ken''; government seat unchanged from Kawagoe domain/prefecture: Kawagoe Town, Iruma District) which consisted of 13 districts of Musashi in the Western part of present-day Saitama. In 1873, Iruma was merged with [[Gunma Prefecture|Gunma]] (capital: Takasaki Town, Gunma District) to become [[Kumagaya Prefecture|Kumagaya]] (capital: Kumagaya Town, Ōsato District). But Kumagaya was split up again in 1876: The area of Kōzuke province came back as a second Gunma prefecture, and the territories in Musashi province/former Iruma prefecture were merged into Saitama. Except for the transfer of a few municipalities to [[Tokyo]] in the 1890s/1900s (see below) and several smaller, 20th century changes through cross-prefectural municipal mergers or transfers of neighbourhoods, Saitama had reached its present extent.

[[File:SaitamaPref-counties.svg|thumb|The nine 19th/20th century districts of Saitama with 21st century municipal borders overlayed. From the East, dark violet: North Katsushika, light blue: North Saitama, dark blue: South Saitama, pink: North Adachi, orange: Iruma, pale yellow: Hiki, dark green: Ōsato, pale green: Kodama, purple: Chichibu.]]
In the modern reactivation of districts as administrative unit in 1878/79, Saitama was subdivided into originally 18 districts based on the ancient divisions of Musashi, but with only nine (joint) district government offices, and the number of districts was formally merged down to nine in 1896/97: [[Kita-Adachi District, Saitama|North Adachi]], [[Iruma District, Saitama|Iruma]], [[Hiki District, Saitama|Hiki]], [[Chichibu District, Saitama|Chichibu]], [[Kodama District, Saitama|Kodama]], [[Ōsato District, Saitama|Ōsato]], [[Kita-Saitama District, Saitama|North Saitama]], [[Minami-Saitama District, Saitama|South Saitama]], and [[Kita-Katsushika District, Saitama|North Katsushika]]. [[Niikura District, Musashi|Niikura (also known as Niiza, Shiki or Shiragi)]], one of the original 1878/79 modern districts, was first merged into North Adachi in 1896, but a substantial part of its former territory was subsequently transferred to the [[Kita-Tama District, Tokyo|North Tama]] and [[Kita-Toshima District, Tokyo|North Toshima]] districts of Tokyo. In the creation of [[Municipalities of Japan|modern cities, towns and villages]] in 1889, these districts were subdivided into originally 40 [[Towns of Japan|towns]] and 368 [[Villages of Japan|villages]]. The first [[Cities of Japan|city]] in Saitama was only established in 1922 when Kawagoe Town from Iruma District became [[Kawagoe, Saitama|Kawagoe City]]. The prefectural capital, Urawa in North Adachi, remained a town until 1934. After the Great Shōwa mergers of the 1950s, the number of municipalities in Saitama had shrunk to 95, including 23 cities by then. The Great Heisei mergers of the 2000s pushed the number below 70.

After [[World War II]], as Tokyo expanded rapidly and modern transportation allowed longer commutes, the lack of available land in Tokyo led to the rapid development of Saitama Prefecture, where the population has nearly tripled since 1960. Most of the cities in the prefecture are closely connected to downtown Tokyo by metropolitan rail, and operate largely as residential and commercial suburbs of Tokyo.

In 2001, [[Urawa, Saitama|Urawa City]] was merged with [[Ōmiya, Saitama|Ōmiya City]] and [[Yono, Saitama|Yono City]] to create [[Saitama City]] (''Saitama-shi''; but unlike the district or the prefecture written with [[Kana]]) as the new enlarged capital. It became the prefecture's first (and so far only) [[Designated cities of Japan|designated major city]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url-status=dead|website=Saitama prefectural government |url=https://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/a0301/saitama-profile/documents/5-01b.pdf|script-title=ja:埼玉県近現代史主要年表|lang=Japanese|trans-title=Saitama prefectural modern history [1868–2016] chronological table of major events |access-date=June 27, 2020|archive-date=June 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627165351/https://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/a0301/saitama-profile/documents/5-01b.pdf }}</ref>