Musashino (武蔵野市, Musashino-shi) is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 1 March 2021[update], the city had an estimated population of 147,492 in 77,779 households, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km². The total area of the city is 10.98 square kilometres (4.24 sq mi).[1] Based on the 2019 survey by SUUMO, the Kichijoji neighborhood of Musashino was the third most desirable place to live in central Japan.[2]
Popular attractions in Musashino include Kichijōji; a residential and shopping neighborhood with malls such as Atre Kichijoji, recreational areas such as Inokashira Park, Musashino Chuo Park, Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium and Musashino Sports Complex.
Musashino has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Musashino is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.1 °C.[7]
Demographics
Per Japanese census data,[8] the population of Musashino increased rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, but has remained relatively constant over the past 50 years.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1920
4,931
—
1930
17,229
+249.4%
1940
41,767
+142.4%
1950
73,149
+75.1%
1960
120,337
+64.5%
1970
136,959
+13.8%
1980
136,910
−0.0%
1990
139,077
+1.6%
2000
135,746
−2.4%
2010
138,734
+2.2%
2020
150,149
+8.2%
History
The area of present-day Musashino was part of ancient Musashi Province.[9] In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reform of July 22, 1878, the area became part of Kitatama District in Kanagawa Prefecture. The village of Musashino was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of modern municipalities law. Kitatama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893.[10] Musashino was elevated to town status in 1928. Nakajima Aircraft Company had an aircraft engine plant in Musashino, which became a target for American bombers in World War II.[11] Musashino was elevated to city status on November 3, 1947.[12]
Government
Musashino has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 26 members. Musashino contributes one member to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Tokyo 18th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
Economy
Musashino is largely a commuter town for central Tokyo.
The electrical engineering and software company Yokogawa Electric has its headquarters in Nakacho, Musashino. Tokyo Musashino City FC, a football (soccer) club, is also located there.
Musashino has 12 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the Musashino city government. There are also three private elementary schools, two private middle schools and two private combined middle/high schools.
Shōhei Ōoka's 1951 novel A Wife in Musashino (Musashino Fujin) is a drama in which a moral and stoic woman, trapped in a loveless marriage with a selfish and morally decadent man, becomes implicated against her will in what looks like an affair with her younger cousin. The story ends tragically as she is let down by him as well as by her husband. Kenji Mizoguchi made the story into a film in 1951, starring Kinuyo Tanaka and Masayuki Mori.
Innocent Grey's 2007 visual novelKara no Shoujo features many scenes set in Musashino in 1956. Inokashira Park in particular serves as a pivotal setting for much of the story.
In the Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō manga by Hitoshi Ashinano, Musashino is the "former capital of the East" in a post-Apocalyptic Japan in which the ocean level continually rises, implying Tokyo itself had been submerged many years before it.
In the anime Shirobako the animation studio is named Musashino Animation.
In the manga series Great Teacher Onizuka, Onizuka lives in Musashino and his first job is at Musashino Public High School. He later gets a job at a private school in Kichijōji.
^"The Animerica Interview: Takahata and Nosaka: Two Grave Voices in Animation." Animerica. Volume 2, No. 11. Page 11. Translated by Animerica from: Takahata, Isao. Eiga o Tsukurinagara, Kangaeta Koto ("Things I Thought While Making Movies") Tokuma Shoten, 1991. Originally published in Animage, June 1987. This is a translation of a 1987 conversation between Takahata and Akiyuki Nosaka. "Kichijoji is the Tokyo area where "Studio Ghibli," frequent Takahata collaborator Hayao Miyazaki's studio, is located.[...]—Ed."
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