is a city

Cities of Japan

||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

 located in the western end of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 224,878 and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 10,440 persons per km². The total area was 21.53 km². Tokyo Stadium (commonly known as Ajinomoto Stadium) in Chōfu hosts soccer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 games for two J. League

J. League

The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...

 teams: F.C. Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy.

Geography

Chōfu is approximately in the geographic center of Tokyo Metropolis, on the Musashino Terrace

Musashino Terrace

The Musashino Terrace , also translated as Musashino Platform, is a large platform of land, known as a river terrace, in the Kantō region of Honshū, Japan....

 bordered by the floodplains of the Tama River

Tama River

The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government....

.

Surrounding municipalities

• Setagaya, Tokyo
  Setagaya, Tokyo
  is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood within the ward. The ward calls itself the City of Setagaya in English...
  
  
• Mitaka, Tokyo
  Mitaka, Tokyo
  is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 November 2010, the city has an estimated population of 176,737. The total area is 16.50 km² and is about 50 – 55 meters above sea level...
  
  
• Fuchu, Tokyo
  Fuchu, Tokyo
  is a city located in western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 255,394 and a population density of 8,700 persons per km². The total area was 29.34 km²...
  
  
• Koganei, Tokyo
  Koganei, Tokyo
  is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of July 1, 2011, the city has an officially registered population of 116,055 with 56,296 households and a population density of 10,243.16 persons per km²...
  
  
• Komae, Tokyo
  Komae, Tokyo
  is a municipality administered as a city, in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of 30 municipalities in the western portion of Tokyo metropolis known as the Tama Area....
  
  
• Inagi, Tokyo
  Inagi, Tokyo
  is a city located in Tokyo, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 81,134 and the density of 4,096.33 persons per km². The total area is 17.97 km².The city was founded on November 1, 1971.-History:...
  
  
• Kawasaki, Kanagawa
  Kawasaki, Kanagawa
  is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....
  
  

History

The area of present day Chōfu has been inhabited since Japanese Paleolithic

Japanese Paleolithic

The began around 50,000 to 30,000 BC, when the earliest stone tool implements have been found, and continued to around 14,000 BC, at the end of the last ice age, which corresponds to the beginning of the Mesolithic Jōmon period...

 times, and numerous remains from the Jōmon

Jomon period

The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...

, Yayoi

Yayoi period

The is an Iron Age era in the history of Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to 300 AD. It is named after the neighbourhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new...

 and Kofun

Kofun period

The is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. It follows the Yayoi period. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato period...

 periods have been discovered. During the Nara period

Nara period

The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...

, it became part of ancient Musashi Province

Musashi Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

. During the Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

, the area was frequently contested between the Late Hōjō clan

Late Hojo clan

The ' was one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region.The clan is traditionally reckoned to be started by Ise Shinkurō, who came from a branch of the prestigious Ise clan, a family in the direct employment of the Ashikaga...

 and Uesugi clan

Uesugi clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....

. During the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, the area prospered as a post station

Shukuba

were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called shukueki . These post stations were places where travelers could rest on their journey around the nation...

 on the Kōshū Kaidō

Koshu Kaido

The was one of the five routes of the Edo period and it was built to connect Edo with Kai Province in modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The route continues from there to connect with the Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku in Nagano Prefecture...

 and as a center for silkworm production.

The in post-Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

 cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, Chōfu Town and neighboring Jindai Village were established within Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

. The entire district was transferred to the control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. Jindai was elevated to town status on November 3, 1952 and merged with Chōfu Town on April 1, 1955 to form the present city of Chōfu.

Economy

Chōfu is primarily a regional commercial center, and a bedroom community for central Tokyo.

The headquarters of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...

 are also located in the city.

Railroad

• Keio Electric Railway – Keiō Line
  • - - - - - -
• Keio Electric Railway – Keiō Sagamihara Line
  Keio Sagamihara Line
  The is a Japanese railway line operated by Keio Corporation, connecting Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture and Chōfu Station in Chōfu, Tokyo.-History:...
  
  

Education

• University of Electro-Communications
  University of Electro-Communications
  The is a national university in the city of Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. It specialises in the disciplines of computer science, the physical sciences, engineering and technology. It was founded in 1918 .-Graduate schools:*Graduate School of Electro-Communications...
  
  
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
  Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
  TUFS is a specialized institution only in foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies, thus it is not as well-known as other big universities such as University of Tokyo and Kyoto University...
  
  
• Toho Gakuen School of Music
  Toho Gakuen School of Music
  is a private conservatoire located in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan.-History:Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Kudan as a music school for children, and two years later opened the Toho High School of Music, to provide quality musical education to teenage girls. 1955 saw the establishment of the Junior...
  
  
• Shirayuri Women's University
  Shirayuri Women's University
  is a Catholic Japanese women's university located in Chōfu, Tokyo. The university comprises four Departments of Literature and a graduate school. This all-female institution is well-known as Shirayuri Women's University, although its official name is Shirayuri College. It is a research and liberal...
  
  
• Jikei University School of Medicine
  Jikei University School of Medicine
  is a private university in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Jikei means mercy and love in Japanese.-The three major private medical schools in Tokyo:*Keio University School of Medicine*Jikei University School of Medicine*Nippon Medical School...
  
  

Chōfu is also home to the American School in Japan

American School in Japan

The American School in Japan was founded in 1902 and is an international private day school located in the city of Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The school consists of an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school, all located on the Chōfu campus...

, a K-12 institution attended by many American and international children.

Local attractions

• Jindai Botanical Garden
  Jindai Botanical Garden
  The is at the edge of the Musashino plateau just above Jindaiji Temple in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. It extends across 425,433 square meters, and each of its thirty areas features varieties of one kind of plant. Displays of ume, cherries, azalea, dogwood, peonies, roses, wisteria or other can be seen...
  
  
• Nogawa Park
  Nogawa Park
  -History:The land for the park was purchased from International Christian University in 1974. It had previously been used as a golf course by the school.-Geography:...
  
  

Every July, Chōfu hosts the Chōfu City Fireworks Festival, attended by as many as 300,000 people along the banks of the Tamagawa River. The tiny Fuda Station

Fuda Station

is a Keio Electric Railway Keiō Line station located in Chōfu, Tokyo.-Station layout:This station has two ground-level side platforms.-Adjacent stations:...

 on the Keio Line is inundated on this one day with tens of thousands of visitors.

Chōfu has a large cultural centre which supports many groups encouraging the integration of foreigners into Japanese society, providing free Japanese, Shodo

Shodo

"Shōdō" is the fortieth single by B'z, released on January 25, 2006. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon charts. This song was the opening theme of Case Closed.- External links :*...

, Ikebana

Ikebana

is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as .-Etymology:"Ikebana" is from the Japanese and . Possible translations include "giving life to flowers" and "arranging flowers".- Approach :...

, Karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 (and many other) lessons.

There is the park and memorial hall commemorating the life of novelist Mushanokōji Saneatsu, a former resident of Chōfu.

For the 1964 Summer Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

, the city served as part of the route for the athletic

Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics

At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the athletics competition included 36 events, 24 for men and 12 for women. The women's 400 metres and women's pentathlon events were newly introduced at these Games. There were a total number of 1016 participating athletes from 82 countries.-Men's...

 50 kilometer walk and marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 events.

Noted people from Chōfu

• Kondō Isami
  Kondo Isami
  was a Japanese swordsman and official of the late Edo Period, famed for his role as commander of the Shinsengumi.-Background:Isami, who was first known as Katsugorō, was born to Miyagawa Hisajirō, a farmer residing in Kami-Ishihara village in Musashi Province, now in the city of Chōfu in Western...
  
   – Bakumatsu period samurai
• Saneatsu Mushanokōji – novelist, playwright, poet
• Nobuko Imai
  Nobuko Imai
  , is a Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she plays an Andrea Guarneri of 1690.-Biography:...
  
   - violist
• Oku Shutaro
  Oku Shutaro
  Shutaro Oku is a Japanese film director　and Visual planner.-Biography:Oku Shutaro was awarded "special mention" at Seoul Film Festival in 2002 with his maiden work "KAI-ON". Since then he has produced a series of films constantly, such as "The Labor Cop", "Japanese Naked Tribe", and "Aka-sen"...
  
   – director
• Junji Takada
  Junji Takada
  , also known by the nicknames , and "TJ", is a Japanese actor and comedian.-External links:*...
  
  - actor

External links

• Chōfu official website in English
• Chōfu official website in Japanese