Gyōda

Gyōda 行田市
City
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Flag of Gyōda Flag
Location of Gyōda in Saitama Prefecture Location of Gyōda in Saitama Prefecture
Gyōda Location in Japan
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Saitama Prefecture
Government
• Mayor	Masaji Kudo (since April 2007)
Area
• Total	67.37 km2 (26.01 sq mi)
Population (April 1, 2011)
• Total	87,089
• Density	1,292.70/km2 (3,348.1/sq mi)
Symbols
• Tree	Ginkgo biloba
• Flower	Chrysanthemum, Nelumbo nucifera
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City Hall Address	2–5 Honmaru, Gyoda-shi, Saitama-ken 361-8601
Website	www.city.gyoda.lg.jp

Gyōda (行田市, Gyōda-shi) is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on May 3, 1949.

As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 87,089, with 33,570 households and a population density of 1,292.70 persons per km². The total area is 67.37 km² (26.01 sq mi).

On January 1, 2006, the village of Minamikawara (from Kitasaitama District) was merged into Gyōda.

Transport

• Gyōda Station (JR East Takasaki Line)
• Gyōdashi Station (Chichibu Railway)
• Higashi-Gyōda Station (Chichibu Railway)

Important historical points

Sakitama Kofun Sakitama Fudoki-no-oka Hill is a 300,000 square metres (3,229,173 sq ft) historic park dotted with large ancient tombs, including a tomb of ancient potentates on Mt. Maruhaka-yama, one of the largest round burial mounds in Japan. At Mt. Shogun-yama, a 91 metres (299 ft) long burial mound that is square at the head and rounded at the foot, there is a display room of its interior where the stone cave hut and excavated articles have been restored to their original conditions in the 5th to 7th centuries. Every spring, residents celebrate a fire festival, which symbolizes the myth that the ancient goddess of Japan gave birth in fire.

Gyoda City is proud of its ancient lotuses that grow in the Kobari Marsh. The seeds of ancient lotuses here, estimated to date back 1,400 to 3,00 years, were found by chance during excavation for the building of a waste disposal facility. After a few thousand years of dormancy, they awoke and germinated. The large pink blossoms bloom only in the morning for about a month from mid-July after the close of the rainy season.

The 1988 reconstruction of the original Oshi Castle. Oshi Castle (Oshi-jo) was built by the daimyo Narita Akiyasu near the end of the 15th century. It was considered impregnable, and was built using the natural levee of the surrounding marshlands and river. When it was attacked by the army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (who ruled Japan in the latter half of the 16th century) it was besieged by over 20,000 soldiers. The castle did not fall even when it was flooded by water drawn in from the nearby river. After that it was rumored that the castle had been able to withstand the flood because it floats on water. The largest turret in Oshi Castle is Gosankai Yagura, although it was demolished in the latter half of the 19th century when political power changed from the Edo shogunate to the Meiji government, due to its condemnation as a symbol of the samurai. The existing turret was reconstructed in 1988.

The town is also the home of Oshi Tōshō-gū shrine.

Culture

Gyōda is renowned for its Zeri Furai. This is a local speciality consisting of fried bean curd, carrots, onion, and potato. There are many shops which sell it around town, especially during the warmer seasons.

Gyōda is also quite well known for the making of traditional tabi socks, worn with kimono. Gyoda still makes half of the tabi made in Japan.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Japan

Twin towns — Sister cities

Gyōda is twinned with:

• Kuwana, Mie, Japan
• Shirakawa, Fukushima, Japan

External links

• Gyōda City official website (Japanese)