Ogawa, Saitama

Ogawa

小川町
Ogawa 小川町
Town
	Ogawa town office
	Flag Seal
	Ogawa (in bright yellow) in Saitama Prefecture
	Ogawa
	Coordinates: 36°3′24″N 139°15′42.6″E / 36.05667°N 139.261833°E
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Saitama
District	Hiki
Area
• Total	60.36 km2 (23.31 sq mi)
Population (March 2021)
• Total	28,971
• Density	480/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- Tree	Zelkova serrata
- Flower	Adonis ramosa
- Bird	Japanese white-eye
Phone number	0493-72-1221
Address	55 Otsuka, Ogawa-machi, Hiki-gun, Saitama-ken 355-0392
Website	Official website

Ogawa (小川町, Ogawa-machi) is a town in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 March 2021^[update], the town had an estimated population of 28,971 in 12,989 households and a population density of 480 persons per km².^[1] The total area of the town is 60.36 square kilometres (23.31 sq mi).

Geography

Ogawa is in central Saitama Prefecture in the Ogawa basin and is surrounded by the Sotochichibu Mountains. Surrounding municipalities are Ranzan, Tokigawa, Yorii and Higashichichibu, all in Saitama Prefecture.

Climate

Ogawa has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ogawa is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1746 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.0 °C.^[2]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,^[3] the population of Ogawa peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1920	17,523	—
1930	18,451	+5.3%
1940	19,043	+3.2%
1950	25,270	+32.7%
1960	24,769	−2.0%
1970	25,641	+3.5%
1980	27,045	+5.5%
1990	33,709	+24.6%
2000	37,301	+10.7%
2010	32,913	−11.8%
2020	28,524	−13.3%

History

The village of Ogawa was created within Hiki District, Saitama with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Ogawa annexed the neighboring villages of Okawa, Takezawa and Yawata on February 1, 1955. Tokigawa and Tamagawa merged to form the town of Tokigawa.^{[citation needed]}

Government

Ogawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 16 members. Ogawa, together with the towns of Tokigawa, Ranzan and Namekawa, contributes one member to the Saitama Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Saitama 10th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The town used to be famous for Japanese traditional papermaking (washi).^[4]

Education

Ogawa has six public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education.