Saitama Prefecture trip planner

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large number of residents commute each day.HistoryAccording to Sendai Kuji Hongi, Chichibu was one of 137 provinces during the reign of Emperor Sujin. Chichibu Province was in western Saitama.Saitama Prefecture was formerly part of the old Musashi Province.In the fifth year of the Keiun era, deposits of copper were reported to have been found in the 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 daimyōs ruled small domains within the Saitama area.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.