Sagamihara (相模原市,Sagamihara-shi) is acity inKanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 May 2021^[update], the city has an estimated population of 723,470, with 334,812 households,^[1] and a population density of 1,220 persons per km². The total area of the city is 328.91 square kilometres (126.99 sq mi).^[2] Sagamihara is the third-most-populous city in the prefecture, afterYokohama andKawasaki, and the fifth most populous suburb of theGreater Tokyo Area. Its northern neighbor isMachida, with which a cross-prefectural merger has been proposed.^[3]

Sagamihara 相模原市
Designated city
Sagamihara City
From top left: Tanzawa mountains, USARJ Sagami General Depot, Lake Sagami, Hashimoto District, Odakyu Sagami-Ōno Station, JAXA Sagamihara Campus, Sakura Festival
Flag Seal
Location of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture
Sagamihara
Coordinates:35°34′N139°22′E / 35.567°N 139.367°E /35.567; 139.367
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa
First official recorded	110 AD
City settled	November 20, 1954
Government
• Mayor	Kentarō Motomura(since April 2019)
Area
• Total	328.91 km2 (126.99 sq mi)
Population  (May 1, 2021)
• Total	723,470
• Density	2,200/km2 (5,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
– Tree	Zelkova serrata
– Flower	Hydrangea
– Bird	Skylark
Phone number	042-754-1111
Address	2-11-15 Chūō, Chūō-ku, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa-ken 252-5277
Website	Official website

On April 1, 2010, the city became the 19thcity designated by government ordinance. As a result of this, three wards were established:Midori-ku,Chūō-ku andMinami-ku.

Sagamihara covers a large area of northwestern Kanagawa Prefecture. The main areas of commercial activity in Sagamihara are located nearHashimoto Station on theJR EastYokohama Line andKeio Sagamihara Line;Sagamihara Station on the Yokohama Line; andSagami-Ōno Station on theOdakyu Odawara Line.^{[citation needed]} Western Sagamihara is within theTanzawa Mountains.

• Chūō-ku – administrative center
• Midori-ku
• Minami-ku

Kanagawa Prefecture

• Aikawa
• Atsugi
• Kiyokawa
• Yamakita
• Yamato
• Zama

Tokyo

• Hachioji
• Hinohara
• Machida

Yamanashi Prefecture

• Dōshi
• Uenohara

Sagamihara has ahumid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sagamihara is 12.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1906 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.2 °C.^[4]

Per Japanese census data,^[5] the population of Sagamihara has grown steadily over the past 70 years.

The area of modern Sagamihara has been settled since ancient times, and has a number of remains from theJapanese Paleolithic period andKofun period have been found. It was home to the Yokoyama clan, one of the seven warrior clans of theMusashi region during the earlyKamakura period. During theEdo period, the lands around Sagamihara weretenryō territory theoretically administered directly by theTokugawa Shogunate inEdo; however, in reality, the area was a patchwork of small fiefs held by varioushatamoto, as well as exclaves under the control of the Ogino-Yamanaka Domain and Karasuyama Domain.

After theMeiji Restoration, the eastern portion was part ofKōza District, and the western portion was part ofTsukui District. The Kōza District portion was administratively divided into six villages on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The area was the location of extensive training facilities and arsenals of theImperial Japanese Army during the 1930s. These villages were merged on April 29, 1941, together with neighboringZama Town to create Sagamihara Town. At the time of its formation, it was the largest town in Japan in terms of area.

On September 1, 1948, Zama was administratively separated into Zama Town. The remaining portion became Sagamihara City on November 20, 1954. The city population had grown steadily, partly due to local industrial development, and partly due to the city's excellent transportation infrastructure connecting it toYokohama, Tokyo andHachiōji. It was designated acore city with increased autonomy in 2003.

On March 20, 2006, Sagamihara absorbed the towns ofTsukui andSagamiko (both fromTsukui District). The merged city consisted of two geographically separate areas, as two other towns of Tsukui District (Fujino andShiroyama) elected to remain separate. A further merger on March 11, 2007, joined Fujino and Shiroyama with Sagamihara, thus geographically unifying the city, and dissolving former Tsukui District. In 2007, the population of Sagamihara exceeded 700,000. In 2010, Sagamihara was redesignated as agovernment ordinance city and split into three wards Midori-ku, Chūō-ku, and Minami-ku.

On July 25, 2016, 19 people were killed and 26 injured ina mass stabbing incident at a disabled care home in the city by Satoshi Uematsu, the perpetrator.^[6]

Sagamihara has amayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and aunicameral city council of 49 members. Sagamihara contributes eight members to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city was divided between theKanagawa 14th district andKanagawa 16th district of thelower house of theDiet of Japan until the2024 Japanese general election when it became represented by the Kanagawa 14th district and the newly formedKanagawa 20th district.^[7]

In terms of economy and geography such as railroads and roads, Sagamihara has stronger ties with Tokyo than other cities in the prefecture, especially with the Tama area such as Machida and Hachioji. In addition, it is positioned by the national government as the core of the southwestern part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. However, due to the successive withdrawal of large factories in the city, the aspect of Sagimahara as acommuter town has become stronger, and the percentage of commuters to work and school in Tokyo in 2015 was 24.6%.

• Azabu University
• Izumi Junior College
• Sagami Women's University
• Sagamihara has 13 public high schools and one combined middle/high school operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education, and the prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. There are also two private high schools.

 JR East –Yokohama Line

• Kobuchi –Fuchinobe –Yabe –Sagamihara –Hashimoto

 JR East –Sagami Line

• Sōbudai-shita –Shimomizo –Harataima –Banda –Kamimizo –Minami-Hashimoto – Hashimoto

 JR East –Chūō Main Line

• Sagamiko –Fujino

 Odakyu Electric Railway –Odakyu Odawara Line

• Sagami-Ono –Odakyū-Sagamihara –Higashi-Rinkan

 Keio Corporation –Sagamihara Line

• Hashimoto

•  Chūō Expressway
•  Ken-Ō Expressway
•  National Route 16
•  National Route 20
•  National Route 129
•  National Route 412
•  National Route 413

• Lake Sagami
• Sagamihara Prefectural Park
• Sagamihara Vending Machine Park
• Yōgen Temple (妙現寺), built in 1598

• Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
• SC Sagamihara
• Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara
• Nojima Sagamihara Rise

•  Toronto,Ontario, Canada since January 1, 1998
•  Trail, British Columbia, Canada, since April 15, 1991
•  Wuxi,Jiangsu, China, since October 6, 1985

• Ryo Aitaka,heavyweightkickboxer
• Jin Akimoto, retiredmixed martial artist
• Jiro Akama,politician
• Hiroko Anzai,actress, model andgravure idol
• Hayato Arakaki,professional baseballpitcher and player (Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters,Nippon Professional Baseball –Pacific League)
• Akira Asahara, professionalMagic: The Gathering player
• Nana Eikura, model, actress, andradio show host
• Tsuneo Enari,photographer
• Masato Fukae,professional baseballoutfielder
• Tatsunori Hara,baseball manager (Yomiuri Giants,Nippon Professional Baseball)
• Tasuku Hatanaka, actor,voice actor and singer
• Yūki Himura,comedian, actor and voice actor
• Akiko Ichikawa,Japanese Americaninterdisciplinary artist, editor, writer and activist
• Akira Iida,Super GT racing driver
• Yu Inaba, actor (Kamen Rider Drive)
• Megumi Inoue,sport shooter
• Yōzaburō Kanari,manga story writer (Kindaichi Case Files)
• Tsutomu Kashiwakura,voice actor andsound director
• Ukyo Katayama, former Formula One driver and team manager
• Tsuyoshi Kawagishi, formerNippon Professional Baseballpitcher (Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles,Pacific League)
• Hidetaka Kawagoe, formerNippon Professional Baseballpitcher
• Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara, formerbaseball player
• Yuna Kotani, femalecurler
• Keiichiro Koyama, musician, leader ofNEWS
• Tomoyoshi Koyama,professional motorcycleroad racer
• Togi Makabe,professional wrestler (New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
• Mai Murakami, Olympic gymnast
• Ayako Nishikawa, femaleTV star,tarento,comedian, andcosmetic surgeon
• Hiroyuki Nishimura,internet entrepreneur,self-help author and TV personality
• Yukio Ozaki, politician
• Kenji Ozawa, world-famous conductor
• Plaek Phibunsongkhram, former Thai Prime Minister died here in exile.
• Reita, bassist forthe Gazette (band)
• Makoto Sasamoto,Greco-Roman wrestler
• Shin'ya Satō,professional shogi player ranked 7-dan
• Ryōichi Sekiya,ultramarathon andmarathon runner
• Shinya Tasaki,sommelier
• Ai Tominaga, fashion model and actress
• Yuki Tsunoda,Formula One racing driver
• Momo Watanabe,professional wrestler (World Wonder Ring Stardom)
• Yuuya Watanabe, professionalMagic: The Gathering player
• Mika Yoshikawa,middle- andlong-distance runner

• Official Website(in Japanese)
•   Geographic data related toSagamihara atOpenStreetMap