Sayama City

Tanabata displays, unseen until the day.

Irumagawa Tanabata

01 ／ Tanabata

At the tip of each bamboo,a kiriko to ward off evil.

Counted among the three great Tanabata festivals of the Kantō region, the Irumagawa Tanabata is said to have begun by the mid-Edo period. Each bamboo display is topped with a kiriko (きりこ), a paper net that wards off evil. The decorations are made of paper as a rule and reflect the mood of the times, and to compete they are kept from view until the day itself. In the Shōwa era, shops enlarged their displays to make shade and treat customers, which grew into today's festival. About 100 displays line the streets.

One of the Kantō region's three great Tanabata
Since the mid-Edo period
About 100 bamboo displays

02 ／ Minamoto no Yoshitaka

Yoritomo's son-in-lawwas cut down on the Iruma riverbank.

清水八幡.jpg — Photo by C2revenge (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Shimizu no Kanja Yoshitaka (清水冠者義高), eldest son of Kiso Yoshinaka, was sent to Kamakura as a hostage at 11 and married Ōhime, daughter of Minamoto no Yoritomo. In 1184, after Yoritomo had his father killed, Yoshitaka fled Kamakura, but his pursuers caught and killed him on the Iruma riverbank. The city still has Shimizu Hachiman (清水八幡), which enshrines Yoshitaka, said to have been buried by villagers, and Kagekakushi Jizō (影隠地蔵), behind which he is said to have hidden.

Sent to Kamakura at 11
Iruma riverbank, 1184
Shimizu Hachiman and Kagekakushi Jizō

03 ／ Well

An ancient well you walk down intoalong a winding path to the bottom.

Nanamagari-i (七曲井) in Kita-Iriso is an ancient well shaped like a mortar bowl. It is 18–26 m across at the top and 11.5 m deep, and a winding path leads down to the wooden well frame at the bottom. It is said to be one of the "Horikane wells" that The Pillow Book names first of all wells, and the city believes the provincial government of Musashi dug it by the late 9th to early 10th century at the latest.

18–26 m across
11.5 m deep
A "Horikane well"

Living here

About 40 minutes to Shinjuku by the Koedo express.

about 150,000 people

Sayamashi Station, at the center of the city, is a stop for the Seibu Shinjuku Line's limited express Koedo, and the city says Shinjuku is about 40 minutes away. City Hall is an 8-minute walk from the station's West Exit. With Shin-Sayama and Iriso on the Seibu Shinjuku Line and Inariyama-Kōen on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, the city has four stations, and the Sayama-Hidaka IC on the Ken-Ō Expressway.

People living here: 148,699people
Area: 48.99km²
Households: 63,776households
Rent (average for rentals): 50,539yen
Healthcare: 11 hospitals ／ 77 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —25 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Sayama City in Japan35.853°N 139.412°E

to Seibu-ShinjukuSeibu Shinjuku Line ltd. exp. Koedo40min

Travel times follow 市公式のシティプロモーション「暮らす」とシティプロモーションのトップに載っている値（西武新宿線の特急小江戸号） (checked 2026-09-24). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Sayama City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

9.2km

川越市, 入間市, 所沢市, 日高市, 飯能市

Sayama City isthis kind of town.

01The bamboo displays of the Irumagawa Tanabata, one of the Kantō region's three great Tanabata festivals, are topped with charms against evil and kept from view until the day
02Shimizu no Kanja Yoshitaka, Yoritomo's son-in-law, was killed on the Iruma riverbank; Shimizu Hachiman, which enshrines him, and Kagekakushi Jizō, where he is said to have hidden, remain
03Nanamagari-i, a mortar-shaped ancient well said to be one of The Pillow Book's "Horikane wells", survives in Kita-Iriso

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Sayama City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗