Ageo

Ageo is a city in Saitama Prefecture on the Kantō Plain, slightly east of the centre of the prefecture, with no mountains within its borders. It touches the left bank of the Arakawa River, and the Kamo and Shiba rivers flow through it. Ageo-shuku was a post town on the Nakasendō highway that flourished in the Edo period, and the railway station opened in 1883. The modern town of Ageo was formed in 1889, merged with neighbouring towns and villages in 1955 and became a city on 15 July 1958. Four large public housing complexes built in the 1960s greatly expanded its population, and a 2001 referendum rejected a merger with Saitama City. The city has long been farmland and is increasingly a bedroom community for Saitama City and Tokyo, with UD Trucks and Bridgestone Cycle among its major employers. In 2024 about 230,041 people lived on its 45.51 square kilometres.