Area 89.37 km² | ||
Weather 5°C, Wind NW at 11 km/h, 65% Humidity |
Ōmiya (大宮市, Ōmiya-shi) was a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Contents
On May 1, 2001, Ōmiya was merged with the cities of Urawa and Yono to create the city of Saitama.
Since April 1, 2003, the area of former Ōmiya City has been divided into 4 wards: Kita-ku, Minuma-ku, Nishi-ku and Ōmiya-ku of Saitama City.
Origin and pre-modern history
Ōmiya is an indigenous Japanese language word which can be decomposed to Ō (大, kun'yomi (Japanese reading) おお: large, great) and miya (宮, kun'yomi み-や: noble or holy - house; palace or shrine) after the Hikawa Shrine.
The town was on the Nakasendō, a main national road in the feudal Edo period and the predecessor to a part of National Highway Route 17, and the Takasaki Line. Its name was derived from the famous shrine.
Modern Ōmiya
Saitama City era
Education
A North Korean school, Saitama Korean Elementary and Middle School (埼玉朝鮮初中級学校), was previously in the City of Ōmiya.