Saitama

is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. , the city had an estimated population of 1,324,854, and a population density of 6,093 people per km² (15,781 people per mi²). Its total area is . Etymology The name Saitama originally comes from the of what is now the city of Gyōda in the northern part of what is now known as Saitama Prefecture. Sakitama has an ancient history and is mentioned in the famous 8th century poetry anthology . The pronunciation has changed from Sakitama to Saitama over the years. With the merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono it was decided that a new name, one fitting for this newly created prefectural capital, was needed. The prefectural name was changed from kanji into hiragana, thus was born. It is the only prefectural capital in Japan whose name is always written in hiragana, and belongs to the list of hiragana cities. However, Saitama written in hiragana actually finished in second place in public polling to Saitama written in kanji. Despite this, government officials decided to name the new city Saitama in hiragana, not kanji. In third place in the poll was . In fourth was , written with an alternative kanji for sai which means "colorful". The sai used in the prefectural name is a rare form of a common character that means "cape" or "promontory".