Chōfu

Chōfu (調布市, Chōfu-shi) is a city in the western side of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 1 April 2021^[update], the city had an estimated population of 238,087, and a population density of 11,000 per km². the total area of the city is 21.58 square kilometres (8.33 sq mi).

Chōfu is approximately in the south-center of Tokyo Metropolis, approximately 20 kilometers west from downtown Tokyo, on the Musashino Terrace bordered by the floodplains of the Tama River and the Iruma River.

Tokyo Metropolis

Kanagawa Prefecture

Chōfu has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Chōfu is 14.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1647 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.1 °C.

Per Japanese census data, the population of Chōfu has grown steadily over the past century, and increased especially rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s.

The area of present-day Chōfu has been inhabited since Japanese Paleolithic times, and numerous remains from the Jōmon, Yayoi and Kofun periods have been discovered. During the Nara period, it became part of ancient Musashi Province. During the Sengoku period, the area was frequently contested between the Later Hōjō clan and Uesugi clan. During the Edo period, the area prospered as a post station on the Kōshū Kaidō and as a center for sericulture. The origin of the city name "Chōfu" comes from the fact that it was allowed to pay taxes in cloth instead of in rice.

In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, Chōfu Town and neighboring Jindai Village were established within Kanagawa Prefecture. The entire district was transferred to the control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893. Jindai was elevated to town status on November 3, 1952, and merged with Chōfu Town on April 1, 1955, to form the present city of Chōfu.