is a city in Saitama Prefecture

Saitama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...

, Japan, near Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

.

As of 2010, the city has an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 149,269 and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 3,340 persons per km². The total area is 44.74 km². The city consists of 6 areas, Toyooka, Kaneko, Higashikaneko, Fujisawa, Miyadera-Nihongi, and Seibu.

Iruma and neighboring Sayama

Sayama, Saitama

, formerly known as Irumagawa, is a city located in Saitama, Japan. Sayama translates as "sitting on a mountain”. The city was founded on July 1, 1954....

 are famous for the tea they produce. Iruma also has well-known baking industries.

During the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, Iruma was famous as a market and post-station town.

The city was founded on November 1, 1966.

Iruma Air Base

Iruma Air Base

Iruma Air Base

is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan.Iruma Air Base is currently home to the Air Defense Command Headquarters Flight Group...

, located in Iruma and Sayama, takes its name from its host city. Iruma Air Base is a facility of the Air Self Defense Force

Japan Air Self-Defense Force

The , or JASDF, is the aviation branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace and other aerospace operations. The JASDF carries out combat air patrols around Japan, while also maintaining an extensive network of ground and air early warning radar systems...

. Aircraft based here include YS-11, Kawasaki T-4, and Kawasaki C-1

Kawasaki C-1

|-See also:-References:* Taylor, John W.R. . Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976, ISBN 0-354-00538-3....

. The base holds an Aircraft Festival annually in early November. This air base was once known as Johnson Air Base while under the control of the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

.