is a city in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,403, and a population density of 12,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Mitaka is located on the Kantō Plain, just outside the 23 special wards of Tokyo Metropolis, which are on its eastern borders. The Tamagawa Aqueduct canal, which runs alongside Mitaka station, has an important place in history, built in 1653 to feed the local metropolis. It is also the place where novelist Osamu Dazai died by suicide in 1948. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is located in Mitaka. Surrounding municipalities Tokyo Metropolis Setagaya Suginami Chōfu Musashino Koganei Climate Mitaka has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mitaka 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. Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Musashino increased rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1994 there were 2,585 foreign residents in Mitaka, including 726 from North and South Korea, 713 from China, 441 from the United States, 114 from the Philippines, and 108 from the United Kingdom. Of all municipalities in Japan, Mitaka had the highest proportion of Chinese returnees. History The area of present-day Mitaka was part of ancient Musashi Province. In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reform of 22 July 1878, the area became part of Kitatama District in Kanagawa Prefecture. The village of Mitaka was created on 1 April 1889 with the establishment of modern municipalities law. Kitatama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on 1 April 1893. Mitaka was raised to town status in 1940. In 1949, the Mitaka incident, one of a series of unexplained fatal train accidents around the same period of time, occurred at Mitaka Station. Mitaka City was officially founded on 3 November 1950. A motion to merge with neighboring Musashino City failed in 1955 by only a single vote in the Mitaka city assembly. Government Mitaka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 28 members. Mitaka contributes two members to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In terms