This town’s plateau gently tilts from west to east. From here and there in that tilted cross-section, groundwater wells up abundantly and becomes rivers flowing through the town. That river and spring water were selected — the only such site in the metropolis — among the Environment Ministry’s One Hundred Famous Waters of a new era. In the center of the Musashino plateau, this town that pushes underground water up to the surface has held its population at a high level. Higashikurume-shi’s numbers are the record of a town inscribed with the history of a tilting plateau and springs.
A city opening in the central Musashino plateau, about twenty-five kilometers from the city center, in the Tama region of Tokyo. The population moved flat at a high level, from 113,302 in 2000 to 115,271 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign “a residential area of Musashino,” but the causal thread: how the history — a tilting plateau and springs — is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Looking at the Higashikurume-shi of today in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 115,000 (115,271 in 2020). Its trend is flat at a high level. From 113,302 in 2000, it rose gently through 115,330 in 2005, 116,546 in 2010, and 116,632 in 2015, and in 2020, at 115,271, it turned in recent years to flat at a high level.
Looking inside, the figure of a residential area of Musashino maturing appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 14.8% in 2000 to 28.4% in 2020, but among many regional cities that approach four in ten, it does not reach three in ten and keeps a comparative youthfulness. The household-with-children share is 19.6% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.79 in fiscal 2023, a comparatively high level covering about eight-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The figure of a town holding the famous water of Musashino, keeping its population at a high level while keeping a comparative youthfulness, shows in the numbers. Why a town on this plateau holds people so does not come into view without going back to the landform — the land tilting west to east, and water welling from that cross-section.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
02 · A plateau tilting west to east, water welling from the cross-section, the only famous water in the metropolis, a residential area of Musashino — the history behind the numbers
This town’s skeleton is set by the Musashino plateau gently tilting from west to east, and by the water welling from that tilted cross-section. The central layer is the tilting plateau. This town, in the central Musashino plateau, has its whole land gently tilting from west to east. Rain and water that have soaked into the ground of the plateau are pushed up to the surface from here and there in this tilted cross-section, and well up abundantly. The welling water gathers, becomes rivers flowing through the town, and joins another river at the town’s eastern edge. A tilted plateau that pushes underground water up to the surface lies at the center of this town’s geography.
Upon this spring water, the evaluation as famous water and the residential area were layered. The rivers flowing through the town, and the group of springs that are one of their sources, were selected — the only such site in the metropolis — among the Environment Ministry’s One Hundred Famous Waters of a new era, in the latter 2000s. From a single spring group, about ten thousand tons of water are said to well a day. The course of becoming a city too mirrors this town. This land became the twenty-second city in the metropolis in the 1970s. As a Musashino plateau easy to commute to the city center from, the town became a residential area and pushed its population to a high level. A plateau tilting west to east, water welling from the cross-section, the only famous water in the metropolis, and a residential area of Musashino — this town’s form stands upon the history of a tilting plateau and springs that the central Musashino plateau has held.
Source: Higashikurume City “One Hundred Famous Waters of the Heisei Era” (the Kurome and Ochiai rivers flow through the city; springs are abundant from the sloping cross-section; the Ochiai River and the Minamisawa spring group were selected in 2008 as the Environment Ministry’s “One Hundred Famous Waters of the Heisei Era” — the only such site in Tokyo — overview) / Higashikurume City (in the central Musashino plateau about 25 km from the city center; a plateau gently tilting from west to east; the 22nd city to gain city status in Tokyo, 1970 — overview)
03 · In a plateau holding famous water, keeping population at a high level and youthfulness
What characterizes Higashikurume-shi is that, while bearing the history of a plateau holding the famous water of Musashino, it has kept its population at a high level and keeps a comparative youthfulness. From 113,302 in 2000 it rose gently to 116,632 in 2015, and in 2020, at 115,271, it keeps a high level. On the Musashino plateau about twenty-five kilometers from the city center, a location easy to commute to the city center from, households raising children stayed in a certain measure in a residential area holding springs and green — this can be read as the support that kept the population at a high level. That the share aged 65 and over is 28.4% in 2020, not reaching three in ten and keeping a comparative youthfulness, is also its expression.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. A Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.79 is a level that covers about eight-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue, comparatively high. The income of the many households living on the plateau can be read as supporting the tax source comparatively highly. The population is flat at a high level, the aging does not reach three in ten, and the fiscal stamina is comparatively on the high side. These three are not lined up separately, but the showing, in each number, of a single flow — households raising children keeping on staying on a plateau holding springs and green.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · A town where a tilting plateau pushes the only famous water in the metropolis up to the surface
Higashikurume, as a town opening in the central Musashino plateau, holds several functions of its own. One is its history of being in the central Musashino plateau, the land tilting gently from west to east, with water welling from that cross-section. Another is its character of the rivers flowing through the town and the group of springs that are their source being selected — the only such site in the metropolis — among the One Hundred Famous Waters of a new era. The landform of the Musashino plateau tilting from west to east pushed underground water up to the surface and raised a residential area holding famous water.
Higashikurume is a town where a tilting plateau pushes the only famous water in the metropolis up to the surface. From a plateau tilting west to east, to water welling from the cross-section, the only famous water in the metropolis, and a residential area of Musashino — the geography of “the central Musashino plateau,” together with its tilt from west to east, pushed underground water up to the surface and made a residential area holding famous water. Because the plateau tilts gently, the water within the ground is pushed up from here and there in its cross-section and flows through the town as rivers. A water source welling ten thousand tons a day opens its mouth right beside the residential area — that is the scene at this town’s feet.
Source: Higashikurume City “One Hundred Famous Waters of the Heisei Era” (the Kurome and Ochiai rivers flow through the city; springs are abundant from the sloping cross-section; the Ochiai River and the Minamisawa spring group were selected in 2008 as the Environment Ministry’s “One Hundred Famous Waters of the Heisei Era” — the only such site in Tokyo — overview) / Higashikurume City (in the central Musashino plateau about 25 km from the city center; a plateau gently tilting from west to east; the 22nd city to gain city status in Tokyo, 1970 — overview)
05 · Atlas note — the numbers of a town where a tilting plateau pushes out water
Lay out Higashikurume’s numbers and indicators of a residential area of Musashino maturing line up: population flat at a high level, an aging rate of 28.4%, a household-with-children share of 19.6%, fiscal capacity 0.79. What I (Atlas), going back to the landform at the foot of the figures, want to read here is that this town’s springs arise from the geographic necessity of “the tilt of the plateau.” That, in the central Musashino plateau, the land tilts gently from west to east pushes the water soaked into the ground up to the surface from its tilted cross-section. The springs are not there by chance; they well, as it were necessarily, from the geographic condition of the plateau being tilted.
One more thing to consider is that this town holding famous water keeps its population at a high level and keeps a comparative youthfulness. On the Musashino plateau about twenty-five kilometers from the city center, a location easy to commute to the city center from, a residential area holding springs and green spreads. The advantage of position as a residential area, and the living environment with springs, can be read as having kept households raising children in a certain measure and held the population at a high level. The water that the tilt of the plateau pushes out flows through the town, and on a land selected as the only famous water in the metropolis, people live while holding a high level of population. The geographic necessity that the plateau tilts west pushes the only famous water in the metropolis up to the surface and has held people to that waterside. That far, geography and the numbers explain. But whether you can find, in living beside springs of ten thousand tons a day, a worth that outweighs rent and commuting — that scale is held not by me, but by the person considering whether to live in this town.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Higashikurume City “One Hundred Famous Waters of the Heisei Era” (the Kurome and Ochiai rivers flow through the city; springs are abundant from the sloping cross-section; the Ochiai River and the Minamisawa spring group were selected in 2008 as the Environment Ministry’s “One Hundred Famous Waters of the Heisei Era” — the only such site in Tokyo — overview) / Higashikurume City (in the central Musashino plateau about 25 km from the city center; a plateau gently tilting from west to east; the 22nd city to gain city status in Tokyo, 1970 — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (Daiki 2026-06-02)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave19_3