Kodaira, city in Japan on east central Honshu Island, in the central part of Tokyo Prefecture about 26 km (about 16 mi) west of downtown Tokyo. There are several local industries, including a tire factory in the northern part of the city. Primarily a commuter suburb of Tokyo, Kodaira is served by several passenger-rail lines, including the Seibu Shinjuku Line. The Ome Kaido, a historic highway from Edo (now Tokyo) to the mountains west of Kodaira, has been modernized and runs through the center of the city. Kodaira has several education institutions, including Musashino Art University (founded in 1929; established as a university in 1962), Tsuda College (1900), a branch of Hitotsubashi University (1875), a junior college, and a police academy. The city is also home to a small base of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force.
During the Edo period (1603-1867) Kodaira was a productive agricultural village on the Ome Kaido. Japan's earliest agricultural settlements were along this historic highway. Kodaira was established in 1889 when seven farmers' villages were merged into a single administrative unit. It attained town status in 1944 and city status in 1962. The conversion of farmland to residential uses was especially rapid in the 1950s and 1960s, when passenger-rail lines were extended to the area. Population (1999) 169,837.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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