MUSASHINO

city, Tokyo Metropolis (to), Honshu, Japan, bordered (east) by Tokyo city. Kichijoji, the centre of the city, was founded in 1659 in the Kichijo-ji shinden (newly developed rice fields of Kichijo Shrine). Musashino grew as a farming village and was served by a railway station on the Chuo Main Line. Its rural character did not change until after the destructive Kanto earthquake of 1923, when Musashino became a residential suburb of Tokyo. The munitions factories established in the city during World War II were later replaced by electrical machinery plants. Pop. (1983 est.) 138,606.