Where the name Saitama-Shintoshin comes from, what stood here before the station, and what you can still spot on a walk today. Then the events near the station that we have checked on the official pages.
Saitama-Shintoshin, meaning Saitama New Urban Center, received its name before Saitama City existed. The district was named in 1999, and its railway station opened in April 2000. The new urban center officially opened the following May. Saitama City itself was not established until May 2001, when the neighboring cities of Omiya, Urawa, and Yono merged.
The new district was built largely on a former railway marshalling yard west of the tracks. This enormous site had once been used to sort and reorganize freight trains. Redevelopment turned it into a center for government offices, businesses, and cultural events. East of the station, the old Nakasendo highway recalls an earlier transport network, while the historic approach to Hikawa Shrine lies farther beyond.
The term New Urban Center did not mean a new prefectural capital. It expressed a plan to reduce the concentration of government and business functions in Tokyo by creating another major center in Saitama. Walk from the government buildings west of the station to the older streets on the east, and the contrast between planned modern development and the historic town becomes clear.
→ Start at Keyaki Hiroba on the west side, looking toward the government towers and Saitama Super Arena. Cross the pedestrian deck to Cocoon City on the east. The elevated walkways connect areas once separated by extensive railway tracks.
Sources (in Japanese): さいたま市「さいたま新都心ってどんなところ？」, 財務省『ファイナンス』2021年6月号・大宮とさいたま新都心の歴史
The land east of Saitama-Shintoshin Station has undergone several remarkable transformations. Before Cocoon City became a major shopping destination, it housed a Katakura silk-reeling factory. Earlier still, the site had been occupied by a farm called Aikosha, near the Nakasendo highway and the approach to Hikawa Shrine. The commercial complex's name, Cocoon, deliberately recalls the silkworm industry that once operated here.
On the other side of the railway, a vast marshalling yard dominated the landscape. Freight trains arrived to have their wagons sorted and reorganized before continuing to other destinations. Omiya Marshalling Yard closed in February 1984, leaving an unusually large redevelopment site close to an important railway junction. Construction of the new urban center began in November 1991.
Saitama-Shintoshin Station opened in 2000, followed in September by the full opening of Saitama Super Arena and Keyaki Hiroba. The former industrial land east of the tracks became a commercial district, while the western railway yard became a center for government, offices, and events. Walking from one side of the station to the other reveals two different industrial histories: silk production and railway freight.
→ Explore Cocoon City east of the station, whose name recalls the former silk factory. Then cross to Saitama Super Arena and Keyaki Hiroba on the west. The contrasting layouts reveal how a factory site and an enormous freight yard became a shopping district and a civic center.
Sources (in Japanese): さいたま市立博物館・市史編さん資料「コクーンシティの近現代史」, さいたま市「さいたま新都心ガイドマップ」
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We list events we could confirm on the official page or official Instagram of the venue or organiser. Details can change, tickets sell out and venues close, so check the official page before you go. Distances are straight-line and travel times are rough estimates. Photos show the venue or its surroundings, not the event itself. Titles and descriptions are our own translations from Japanese. This site contains affiliate links (ads).