city, Tokyo to (metropolis), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the western border of Tokyo city. The city developed from settlements in the rice paddies of the Musashino plateau during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867). It served as a hawking field, and its name is Japanese for “three hawks.” The Mitaka station on the Chūō Line (railway) was opened in 1931, and industry subsequently developed there. Mitaka's major products are electrical machinery and transport equipment. The city, now a residential suburb of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, is the site of the International Christian University (1953) and an astronomical observatory of the University of Tokyo. Pop. (2005) 177,016.