where I got this from

Machida is actually the name of a city in the southwest section of Tokyo. It has a population of around 380,000 (I'd say that's quite small) and is roughly 70 square km in area. It has an average temperature of 18.6 celsius.

Remains have been found from as far back as the Jomon period, which is from 10,000 BC to 300 BC, so it's fair to say that's it's been around a while. It was a posting station for a while, and made it's money in part through producing charcoal. It also started holding fairs twice a month in the 18th century, and conveniently found itself located along the Silk Road. It got connected by rail in 1927, and very impressively managed not to get flattened in WW2.