Chiba Prefecture
is located in the
Greater Tokyo Area of
Honshu Island,
Japan. Its capital is
Chiba City.
Chiba Prefecture was established on
June 15,
1873 with the merger of
Kisarazu Prefecture and
Inba Prefecture. Historically, the prefecture constituted three
provinces of
Awa,
Kazusa, and
Shimousa.
Chiba borders
Ibaraki Prefecture to the north at the Tone River,
Tokyo and
Saitama Prefecture to the west at the Edo River, the
Pacific Ocean to the east and
Tokyo Bay around its southern boundary. Most of Chiba lies on the hilly
Boso Peninsula, a
rice farming region: the east coast, known as the Ninety-Nine League Plain, is an especially productive area. The most populous zone, in the northwest of the prefecture, is part of the
Kanto plain that extends into the urban agglomeration of Tokyo and Saitama. The
Kuroshio Current flows near Chiba, which keep it relatively warm in winter and cooler in summer than neighbouring Tokyo.
Cities
36 cities are located on Chiba Prefecture.
ǂScheduled to dissolve after the mergers.
Towns and villages
These are the towns and villages in each
district.
Mergers
(as of March 27, 2006)*On
June 6,
2003, the town of
Sekiyado from
Higashikatsushika District merged into the city of
Noda. (
Merger information page)
*On
February 11,
2005, the new city of
Kamogawa was created by the mergers of the town of
Amatsukominato from
Awa District and the old city of
Kamogawa.
*On
March 28,
2005, the town of
Shonan from
Higashikatsushika District merged into the city of
Kashiwa.
Higashikatsushika District was dissolved as a result of this merger. (
Merger information page)
*On
July 1,
2005, the town of
Hikata from
Katori District and the towns of
Iioka and
Unakami from
Kaijo District merged with the old city of
Asahi to form the new city of
Asahi.
Kaijo District was dissolved as a result of this merger. (
Merger information page)
*On
December 5,
2005, the towns of
Isumi,
Misaki and
Ohara from
Isumi District merged to form the new city of
Isumi.
*On
January 23,
2006, the city of
Yokaichiba and the town of
Nosaka from
Sousa District merged to form the new city of
Sosa.
*On
March 20,
2006, the municipalities of
Tomiura,
Tomiyama,
Miyoshi,
Shirahama,
Chikura,
Maruyama and
Wada (all from
Awa District) merged to form the new city of
Minamiboso.
*On
March 27,
2006, the city of
Sawara and the towns of
Omigawa,
Yamada and
Kurimoto from
Katori District merged to form the new city of
Katori.
*On
March 27,
2006, the towns of
Shimofusa and
Taiei from
Katori District merged into the city of
Narita.
*On
March 27,
2006, the towns of
Hikari from
Sousa District and
Yokoshiba from
Sanbu District merged to form the new town of
Yokoshibahikari in
Sanbu District.
Sousa District was dissolved with this merger.
*On
March 27,
2006, the towns of
Sanbu,
Naruto,
Hasunuma and
Matsuo from
Sanbu District merged to form the new city of
Sanmu.
Future Mergers
*Recently, NHK has reported that the cities of
Abiko,
Kamagaya,
Kashiwa,
Matsudo,
Nagareyama, and
Noda have all announced that they will merge together to create a new designated city in the future. The total population will be 1,403,116 (combined data as of May 2005 to July 1, 2006) if the merger is successful.
Chiba is one of Japan's largest industrial areas, thanks to its long coastline on Tokyo Bay. After Chiba was chosen as the site for a major Kawasaki Steel factory in 1950, the prefectural government embarked on a large-scale land reclamation program that dredged up large plots of waterfront property for factories, warehouses, and docks. Chemical production, petrochemical refining, and machine production are the three main industries in Chiba today: together, they account for forty-five percent of the prefecture's exports. In recent years, the government has funded more than eighty industrial parks to bring development further inland as well.
The prefecture also boasts Japan's second-highest agricultural output: among all the prefectures, only
Hokkaido produces more agricultural products, and Chiba leads Hokkaido in vegetable production. Chiba's fisheries are also productive, catching many of Japan's
flatfish,
halibut, and
lobster.
Seaweed is harvested in large quantities from Tokyo Bay.
Chiba's population is one of the wealthiest in Japan due to the prefecture's strong commercial and industrial sectors. Per capita GDP is ¥3.1 million (US$28,600), the fifth-highest in the country. 70% of the population is employed in the service sector, with 25% in industry and 5% in agriculture.
Most
Tokyo-bound visitors land in
Narita International Airport, which is situated in
Narita in the north of the prefecture, and connected to Tokyo by the JR
Narita Express and the private
Keisei Electric Railway.
The
Tokyo Disney Resort is located in
Urayasu near the western border of the prefecture.
Chiba is linked to Tokyo by several railway lines: the main trunk lines are the
Keiyo Line and
Sobu Line. The
Musashino Line connects Chiba to Saitama and northern Tokyo. Southern Chiba is connected to
Kanagawa Prefecture by the
Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line bridge-tunnel.
Chiba's Meibutsu (名物 lit: famous thing) is
peanuts. Most of Japan's peanuts are harvested here and are also processed into peanut oils.
Chiba-Ken is also the name of a Heavy Rock band local to NYC.
It should also be noted that many popular rock bands (such as
X-Japan and
Nicotine) have origins in the Chiba area.
*
Official Chiba prefecture homepage*
Chiba Information Guide
