Chiba, Chiba

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**Chiba City**
**千葉市**
Chiba City's location in Chiba, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Chiba
Physical characteristics
Area	272.08 km² (105.1 sq mi)
Population (as of 2007)
Total	931,544
Density	3,415.77/km² (8,846.8/sq mi)
Location	35°36′N, 140°7′E
Symbols
Tree	Keyaki
Flower	Nelumbo nucifera
Chiba City Government Office
Mayor	Keiichi Tsuruoka
Address	〒260-8722 1-1, Chiba-minato, Chūō-ku, Chiba
Phone number	043-245-5111
Official website: Chiba City

Chiba (千葉市, Chiba-shi^?) is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately 40 km east from the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government designated city in 1992, and now has a population of approximately 930,000.

Chiba City is also one of the Kantō region's primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in the nation. Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses located along the coast. There are several major urban centers in the city, including Makuhari, a prime waterfront business district in which Makuhari Messe is located, and Central Chiba, in which the prefectural government office and the city hall are located.

Chiba is famous for the Chiba Urban Monorail, the longest hanging monorail in the world, as published in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some popular destinations in the city include: Kasori Shellmound, the largest shellmound in the world at 134,000m², Inage Beach, the first artificial beach in the nation which forms part of the longest artificial beach in Japan, and the Chiba City Zoological Park, which gained popularity because of the red panda Futa, who stands with human-like posture.

In fiction, a futuristic Chiba City is famously the setting of much of William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Politics and government
- 3.1 Wards
4 Culture
- 4.1 Sports
5 Transportation
6 Sister cities
7 Trivia
8 External links

The city was founded on January 1, 1921 and was designated on April 1, 1992 by government ordinance.

In the Heian period, the first records related to the city of Chiba record the emigration of Taira Tsuneshige (平常重) to Chiba. He proclaimed himself "Chiba no Suke" (千葉介) and governed around the region we know as Chiba city today. His descendants claimed the family name of "Chiba" and continued dominance of this region until the Muromachi period. In the Kamakura period, Chiba Tsunetane (千葉常胤) helped Minamoto Yoritomo (源頼朝) establish the Kamakura Bakufu. This made the Chiba clan important in the Kamakura Bakufu. He built Inohana castle on Inohana mountain and moved his headquarters to it from Oohji castle.

Their power and influence declined because of wars around the Kantō region during the Nanboku-cho and Muromachi periods. In the 16th century, instead of the Chiba clan, the Hara clan, which was one of the servants of Chiba clan, wielded power in this region. In the Sengoku period, the Hara clan was forcibly removed by Yoshiaki Ashikaga (足利義明, not to be confused with 足利義昭). Then, Yoshiaki Ashikaga was also removed by the Sakai (酒井 not to be the Sakai clan in Mikawa) clan, which was one of the servants of the Satomi (里見) clan. Finally both the Chiba and Sakai clans were annihilated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In the Edo period, both the Oyumi (生実)　(Morikawa (森川)) clan and the Sakura (佐倉) clan governed the region. A part of the region was governed directly by the Tokugawa Bakufu. The Oyumi clan governed their territory stably. On the other hand, according to the Sakura clan, in the beginning of the Edo period, the governor was frequently changed by various events, such as Takeda Nobuyoshi (武田信吉), Matsudaira Tadateru (松平忠輝). Ogasawara Yoshitsugu (小笠原吉次), Doi Toshikatsu (土井利勝) and so on. Finally the Hotta (堀田) clan stably governed their territory.

As of March 2007, the city has an estimated population of 931,544 and a density of 3,423.79 persons per km². The total area is 272.08 km². There were 19,135 registered foreign residents in the city as of March 31, 2007, making up for about 2% of the total population.

Chiba is governed by Keiichi Tsuruoka, an independent. The city assembly has 54 elected members.

Building of Chiba Prefectural government and Chiba Urban Monorail

Street of Makuhari that lines along sea with hotel

Chiba has six wards (ku):

One of Chibas specialties is peanuts, or rakkasei. Points of interest include the Experimental Station for Landscape Plants.

Home Stadium of the Chiba Marines.

Chiba is home to several professional sports teams:

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Established
Chiba Lotte Marines	Baseball	Pacific League	Chiba Marine Stadium	1950
JEF United Ichihara Chiba	Football	J. League	Ichihara Rinkai Studium Fukuda Denshi Arena	1946

Further information: Transportation in Greater Tokyo

Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport are the closest major airports.

Chiba Station

The Chiba Urban Monorail runs through Chiba City. The major intercity railway stations are Chiba Station , (Sobu Line, Sotobo Line, Uchibo Line, Sobu Main Line, Narita Line, transfer for Chiba Urban Monorail) , Keisei Chiba Station (Keisei Chiba Line), and Soga Station , (Keiyo Line , Sotobo Line, Uchibo Line) all in Chūō-ku.

Higashi-Kantō Expressway to Tokyo, Narita and Kashima
Tateyama Expressway to Kisarazu

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Ryuta Kawashima was born in Chiba in 1959.
Kasori Shellmound is the largest shellmound in the world, and Chiba City has the highest concentration of shellmounds in the world.
The Chiba Urban Monorail is the longest hanging monorail in the world.
The average life expectancy for men in Chiba City is the longest in the nation.
Makuhari Messe of Mihama Ward, which opened in 1989, was the first convention center in Japan.
The city is home to the longest artificial beach in the nation, at a length of 4,320m.
Aiba Masaki of Arashi is from Chiba.
yukihiro of L'Arc~en~Ciel is from Chiba. He is a graduate of The Chiba University of Commerce.