is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...

. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In June 2019, its population was 979,768, with a population density of 3,605 people per km². The city has an area of . Chiba City is one of the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

's primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in Japan. Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses along the coast. There are several major urban centres in the city, including

Makuhari is a community in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is within Hanamigawa-ku and Mihama-ku. The seaside area of Makuhari was reclaimed from the sea. The district was constructed in a span of 10 years. Steven Poole, author of ''Trigger Ha ...

, 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 suspended

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

in the world. Some popular destinations in the city include: Kasori Shell Midden, the largest shellmound in the world at , Inage Beach, the first artificial beach in Japan which forms part of the longest artificial beach in Japan, and the Chiba City Zoological Park, popular on account of the standing red panda Futa.

Etymology

The name of Chiba in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

is formed from two ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'' characters. The first, , means " thousand" and the second, means "leaves". The name first appears as an ancient '' kuni no miyatsuko'', or regional command office, as . The name was adopted by a branch of the

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divide ...

, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan, which held strong influence over the area of the prefecture until the Azuchi–Momoyama period. The name "Chiba" was chosen for Chiba Prefecture at the time its creation in 1873 by the , an early Meiji-period body of prefectural governors that met to decide the structure of local and regional administration in Japan.

History

Early history

The first records related to the city of Chiba record the emigration of Taira Tsuneshige (1083?–1088), a powerful '' bushi'' warlord of the late Heian period, to Shimōsa Province, which historically occupied the north of Chiba Prefecture. Tsuneshige was appointed as ''gunji'' administrator of Sōma District, but was transferred to the same position in Chiba District two years later. Here he proclaimed himself , became a '' kokushi'' governor of the province, and used the area around present-day Chiba City as a power base to rule over Shimōsa Province, Kazusa Province, as well as establish himself as a military force in the

. Tsuneshige's son, (1118–1201) was instrumental in aiding Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) with the establishment of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no ...

. Tsuneshige built a spacious residence and numerous temples in present-day Chiba City, and in the same period he transferred his power base from Ōji Castle to Inohana Castle on Mount Inohana. The area of present-day Chiba City became '' jōkamachi'' , or castle town, and prospered under the Chiba clan. The clan's power extended in the region until the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

Medieval period

The Chiba clan's power and influence declined because of wars around the

during the Nanboku-chō and

s. 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 was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, the Hara clan was forcibly removed by Ashikaga Yoshiaki (足利義明, not to be confused with 足利義昭). Then, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was also removed by the Sakai (酒井 not to be confused with 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 , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

Later history

In the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, the ,　 clan, and the clans governed the area now occupied by the city. A part of the area was also governed directly by the

Tokugawa Bakufu The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encycloped ...

. The Oyumi clan governed their territory stably. On the other hand, according to the Sakura clan, from the beginning of the

, changed governors frequently, including Takeda Nobuyoshi,

Matsudaira Tadateru was a ''daimyō'' during the Edo period of Japan. He was the sixth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was born in Edo Castle during the year of the dragon (''tatsu''), and as a child his name was Tatsuchiyo (辰千代). His mother was , a concubine of I ...

, , and

Doi Toshikatsu was a top-ranking official in Japan's Tokugawa shogunate during its early decades, and one of the chief advisors to the second Tokugawa shōgun, Hidetada. The adopted son of Doi Toshimasa, Toshikatsu is generally believed to be the biological ...

. Finally the

Hotta clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled the Sakura Domain in Shimosa Province in the late Edo period. Jindai-ji in the present-day city of Sakura was the clan's bodaiji A in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, tak ...

stabilized the governance of their territory. Chiba prospered in this period as a post-town of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

Modern history

After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

in 1868 and the advent of the railroad in Japan, Chiba became the political, economic, and cultural capital of Chiba Prefecture. The town of Chiba was established within Chiba District with the creation of the municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Chiba City formed on January 1, 1921. Numerous small villages and towns were merged into the previous , a process that continued until 1944. Large-scale land reclamation added to the area of the city throughout the 20th century. The city was a major center of military production leading up to World War II, and as such, was a target of

aerial bombing An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offici ...

by the United States. The city was almost completely destroyed by the end of the war. Post-war industrialization led to the city becoming a major part of the Keiyō Industrial Zone. Chiba became a Designated City of Japan on April 1, 1992.

Demographics

As of February 2016, the city had an estimated population of 972,861 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of 3,580 persons per km². The total area of the city is . There were 19,135 registered foreign residents in the city as of March 31, 2007, making up for about 2% of the total population. It is the 14th most populated city in Japan.

Politics and government

Chiba was governed by Keiichi Tsuruoka, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

(elected with support of LDP and

Kōmeitō , formerly New Komeito and abbreviated NKP, is a conservative political party in Japan founded by lay members of the Buddhist Japanese new religious movement Soka Gakkai in 1964. Since 2012, it has served in government as the junior coalitio ...

), until May 1, 2009. He was arrested in April 2009 during a corruption investigation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He was succeeded by Toshihito Kumagai of the DPJ, who won election in June 2009. The city assembly has 54 elected members.

Wards

Chiba has six wards (''ku''): * Chūō-ku – administrative center *

Hanamigawa-ku is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of April 2012, the ward has an estimated population of 179,770 and a population density of 5,250 persons per km². The total area is 34.24 km². Geography Han ...

* Inage-ku * Midori-ku *

Mihama-ku is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of April 2012, the ward had an estimated population of 149,314 and a population density of 7,060 persons per km². The total area was 21.16 km². Geography ...

Wakaba-ku is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of April 2012, the ward had an estimated population of 151,593 and a population density of 1,800 persons per km². The total area was 84.21 km², making it the ...

Climate

Chiba has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool to mild winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is somewhat lower in winter.

Culture

One of the many points of interest is the

Experimental Station for Landscape Plants The , also called the Kemigawa Arboretum, is a research and plant-breeding arboretum operated by the University of Tokyo Faculty of Agriculture, and located at Hata-machi 1051, Hanamigawa-ku, Chiba, Chiba, Japan. The arboretum was established in 1 ...

Facilities

* Chiba Zoo * Makuhari Messe

Park

* Chiba Park

Sports

Chiba plays host to the annual International Chiba Ekiden and the

Chiba International Cross Country The Chiba International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Chiba, Japan in mid-February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Champi ...

takes place just outside the city. Chiba Velodrome is located within the city. It also hosts the

Bridgestone Open The was a professional golf tournament in Japan, sponsored by Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from ...

golf tournament. Chiba is home to several professional sports teams, most notably:

Transportation

Airports

There is no commercial airport within city limits.

Narita International Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airpo ...

and Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) are the closest major airports.

Railway

The Chiba Urban Monorail runs through Chiba City. The major intercity railway stations are Chiba Station, ( Sobu Line, Sotobō Line, Uchibo Line, Sōbu Main Line, Narita Line, transfer for Chiba Urban Monorail),

Keisei Chiba Station is a railway station in Chūō-ku, Chiba, Japan, operated by the Keisei Electric Railway. Lines Keisei Chiba Station is served by the Keisei Chiba Line, and is 12.3 km from the terminus of the line at Keisei-Tsudanuma Station. It is also ...

( Keisei Chiba Line), and Soga Station, (

Keiyō Line The is a railway line connecting Tokyo and Chiba in Japan, paralleling the edge of Tokyo Bay. It is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line forms part of what JR East refers to as the around Tokyo, consisting of the ...

, Sotobō Line, Uchibo Line) all in Chūō-ku.

Highway

* Higashi-Kantō Expressway to Tokyo, Narita and Kashima *

Tateyama Expressway The is a national expressway in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming Tateyama refers to the city of the same name on the Bōsō Peninsula, a major city in the region. Though the Tateyama ...

to Kisarazu *

Keiyō Road The is a limited access Tokyo- Chiba toll road in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming Keiyō is a kanji acronym of two characters, each representing the two major urban areas connected by the route. Th ...

* Chiba-Tōgane Road ( Japan National Route 126 * Japan National Route 14 * Japan National Route 16 * Japan National Route 51 *

Japan National Route 128 National Route 128 is a national highway of Japan connecting Tateyama, Chiba and Chūō-ku, Chiba is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and is the seat of the city government, and the location of the ...

* Japan National Route 357

Education

Colleges and universities

Chiba University is a national university in the city of Chiba, Japan. It offers Doctoral degrees in education as part of a coalition with Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, and Yokohama National University. The university was formed in 1949 from ex ...

Chiba Prefectural University of Health Sciences is a public university in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 2009 by integrating Chiba College of Health Science was a Public junior college in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and fo ...

* Kanda University of International Studies *

Tokyo Dental College is a private university in the city of Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1890, and it was chartered as a university in 1946. It is the only institution specializing exclusively in the teaching of dentistry i ...

* Shukutoku University *

Keiai University is a private university in the city of Inage-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, established in 1966. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1921. The university has attached junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to collo ...

Chiba Keizai University is a private university in Inage-ku, Chiba, Japan. The school has an adjacent junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training d ...

* Tokyo University of Information Sciences *

The Open University of Japan is a distance learning university which has students from all over Japan; it accepted its first students in 1985. History Although founded by the national government initiative with a single-issue law and heavily subsidized by the government ...

* Uekusa University * Teikyo Heisei University (Chiba campus) * Chiba Meitoku College *

Japan Christian Junior College was a private junior college in Chiba, Chiba, Japan, established in 1951. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1946. The present name was adopted in 1958. It was founded in 1946 as the Japan Agriculture and Bible College by missionaries f ...

High schools

Chiba has 20 public high schools operated by the

Chiba Prefectural Board of Education Chiba Prefectural Board of Education is a department of the Chiba Prefecture in Japan. The board supervises elementary and middle schools operated by other school districts and directly operates public high schools. Schools directly operated by ...

and two public high schools operated by the Chiba City Board of Education, including Inage Senior High School. There are also nine private high schools, including the Makuhari Junior and Senior High School.

Elementary and middle schools

Chiba has 114 public and one private elementary school and 59 public and one private middle school.

International schools

* Chiba Korean Primary and Junior High School

Hospitals and clinics

* Chiba Kaihin Hospital (Mihama-ku) * Chiba University Hospital (Chuo-ku) * Kashiwado Hospital (Chuo-ku) * Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital (Mihama-ku) * Koizumi Clinic (Hanamigawa-ku) * Mizuno Clinic (Hanamigawa-ku) * Hirayama Hospital (Hanamigawa-ku)

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Chiba is twinned with: * North Vancouver, Canada (1970) *

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

, Paraguay (1970) *

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, United States (1972) *

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

, Philippines (1972) *

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

, United States (1986) *

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, Germany (2019)

Friendship cities

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

, China (1986) *

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

, Switzerland (1996) * Wujiang (Suzhou), China (1996)

Notable people

* Sawa Ishige, born in Shizuoka but moved to Chiba *

Ryuta Kawashima is a Japanese neuroscientist known for his appearances in the ''Brain Age'' series of video games for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch.

, born in Chiba in 1959 *

Masaki Aiba (born December 24, 1982) is a Japanese singer, actor, television personality, radio host and dancer. He is a member of the boy band Arashi. Aiba began his career in the entertainment industry when he joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny & ...

, of

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 199 ...

(born in Chiba in 1982) * Pata, of X Japan and Ra:IN * Yukihiro of

L'Arc-en-Ciel L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitari ...

, from Chiba and a graduate of The Chiba University of Commerce * Tomohisa Yamashita, of

NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

(Originally from Funabashi, Chiba) *

Naohito Fujiki is a Japanese actor and singer. Filmography Drama * (1996), Guest at Table 3 * ハートにS (1996) * (1996) * * ''Shin-D Love Blood'' (1997) * (1997) * * * (1998) * (1998) * (1999) * (1999) * (1999) * (2000) * * ''LOVE REVOLUTION ...

, Japan Academy Prize-winning actor (Originally from Kurashiki, Okayama) *

Natsuki Mizu Natsuki Mizu (水夏希 ''Mizu Natsuki'', born 1972) is the former top star (otokoyaku) for Snow Troupe of Takarazuka Revue from December 24, 2006 to September 12, 2010. She joined the company in 1993 and became the top star in December 2006 upon t ...

, top star of Snow Troupe in the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Jap ...

(born in Chiba in 1972) *

Daiki Arioka is a Japanese singer, actor, tarento, and model as well as member of Hey! Say! JUMP. He is under the management of Johnny & Associates. Career On June 2, 2003, he joined Johnny & Associates as a trainee. As a Johnny's Jr., he was a member o ...

, of Hey! Say! JUMP * Shiho Fujita, better known as

Sifow Shiho Fujita ( ja, 藤田志穂, translit=Fujita Shiho; born May 11, 1985), known by her stage name Sifow (stylized as sifow), is a Japanese pop singer, model and businesswoman. She signed to the Avex Trax music label in 2006, but in 2008 she ...

* Mirei Kiritani, actress, model, news anchor * Kentaro Miura, creator of '' Berserk'' (born in Chiba in 1966) *

Tsukasa Fushimi is a Japanese author of light novels. He made his debut in 2006 with the novel series ''Jūsanbanme no Alice''. This was followed in 2008 by his well-known novel series ''Oreimo'', which spawned a media franchise encompassing multiple manga, anim ...

, creator of '' Oreimo'' (born in Chiba in 1981) * Susumu Tadakuma, prominent electrical engineer and professor (retired) at Chiba Institute of TechnologyIEEE Richard H. Kaufmann Award Recipients: Sususmu Tadakuma
/ref> *

Tao Okamoto , known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto, one of the biggest models from Japan. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren. She made her film debut as the female l ...

, model (Originally from Ichikawa, Chiba) * Rena Kato, formerly of

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with i ...

* Reina Fujie, formerly of

NMB48 NMB48 (read "N.M.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Yasushi Akimoto. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is base ...

Cho Chikun Cho Chikun ''25th Honinbo'' ''Honorary Meijin'' ( ko, 조치훈; born June 20, 1956) is a professional Go player and a nephew of Cho Namchul. Born in Busan, South Korea, he is affiliated to Nihon Ki-in. His total title tally of 75 titles is t ...

, Go-player and Honorable citizen of Chiba City (1996). * Shiina Natsukawa, pop idol and member of girl group

TrySail A trysail (also known as a spencer) is a small triangular or square fore-and-aft rigged sail hoisted in place of a larger mainsail when winds are very high. The trysail provides enough thrust to maintain control of the ship, e.g. to avoid ship ...

* Mitsuhiro Hidaka, rapper and member of co-ed group AAA * Kenta Yamashita, racing driver * Seiji Ara, racing driver *

Daiki Hashimoto is a Japanese artistic gymnast. Widely regarded as the successor of Kohei Uchimura, he won two gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in all-around and horizontal bar, as well as a silver in team. At the World Championships, he also achieve ...

, men's artistic gymnast, all-around champion at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

(born in Narita, but resides in Chiba) * Wataru Watari, creator of '' My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected'' (born and currently resides in Chiba)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan