CHIBA

Chiba Tokyo - Chiba city is east of Tokyo and close to Narita Airport. Chiba has some unique buildings and important exhibition centre.

Chiba (千葉市 Chiba-shi) is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is east-southeast of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay and not far from Narita Airport.

Chiba City is one of the Kantō region's primary seaports. Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses along the coast. Makuhari district is a prime waterfront business district, in which Makuhari Messe is located. Chiba is famous for Kasori Shellmound, and famous buildings, as well as the Chiba Port Tower. Chiba Urban Monorail, the longest monorail in the world as type of sufage and it is published in Guinness Book. It is well known for the sunset view from the coast Inage.

Chiba Attractions

Chiba Port Tower (千葉ポートタワー). 10 min on foot from monorail and Keiyo line Chiba Minato station. Towers like this are a fixture of any self-respecting Japanese city, and here the observation deck (112m) offers views of the surrounding industrial wastelands and container docks, at least for a kilometre or two until they fade off in the smog. There is also a delightfully pathetic display of stuffed fish mounted on sticks in a simulated ocean environment downstairs; the simulation is needed since heavily polluted Chiba Bay hasn't sustained anything above seaweed (or with less than 3 eyes) for quite a while. Entry ¥410, open daily from 9 AM to 7 PM (or 9 PM in summer).

Chiba Castle. A recent reconstruction, but it does look quite cool- just try to ignore the fluorescent tubes inside!! It's about 5-10mins walk from the Kenchomae Chiba Urban Monorail station.

Aobo no Mori Koen (Blue Leaf Forest Park). Nothing too spectacular, but during the Sakura (Cherry blossom) season a nice place to get away from the concrete jungle. 10mins walk from the Keisei Chiba line station Chibadera.

Kaihin-Makuhari (海浜幕張). On the western outskirts of Chiba and accessible on the JR Keiyo line, this is a showcase "city of the future", similar to Tokyo's Odaiba but grander and more artificial in scope. Attractions include:

Makuhari Messe (幕張メッセ). Also known as the Nippon Convention Center, this is the largest convention center in the Tokyo region.

Sharp High-Technology Hall. Attractively packaged corporate propaganda. Free admission.

Fujitsu Dome Theatre. Features a 3D IMAX dome theater, regular tickets ¥1200.

Makuhari Techno Garden. An impressive complex of shopping malls, restaurants and office towers; white tile, glass and polished steel with atmospheric lighting and realistic plastic plants, with footsteps echoing in the quiet walkways and aerial bridges.

Chiba Urban Monorail. The two lines of the suspended Chiba Urban Monorail (千葉都市モノレール), the world's longest suspended monorail and almost (but not quite) an attraction in themselves, connect the port (千葉みなと Chiba Minato) to Chiba station and then branch out to the northwest and northeast.

Chiba Monorail - Picture by CLP

Chiba Transport

Train is the obvious means of arrival, as a dense web of routes links Chiba to Tokyo and points in the vicinity.

The JR Sōbu Rapid Line (総武快速線) runs from Tokyo Station's underground platforms to Chiba station via Kinshichō and Tsudanuma. Rapid trains reach Chiba in approximately 40 minutes at a cost of ¥620; you have the option, especially during the evening rush, of shelling out an additional ¥810 for a reserved seat on a limited express train, which make the run to Chiba in as little as 25 minutes.
The JR Chuō-Sōbu Local Line (中央・総武線「各駅停車」) runs directly across the Yamanote Line loop, via Shinjuku and Akihabara. Local trains take about 70 minutes to reach Chiba from Shinjuku on a regular service; this is shaved a little if you change to a Sobu Rapid train at Kinshicho. In either case the fare is ¥780.
The JR Keiyō Line (京葉線) runs from Tokyo Station to Chiba Minato and Soga stations along the coast (45 minutes, ¥740), via Maihama (Tokyo Disneyland), Nishi-Funabashi and Kaihin-Makuhari.
The private Keisei Chiba Line (京成千葉線) runs into Chiba-Chuō (千葉中央) station from Tsudanuma station on the Keisei Main Line (from Ueno and Nippori).

Chiba History

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.

(Article based on Wikipedia article and used under the GNU Free Documentation License)
(Article based on Wikitravel article by Wikitravel users Brian Kurkoski, Richard Petersen, Ted O'Neill and Paul N. Richter and Wikitravel user(s) Jpatokal, Makiko, Miki-monomaniac, Nzpcmad, Huttite and Luke. Article used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.)