Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 and has a geographic area of. Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the northwest, and Tokyo to the west.
Chiba is the capital and largest city of Chiba Prefecture, with other major cities including Funabashi, Matsudo, Ichikawa and Kashiwa. Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo, and is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Chiba Prefecture largely consists of the Bōsō Peninsula, which encloses the eastern side of Tokyo Bay and separates it from Kanagawa Prefecture. Chiba Prefecture is home to Narita International Airport, the Tokyo Disney Resort, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone.
Etymology
The name of Chiba Prefecture in Japanese is formed from two kanji characters. The first,, means "thousand" and the second, means "leaf". The name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, as the Chiba Kuni no Miyatsuko. The name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan, and held strong influence over the area of the prefecture until the Azuchi–Momoyama period. The name "Chiba" was chosen for the prefecture at the time its creation in 1873 by the Assembly of Prefectural Governors, an early Meiji-period body of prefectural governors that met to decide the structure of local and regional administration in Japan.The compound word Keiyō, which refers to the Tokyo-Chiba region, is formed from the second character in Tokyo, and the second character in Chiba, which can also be pronounced "kei" and "yō" respectively. This compound is used in terms such as the Keiyō Line, Keiyō Road, Keiyō Rinkai Railway Rinkai Main Line, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone.
History
Early history
Chiba Prefecture was settled in prehistoric times, as evidenced by the Jōmon period remains in every part of the region. The prefecture holds the largest kaizuka sea shell mounds in Japan, evidence of a large population in the prefecture that relied on the rich marine products of the Pacific Ocean and Tokyo Bay. Kofun burial mounds are found across the prefecture, with the largest group being in Futtsu along Tokyo Bay.Asuka and Nara periods
In the Asuka period, under the Taika Reform of 645, the administrative structure of present-day Chiba Prefecture changed significantly. The historical province of Fusa Province, which may have covered much of Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures, was divided into two provinces: Shimōsa Province in the north and Kazusa Province in the southern area. Awa Province at the south of Chiba Prefecture, was separated from Kazusa Prefecture in 718. These administrative units existed until they were abolished and merged into Chiba Prefecture after the Meiji Restoration. The central government established a kokubunji provincial temple in each province.Heian period
The imperial court gradually extended its authority over the three provinces in the Nara and Heian periods. Shōen feudal estates were established across the three provinces, and the region became an important source of tax revenue, sending agricultural and other products to the capital in Kyoto. As the Heian period progressed, however, the kokushi provincial governors came to exert military power independent of the central government in Kyoto. The Chiba clan broke entirely with the imperial court and was instrumental in the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.Modern period
Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873, with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture.The militarization of Chiba Prefecture dates to the Russo-Japanese War. Coastal fortifications were built along Tokyo Bay, as far south as Tateyama, to protect the capital of the Empire of Japan from attack.
In September 1923, the Great Kanto earthquake has cause of widespread destruction in Chiba Prefecture, most notably in the southernmost part of Boso Peninsula, where 1,300 residents were killed, out of 142,000 deaths. Areas of prefecture adjacent to Tokyo saw much damage, and mob violence against Koreans and other ethnic minorities occurred in the chaos after the earthquake in Funabashi, Ichikawa, and other areas.
Koreans, in several neighborhoods of Yachiyo, were killed, and a tower was erected in 1972 near Yachiyodai Station to memorialize those killed in the incident. In the 1930s, the north and central areas of the prefecture became a center of large-scale military production, and military bases and fortifications were constructed in most of the coastal areas of the prefecture. After the United States took control of Saipan, the northern part of the prefecture was firebombed. Much of the industrialized north of the prefecture was destroyed. Operation Coronet, one of two parts of Operation Downfall, was the planned land invasion of Tokyo in March 1946 by the United States. Coronet planned Kujūkuri Beach as one of two initial landing bases, the other being Hiratsuka via Sagami Bay. The U.S. First Army would enter at Kujūkuri, sweep across the Boso Peninsula, and meet the U.S. Eighth Army at Tokyo. The plan was not carried out since Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During the Occupation of Japan Chiba Prefecture was controlled by American forces from the second floor of the prefectural capitol building in the city of Chiba. Numerous other cities in the prefecture, including Chōshi to the north and Tateyama to the south, were used as bases of the occupation; rich agricultural areas across the prefecture somewhat safeguarded the region's population from potential food shortages, and starvation, immediately following the war. The immediate post-war period was characterized by carefully planned industrial expansion in the north of the prefecture, and the significant increase of agriculture after land reforms across the prefecture. The Keiyō Industrial Zone brought together smaller, industrial areas along the entirety of the western coast of Chiba Prefecture, and the industrial zone became an important center of heavy industrial production and large-scale port facilities in Japan. Cities to the northeast of the prefecture were connected by rail to the capitol, and became and remain bedroom communities to Tokyo. Narita International Airport began operation in 1978 in Narita, after much protest to replace the overcrowded Tokyo International Airport. The majority of international air traffic enters Japan via Chiba Prefecture. The cultivation of rice and vegetables to feed the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area expanded greatly and became a source of income to the northeast and central areas of the prefecture. The expansion of agriculture in the central and southern regions of the prefecture was in contrast to the depopulation of these areas as a significant part of the population moved to the northeast of the prefecture as a result of the urbanization of Japan, a process that continues into the 21st century.
On March 11, 2011, the epicenter of 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster that devastated much of the northeastern coast of Honshu, which caused some damage and affected areas in Chiba Prefecture. While the loss of life and damage to housing and industry was far less than in Tōhoku region, 20 people were killed in Chiba Prefecture, including 13 people were recorded deaths in Asahi. Following the triple disaster, an oil refinery fire broke out at the Cosmo Oil Chiba Refinery, in Ichihara, and was widely covered in the news media. Also, a large liquefied petroleum gas tanks burned at 10 days earlier. Soil liquefaction, in areas of reclaimed land across the northern and western areas of Chiba Prefecture, caused damage to housing. Chiba City, Funabashi, Narashino, and especially Urayasu were greatly affected by triple disaster. As a result of triple disaster and with permanent damage to housing stock, the population of Chiba Prefecture fell for the first time since Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and Great Kanto earthquake in 1923.
Geography
Chiba Prefecture 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 Kujūkuri Plain, is an especially productive area. The most populous zone, in the northwest of the prefecture, is part of the Kantō region that extends into the urban agglomeration of Tokyo and Saitama. The Kuroshio Current flows near Chiba, which keeps it relatively warm in winter and cooler in summer than neighbouring Tokyo.National and prefectural parks
With the exception of the large-scale Keiyō Industrial Zone in the northeast, the entirety of the coast of Chiba Prefecture is protected as two quasi-national parks and one prefectural natural park under the national park system of Japan. As of 1 April 2012, 6% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks.- Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park encompasses a large area of the Tone River basin and the area around Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture. The park was established in 1953 to protect not only the environment of the area, but also its unique cultural heritage. The mouth of the Tone River and to Cape Inubō and Byōbugaura in northeastern Chiba Prefecture make up the southern part of the park.
- Minami Boso Quasi-National Park was established in 1953 to protect much of the southern coastal areas of Chiba Prefecture from Cape Futtsu on Tokyo Bay to Cape Inubō in northeastern Chiba Prefecture. The park spans across nine administrative districts in the prefecture. Minami Boso Quasi-National Park was established to protect not only the environment of coastal areas, but also the unique cultural assets of associated with these areas, notably the temples associated with Nichiren.