Chiba

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(2000 est. pop. 5.9 million). Chiba Prefecture is situated in the central region of Japan's island of Honshu. A residential and industrial satellite of Tokyo, Chiba occupies an area of 5,150 square kilometers, with its population mostly concentrated in the northwest. Its main geographical features are the Kanto Plain in the north, which meets the hilly Boso Peninsula in the south. The main rivers are the Tonegawa and the Edogawa. The prefecture is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Tokyo Bay and by Tokyo, Saitama, and Ibaraki Prefectures. In earlier centuries the prefecture comprised Shimosa, Kazusa, and Awa provinces. It assumed its present name and borders in 1875.

The capital of the prefecture is Chiba City, some 34 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. A military base during World War II, the city later was reconstructed to make it a core of the Keiyo industrial region with its thermal power and steel plants. Chiba is one of Japan's main international ports. It is home to Chiba University, and land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay provides housing for Tokyo commuters. In feudal times, as a castle town it was ruled by the Chiba family, and in the Edo period (1600/1603–1868) it was a post station for several highways. The other important cities of the prefecture are Funabashi, Ichikawa, Matsudo, and Choshi.

Industrial pollution ended fishing in Tokyo Bay. In prewar days, weaving and soy sauce production were traditional occupations. The northwest is the site of heavy industry, such as petrochemical processing, electrical and steel industries, and shipbuilding. Elsewhere are intensive rice growing and dairy farming. Narita is the site of the new Tokyo International Airport and thus the center of the nation's air transport. The cultural and recreational amenities include Narita's Buddhist temple Shinshoji, excellent ocean beaches in the Kujukurihama area, the national parks in Suigo-Tsukuba and southern Boso, and Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983.