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Chiba Prefecture
	Chiba Prefecture
Japanese:	千葉県
	Chiba-ken
Capital	Chiba
Region	Kantō
Island	Honshū
Governor	Kensaku Morita
Area (rank)	5,156.15 km² (27th)
- % water	0.8%
	Population (2000)
- Population	6,006,185 (6th)
- Density	1,165 /km²
Districts	6
Municipalities	56
ISO 3166-2	JP-12
Website	http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/; english/index.html
	Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Rape blossom
- Tree	Kusamaki
- Bird	Meadow Bunting
- Fish	Seabream
	; Symbol of Chiba Prefecture
	Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject Japan

Chiba Prefecture (千葉県, Chiba-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.

[edit] History

Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture. Historically, the prefecture constituted three provinces of Awa, Kazusa, and Shimōsa.

[edit] Geography

Chiba 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 Ninety-Nine League 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.

[edit] Cities

Thirty-six cities are located in Chiba Prefecture:

Abiko ‡
Asahi
Chiba (capital)

‡ Scheduled to be dissolved after mergers.

[edit] Towns and villages

Boso Peninsula

Map of Chiba Prefecture

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Awa District

Kyonan

Chōsei District

Inba District

Isumi District

Onjuku

Ōtaki

Katori District

Kōzaki

Tako

Tōnoshō

Sanbu District

[edit] Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Chiba Prefecture

[edit] Economy

Chiba is one of Japan's largest industrial areas, thanks to its long coastline on Tokyo Bay. After Chiba was chosen as the site for a major Kawasaki Steel factory in 1950, the prefectural government embarked on a large-scale land reclamation program that dredged up large plots of waterfront property for factories, warehouses, and docks. Chemical production, petrochemical refining, and machine production are the three main industries in Chiba today; together, they account for forty-five percent of the prefecture's exports. In recent years, the government has funded more than eighty industrial parks to bring development further inland as well.

The prefecture also boasts Japan's second-highest agricultural output. Among all the prefectures, only Hokkaidō produces more agricultural products, and Chiba leads Hokkaidō in vegetable production.^{[citation needed]} Seaweed is harvested in large quantities from Tokyo Bay.

[edit] Demographics

Chiba's population is one of the wealthiest in Japan due to the prefecture's strong commercial and industrial sectors. Per capita GDP is ¥3.1 million, the fifth-highest in the country. 70% of the population is employed in the service sector, with 25% in industry and 5% in agriculture.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Education

The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education oversees municipal school districts in the prefecture. The board also directly operates the prefecture's public high schools.

[edit] Culture

Sunset over Chiba, with Yokoshibahikari and Sosa visible.

[edit] Chiba in popular culture

Novels set in Chiba include: Neuromancer by William Gibson (set in Chiba city), Ningen Shikkaku by Osamu Dazai (Funabashi), and Nogiku no Haka by Sachio Itō (Matsudo).
Manga (comics) representations include: Be Free!, Chameleon, Kyō Kara Ore Wa!!, Makuhari (set in Chiba city), Makuhari Saboten Campus (Chiba city), Susume!! Pirates, and Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku (Urayasu).
Anime (animation) representations include: Chikyū Bōei Kazoku (set in Funabashi), Battle Programmer Shirase (Narashino), and Zegapain (Urayasu).
TV series representations include: Kisarazu Cat's Eye (set in Kisarazu), Mio Tsukushi (Chōshi), Beach Boys (filmed in Tateyama and Shirahama (now Minamiboso) and Yappari Neko ga Suki (Chiba city).
Various rock bands have roots that stem from the Chiba prefecture, including the popular X Japan, Plastic Tree, girugamesh and punk bands like Nicotine and Ellegarden.
Aiba Masaki of Arashi, Yamashita Tomohisa of NEWS, Tanaka Koki of KAT-TUN and Arioka Daiki of Hey! Say! JUMP are all from the Chiba Prefecture.

[edit] Sports

The following sports teams are based in Chiba.

[edit] Football (soccer)

[edit] Baseball

Chiba Lotte Marines

[edit] Rugby

[edit] Transportation

Most Tokyo-bound visitors arriving on international flights land in Narita International Airport, which is situated in Narita in the north of the prefecture, and connected to Tokyo by the East Japan Railway's Narita Express and the Keisei Electric Railway's Skyliner.

[edit] Railway

East Japan Railway Company

[edit] Tourism

The Tokyo Disney Resort is located in Urayasu near the western border of the prefecture.

There are also a number of tourist sites on the Chiba peninsula, such as Nokogiriyama; Kujūkuri Beach; and Onjuku beach.

Chiba is linked to Tokyo by several railway lines; the main trunk lines are the Keiyo Line and Sobu Line. The Musashino Line connects Chiba to Saitama and northern Tokyo. Southern Chiba is connected to Kanagawa Prefecture by the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line bridge-tunnel.