is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the village had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 14,028 in 6096 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 500 persons per km². The total area of the village is . It is the only remaining municipality classed as a

in Chiba Prefecture.

Geography

Chōsei is located in the eastern part of Chiba prefecture, about 30 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba and within 60 to 70 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The village faces the Pacific Ocean and is located in the southern part of the Kujūkuri Plain ( Kujūkuri Beach). The terrain is gentle and has few undulations. The village area is dotted with ponds for agricultural water. The Ichinomiya River empties into the Pacific Ocean at Kujukuri Beach in Chōsei.

Neighboring municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Ichinomiya * Mobara * Mutsuzawa * Shirako

Climate

Chōsei has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Chōsei is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1683 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.7 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Chōsei population statistics
/ref> the population of Chōsei has recently plateaued after several decades of growth.

History

Chōsei is located in former Kazusa Province. The villages of Takanehongo, Yatsumi, Ichimatsu were established with the creation of the modern municipalities' system on April 1, 1889.Chōsei Village was created on November 3, 1953 from the merger of these hamlets. Some minor territorial adjustments were made with neighboring Ichinomiya in 1954 and 1955.

Government

Chōsei has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

village council of 15 members. Together with the other municipalities in Chōsei District, Chōsei contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Chiba 11th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

The primary industry of Chōsei is small-scale

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, and the growing of fruits, notably melons and tomatoes. The village is also located within the Minami Kanto gas field, and extraction of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

and production of iodine is also a major industry.

Education

Chōsei has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

–

Sotobō Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, on the eastern (i.e., outer) side of the Bōsō Peninsula. It connects Chiba Station in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba to Awa-Kamogawa Sta ...

Highway

*Kujukuri Toll Road *

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chosei, Chiba Villages in Chiba Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Chōsei