is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Chiba Prefecture is a 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 Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 131,852 in 63,098 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 620 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the site of Narita International Airport, one of the two main international airports serving the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

Geography

Narita is located in the northern center of Chiba prefecture, about from the prefectural capital at

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

and from the center of Tokyo. Narita International Airport is about further from the city center of Narita (the location of the city hall). Located on the Shimosa Plateau, the old town (centered on

Narita-san Narita-san (成田山 "Narita mountain") Shinshō-ji ( 新勝寺 "New victory temple") is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in central Narita, Chiba, Japan. It was founded in 940 by Kanchō Daisōjō, a disciple of Kōbō Daishi. It is a lead ...

) and the new town are in the southwestern part of the city, and Narita International Airport is in the hills in the southeast. Agricultural areas take water from the

Tone River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the Kantō ...

, which runs through the border between Imba-numa in the western part of the city and

Ibaraki prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

on the north. Most of the city is between above sea level.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Sakae * Inzai *

Shisui is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan., the town had an estimated population of 20,660 in 9,888 households and a population density of 1100 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Etymology The name of Shisui in the Japanese l ...

Tomisato file:Gas holder tomisato.JPG, 260px, Chiba Gas LNG storage tank in Tomisato is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 49,914 in 23,753 households and a population density of 930 perso ...

* Shibayama * Tako * Katori *

Kōzaki 260px, Kozaki Shrine is a town located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan., the town had an estimated population of 5,884 in 2471 households and a population density of 300 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Etymology The name of the to ...

Ibaraki Prefecture * Kawachi

Climate

Narita has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Narita is . The average annual rainfall is with October as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Narita has been gradually increasing over the past 40 years.

History

The area Narita has been inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic period. Archaeologists have found stone tools dating to some 30,000 years ago on the site of Narita Airport. Numerous

shell midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

s from the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

, and hundreds of burial tumuli from the Kofun period have been found in numerous locations around Narita. Place names in the vicinity of Narita appear in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

'' Man'yōshū'' (although the name “Narita” does not appear in written records until 1408). As Narita is located roughly equidistant from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...

, around a number of small rivers, it was a natural political and commercial center for the region, and gained importance as a pilgrimage destination with the foundation of the noted Buddhist temple of Shinsho-ji in 940 AD. During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

, the area was a center for the revolt of Taira Masakado. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the area continued to prosper as part of the ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

'' within

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area modern Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shimōsa''" in . It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula (房総半島), whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from ...

under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the area was organized as a town under

Inba District is a district located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the district has an estimated population of 43,480 and a density of 845 persons per km2. The total area is 51.48 km2. There are two towns within the district. * Sakae *Shisui ...

on April 1, 1889. Portions of the town were destroyed by

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

air raids in February and May, 1945. On March 31, 1954, Narita gained city status through merger with the neighboring villages of Habu, Nakago, Kuzumi, Toyosumi, Toyama, and Kozu. Growth in the area began in earnest in 1966, when Prime Minister

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1972. He is the third-longest serving Prime Minister, and ranks second in longest uninterrupted service as Prime Minister. Satō entered the National Diet in 1949 as a membe ...

laid out the plan for Narita International Airport. The development of the airport and accompanying access to central Tokyo led to widespread residential, commercial and industrial development in the city. However, construction of the airport was widely opposed, and violent demonstrations occurred through the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, which delayed the opening of the airport until May 20, 1978. On March 27, 2006, the towns of Shimofusa and

Taiei , also known as Taiei or Dai-ei, was a after '' Eishō'' and before '' Kyōroku.'' This period spanned the years from August 1521 through August 1528. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1521 : The era name was changed because of ...

(both from Katori District) were merged into Narita.

Government

Narita 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, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

city council of 30 members. Narita contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Chiba 10th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Areas

Central Narita

Central Narita is roughly defined as the area between

Narita Station is a passenger railway station in the city of Narita, Chiba, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Narita Station is served by the Narita Line, and is located 13.1 kilometers from the terminus of line at Sakura Statio ...

Keisei Narita Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture Japan, operated by the private railway company, Keisei Electric Railway. It is within walking distance of the JR East Narita Station. Lines Keisei Narita Station is ...

and the

Temple. The main road in central Narita is , which is lined with about 150 small shops and has been extensively renovated in recent years. File:Narita-city-office,japan.jpg, Narita City Hall File:Narita Street in Japan.JPG, The street of

temple File:Naritasan-Shinshoji-Temple.Great-Main-Hall.jpg, Main Hall of

temple

Narita New Town

Narita New Town is a planned residential area to the west of

. It has 16,000 homes with a total population of 60,000. The area was designed in 1968 based on the new towns surrounding London in the UK, and now houses most of the city's population. Many residents of the area are airport or airline workers: the area houses corporate housing and dormitories for

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...

, the

Japan Civil Aviation Bureau The is the civil aviation authority of Japan and a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). Its head office is in the MLIT building in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is the Japanese equivalent of the U.S. ...

and

Japan Customs The is one of the cabinet-level ministries of the Japanese government. The ministry was named the until 2001. The Ministry is headed by the , who is a member of the Cabinet and is typically chosen from members of the Diet by the Prime Minister. ...

. There are also several

Urban Renaissance Agency , also known as (UR, , ), is a semipublic Independent Administrative Institution, and is an agency responsible for Japanese housing. It provides housing at rates pegged to the market, but without the fees associated with private renting in Japan ( ...

and other government-subsidized housing projects in the area. File:Narita-gion-festival-1,Narita-city,Japan.jpg, Narita Gion Festival, one of the most famous festivals in Chiba Prefecture, held in July

Kōzunomori

Kōzunomori is a suburban area of Narita located south of the New Town, about 4 minutes by train from Keisei Narita Station. It has a population of about 12,000.

Kōzunomori Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway company Keisei Electric Railway. Lines Kōzunomori Station is served by the Keisei Main Line. It lies 58.6 km from the ...

is flanked by a large Your Elm department store.

Airport and farm areas

Narita International Airport is located on the east side of Narita in a historically agricultural area called . The construction and later expansion of the airport led to intense civil unrest among Sanrizuka residents (see Narita International Airport's history). Although land expropriation and poorer farming conditions due to the airport's construction have caused Narita's farming population to drop two-thirds from pre-airport levels, the area immediately surrounding the airport remains lightly populated by farmers.

Industrial areas

There are two main industrial zones in Narita: and . Both zones were laid out in the 1960s to take advantage of Narita Airport and the ability to quickly import and export goods by air. An aircraft part repair plant operated by JAL (

) and Pratt & Whitney, called Japan Turbine Technologies, is located in the Taiei industrial estate.

Economy

Although Narita's economy was historically focused on agriculture, the opening of Narita International Airport refocused the local economy on transportation, logistics and tourism. Most of the airport property is located within Narita City, but many airport hotels and airport-related logistics facilities are in the neighboring towns of Shibayama and Tomisato.

Prologis Prologis, Inc. is a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco, California that invests in logistics facilities. The company was formed through the merger of AMB Property Corporation and Prologis in June 2011, which made Prologi ...

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the na ...

, Sagawa Express and several other large logistics firms have major shipping centers in the city.

Nippon Cargo Airlines , or NCA, is a cargo airline with its head office on the property of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo. It operates scheduled cargo services in Asia and to Europe and North America. Its main base is Narita ...

and

Vanilla Air was a low-cost airline in Japan wholly owned by All Nippon Airways. Its head office was within Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture. The airline ceased operations in October 2019 on its merger with Peach Av ...

are headquartered on airport property within the city.Corporate Profile
"

. Retrieved on February 17, 2012. "NARITA OFFICE NCA Line Maintenance Hangar Narita International Airport Narita-shi, Chiba 282-0011, Japan" and "TOKYO OFFICE : Onarimon Yusen Bldg. 11F 3-23-5 Nishi-Shimbashi Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003, Japan"

Spring Airlines Japan is a low-cost airline headquartered in Kozunomori, Narita, Japan. The airline began operations in August 2014, having originally planned to begin operations in autumn 2013. It is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines. History Spring Airlines announc ...

is headquartered in the Kozunomori area of the city. JALways was headquartered in the JAL Operations Center at the airport before merging into JAL in 2010.

Education

Schools

Narita has 24 public and one private elementary schools, one public combined elementary/middle school, and nine public and one private middle school. The public schools are under the control of the Narita City Board of Education. The city has four public high schools operated by the

Chiba Prefectural Board of Education Chiba Prefectural Board of Education is a department of the Chiba Prefecture in Japan. The board supervises elementary and middle schools operated by other school districts and directly operates public high schools. Schools directly operated by ...

, and one private combined middle/high school: * * * *

Narita Kokusai High School , nicknamed Narikoku (成国), is a senior high school in Narita, Chiba. The school offers an "international course". Viewbank College in Australia has an association with Narita Kokusai. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapid ...

* (成田高等学校・付属中学校)

Public libraries

The City of Narita operates the Narita Public Library. In addition each community center includes a library branch.

Transportation

Airport

* Narita International Airport provides domestic and international services.

Railway

JR East ''

Narita Express , abbreviated as N'EX, is a limited express train service operated in Japan since 1991 by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), serving Narita International Airport from various Greater Tokyo Area stations. Services run approximately half-hou ...

'' trains and Keisei ''

Skyliner The is an airport limited express train service between Tokyo and Narita Airport in Japan. It is operated by Keisei Electric Railway and runs on the Narita Sky Access route. This article also covers the and services. Service The ''Skyl ...

'' trains connect Narita Airport to central Tokyo. Narita station

JR East – Narita Line *–– JR logo (east)

JR East – Narita Line (Abiko branch line) *– JR logo (east)

JR East – Narita Line (Airport branch line) *–– Kouzunomori Station

Keisei Electric Railway The (stylized as K'SEI since 2001) is a major private railway in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan. The name ''Keisei'' is the combination of the kanji 京 from and 成 from , which the railway's main line connects. The combination uses diffe ...

: Keisei Main Line *––– Keisei Logo

Keisei Electric Railway: Keisei Higashi-Narita Line * – Keisei Logo

Keisei Electric Railway:

Keisei Narita Airport Line The is a Japanese railway line connecting Keisei-Takasago Station and Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station. The entire route from Keisei Ueno Station, including the Keisei Main Line as far as Keisei-Takasago, is branded . The Keisei Electric Rai ...

* ––

Highway

The

Higashi-Kantō Expressway The (lit. East Kantō Expressway) is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. Overview Officially the expressway is referred to as the Higashi-Kantō Expressway Mito Route. The expresswa ...

connects Narita to Tokyo and Chiba City. Chiba Kotsu and Narita Kuko Kotsu provide bus service through the city. The Narita City Loop Bus, operated by both companies, operates on two circular routes around the city, stopping in major commercial areas and at all major hotels. * * * * * * * * * *

Twin towns – sister cities

Narita is twinned with: * Foxton, New Zealand (1995) *

San Bruno San Bruno (Spanish for " St. Bruno") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, incorporated in 1914. The population was 43,908 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is between South San Francisco and Millbrae, adjacent to ...

, United States (1990)

Friendship cities

Jeongeup Jeongeup (), also known as Jeongeup-si, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. The city limits include Naejang-san National Park, a popular destination particularly in autumn due to its foliage. Jeongeup is on the Honam Expressway an ...

North Jeolla North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwes ...

, South Korea (2002) *

Jung District, Incheon Jung District (Jung-gu, ko, 중구; 中區) is the historic central ward of the city of Incheon, South Korea, one of the eight wards into which Incheon is divided. Its name means "central" in Korean. It was founded in 1883 on the opening of the ...

, South Korea (1998) *

Næstved Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the fou ...

, Denmark (2003) *

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, China (1988)

Local attractions

* Narita-san Shinsho-ji Temple * Shiseki Park * Chiba Prefectural Boso Fudoki-no-oka Museum * Narita Wholesale Market * Narita Peace Pagoda

Notable people

* Yuji Funayama, professional footballer *

Yusuke Igawa is a former Japanese football player who last played for Hong Kong Premier League club Eastern. He is currently the head coach of Hong Kong Third Division club Lansbury. Playing career Igawa was born in Osaka on October 30, 1982. He joined J1 ...

, professional footballer *

Yoshio Inaba was a Japanese actor best known for his role as Gorobei in Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai''. In addition to his career in film, Inaba was also a prolific theater actor and a member of the prestigious Haiyuza Theatre Company. He died of a heart ...

, actor * Manabu Iwadate, professional baseball player *

Yuki Karakawa is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league ...

, professional baseball player * Takeharu Kunimoto, musician *

Yōko Oginome , real name , is a former pop idol, actress and voice actress, who gained popularity in the mid-1980s. Her fans often call her Oginome-chan. She is represented by the talent management firm Rising Production. Career Oginome spent most of her ...

, singer * Sakura Sōgorō, Edo period folk hero

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture