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 ...

located in

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 63,190 in 26,204 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 1800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The name of the city comes from the word for "white" in Japanese,

Geography

Shiroi is located in northwestern Chiba Prefecture, with an elevation of 20 to 30 meters above sea level. It is approximately equidistant from central

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

(25 kilometers) and 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 ...

. The city is bordered by Lake Tega to the north.

Neighboring municipalities

Chiba Prefecture *

Kashiwa is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 433,436 in 194,216 households and a population density of 3800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The name of the city is written with a si ...

Funabashi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city (after p ...

Kamagaya is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 109,941 living in 50,485 households and a population density of 5200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kamagaya is located in the ...

Inzai file:Inzai city hall.JPG, 260px, Inzai City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 105,463 in 42,388 households and a population density of 850 persons per km². The total are ...

* Yachiyo

Climate

Shiroi 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 Shiroi is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1371 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shiroi has recently plateaued after several decades of strong growth.

History

Shiroi Village was created within

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 ...

, Chiba Prefecture on April 1, 1885 with the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

establishment of the modern municipalities system. From shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

until the early 1960s Shiroi was the site of a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Base (Shiroi AFB APO73). Shiroi was elevated to town status on September 1, 1964. As the Japanese economy grew in the 1970s, many people moved from the country to the cities, and the growth of Tokyo sent many residents out to suburbs in the Kantō countryside. Shiroi's real growth began during this period: its rail connection to

city was completed in 1979, and it was linked directly to the Tokyo railway network in 1991. Shiroi was elevated to city status on April 1, 2001.

Government

Shiroi 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 21 members. Shiroi contributes one member to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Chiba 13th district , the House of Representatives of Japan is elected from a combination of multi-member districts and single-member districts, a method called Parallel voting. Currently, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member districts (called proportional r ...

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 ...

Economy

Shiroi is a regional commercial center and a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. During the Meiji period, Shiroi became a fruit-growing area. Local farmers planted

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' ...

and grapes, but the most famous of Shiroi's fruits turned out to be

nashi pear ''Pyrus pyrifolia'' is a species of pear tree native to East Asia. The tree's edible fruit is known by many names, including: Asian pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Taiwanese pear, apple pear, zodiac pear, three-halves pear, pa ...

s. In the springtime, the pear trees still bloom alongside the

sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

Education

Shiroi has nine public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railway

22px Hokusō Railway Company -

Hokusō Line The is a commuter rail line operated by the third-sector Hokusō Railway in Japan. It runs between Keisei-Takasago Station in Katsushika, Tokyo and Inba-Nihon-Idai Station in Inzai, Chiba. It is part of the primary Keisei route between centra ...

* -

Highway

* *

Sister cities

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 37,592. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roches ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Local attractions

* Lake Tega

Noted people from Shiroi

Akihiro Hyodo is a former Japanese footballer. Career After graduating high school, he entered the University of Tsukuba, where he represented them in football. After graduating in 2005, he signed for Shimizu S-Pulse. Hyodo scored his first professional ...

,- professional soccer player

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture