is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba 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 ...

, and is the seat of the city government, and the location of the prefectural government offices for Chiba Prefecture. It is also the commercial center of Chiba. As of April 2012, the ward 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 200,157 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 4,470 persons per km². The total area was 44.81 km², making it the most populous of the six wards of Chiba city.

Geography

Chūō Ward is located in southwestern Chiba city, facing

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

. Much of the coastal area of the ward is built on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

Surrounding municipalities

* Inage Ward * Mihama Ward * Midori Ward * Wakaba Ward *

Ichihara, Chiba is a Cities of Japan, city, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 274,117 in 128,316 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is home, together w ...

History

The fortified residence (Inohana Castle) of the Chiba clan was located in the area of present-day Chūō Ward during the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. The area was controlled by the Satomi clan during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, and was mostly tenryo territory ruled directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the area of present-day Chūō Ward was divided on April 1, 1889 into the town of Chiba and villages of Soga, Miyako, Chishiro, and Oihama within Chiba District. Soga was raised to town status on May 23, 1890, and Chiba Town became Chiba City on January 1, 1921. On November 10, 1928, Oihama was raised to town status. The city of Chiba annexed Soga and Miyako on February 11, 1937, followed by Chishiro on February 11, 1944 and Oihama on February 11, 1955. With the promotion of Chiba to a designated city with additional autonomy from Chiba prefecture and the central government on April 1, 1992, the city was divided into six wards, with the central ward designed Chūō Ward.

Economy

Chūō Ward is the center for industry and commerce for Chiba City. During the post-war era, the area developed largely as a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

to the neighboring

steel works A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

of Kawasaki Steel (JFE Steel Corporation).

Transportation

Railroads

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 ...

– Sōbu Line ** *

– Uchibō Line ** *

–

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 ...

** *

–

Keiyō Line The is a railway line connecting Tokyo and Chiba in Japan, paralleling the edge of Tokyo Bay. It is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line forms part of what JR East refers to as the around Tokyo, consisting of the Ke ...

** *

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 Chiba Line ** Nishi-Nobuto - Shin-Chiba - Keisei Chiba - Chiba-Chūō *

– Keisei Chihara Line ** - - *

Chiba Urban Monorail The is a two-line suspended monorail system located in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by , a third-sector company established on March 20, 1979. Investors include the city of Chiba. The first segment (Line 2 fr ...

– Line 1 ** - Shiyakusho-mae - Chiba - Sakaechō - Yoshikawa-kōen - Kenchō-mae *

– Line 2 **

Highways

Japan National Route 14 is a national highway connecting Tokyo and Chiba in Japan. Route data *Length: 44.1 km (27.4 mi) *Origin: Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo (originates at junction with Route 1, Route 4, Route 6, Route 15, Route 17 and Route 20) *T ...

Japan National Route 16 is a national highway in Japan. A beltway around Tokyo, it links the major prefectural capital cities of Yokohama (in Kanagawa Prefecture), Saitama (in Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, pref ...

* Japan National Route 51 * Japan National Route 126 * Japan National Route 357

Education

Chiba University is a national university in the city of Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Japan. It offers doctoral degrees in education as part of a coalition with Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, and Yokohama National University. The university was formed in ...

* Shukutoku University * Chiba Meitoku College Municipal elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Chiba City Board of Education ( 千葉市教育委員会). Municipal junior high schools: * Hoshikuki (星久喜中学校) * Katsuragi ( 葛城中学校) * Kawado (川戸中学校) * Matsugaoka (松ケ丘中学校) * Oihama (生浜中学校) * Shinjuku (新宿中学校) * Soga ( 蘇我中学校) * Suehiro ( 末広中学校) * Tsubakimori ( 椿森中学校) Municipal elementary schools: * Benten (弁天小学校) * Daiganji (大巌寺小学校) * Honcho (本町小学校) * Hoshikuki (星久喜小学校) * Innai ( 院内小学校) * Kawado (川戸小学校) * Matsugaoka (松ケ丘小学校) * Miyako ( 都小学校) * Miyazaki (宮崎小学校) * Nitona (仁戸名小学校) * Nobuto ( 登戸小学校) * Oihama (生浜小学校) * Oihama Higashi ( 生浜東小学校) * Oihama Nishi (生浜西小学校) * Omori ( 大森小学校) * Samugawa ( 寒川小学校) * Shinjuku (新宿小学校) * Soga (蘇我小学校) * Tsurusawa ( 鶴沢小学校)

Local attractions

* Chiba Shrine *

Fukuda Denshi Arena , the Fuku-Ari (フクアリ), is a football stadium in Chiba, Japan. It was completed in 2005 and is home to the J. League club JEF United Ichihara Chiba following their move from the Ichihara Seaside Stadium. The stadium has a capacity ...

* Chiba Velodrome *

Kaientai Dojo Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW) is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wrestling promotion and training facility originally owned and promoted by Taka Michinoku. The promotion places emphasis on a style of Professional wre ...

Noted people from Chūō Ward

* Yoshinobu Takahashi – professional baseball player * Toshiyuki Nagashima – actor * Keiichi Tsuruoka – former mayor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chuo-ku, Chiba Greater Tokyo Area Wards of Chiba (city)