260px, Inzai City Hall is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 city 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 111,266 in 45,717 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 900 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Inzai is located in the important area of northern Chiba Prefecture connecting

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and Narita. Besides

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

that flows in the north, Lake Tega that lies in the north-west, Imba Lake that lies in the south-east of the city, the city is also surrounded by natural environment such as natural forest. the city is located approximately 20 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba and within 30 to 40 kilometers from central Tokyo. It is located about 15 kilometers from

Narita International Airport , also known as Tokyo-Narita International Airport or simply Narita Airport, formerly and originally known as , is the secondary international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the only other one being Haneda Airport (HND). It is about e ...

. The terrain is part of the Shimosa Plateau, with an elevation of 20 to 30 meters.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Abiko * Kashiwa * Narita * Sakae *

Sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

* Shiroi * Shusui * Yachiyo Ibaraki Prefecture *

Tone Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...

Climate

Inzai 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 Inzai is 14.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1383 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.1 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Inzai population statistics
/ref> the population of Inzai has grown rapidly since 1980.

History

The area of Inzai has been inhabited since the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

period, with some

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

s having been found in Kikaribyo that were used by people during that time. 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 ...

, the village of Kioroshi developed as a port at the bank of Tone River. 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 ...

, on April 1, 1889, the town of Kioroshi, and the villages of Omori, Taisha, Funoho, Rokugo, Munakata, Hongo and Eiji were founded with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The

Meiji Era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, 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 feu ...

is also the golden age for

steam ship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The fir ...

s in Tone River sailing from Tokyo to

Chōshi Chōshi (, ) is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chōshi is located in the northeastern part ...

. Taisha was raised to town status on March 1, 1913 and renamed Omori Town. In 1942, a pilot training center was built in Sofuke. This place was hit by Allied air raids in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war the training center was abandoned. On December 1, 1954, the town of Inzai was founded through the merger of the towns of Kioroshi and Taisha, and the villages of Eiji and Funaho. At the time the population was about 11,000. The development of the Chiba New Town project and the

Hokusō Line The is a commuter rail line operated by the third-sector Hokusō Railway (controlled by the Keisei Electric Railway) in Japan. It runs between Keisei-Takasago Station in Katsushika, Tokyo and Imba Nihon-idai Station in Inzai, Chiba. It is p ...

considerably boosted the development of Inzai from the mid-1980s. Inzai was elevated to

status on April 1, 1996. On March 23, 2010, Inzai absorbed the villages of Inba and Motono (both from Inba District) to create the new and expanded city of Inzai.

Government

Inzai 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 ...

city council of 22 members. Inzai, together with the neighboring town of Sakae, contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Chiba 13th 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

Inzai has mixed economy dominated by large shopping centers and

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

s. Its location and good transportation connections between Tokyo and Narita International Airport have led to numerous logistics companies establishing warehouse and distribution centers in the city. The development of Chiba New Town has also greatly increased the number of commuter residents, with over 24% of the working population traveling to Tokyo daily.

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 ...

–

Narita Line The Narita Line () is the name for a combination of three railway lines located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The main line connects Sakura Station (Chiba), Sakura Station and Matsugishi Stati ...

* – 22px Hokusō Railway Company -

* - -

Highways

* *

Education

Inzai has 18 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Universities

* Juntendo University * Tokyo Christian University, which shares its campus with Tokyo Christian Theological Seminary. *

Tokyo Denki University is a private university in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1907 as . It was chartered as a university in 1949 with Yasujiro Niwa as first president. Denki (電機) means an electric device in Japanese, a ...

Public libraries

* Kobayashi Library * Oguradai Library * Omori Library * Sofuke Library

Local attractions

* Cosmos Bridge Evening Scenery * Kobayashi Farm's

* Kioroshi Park Monument * Narashino Country Club, host of

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

and

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

events * Tone River Morning Fog * Yokappe Yume Festival, festival is held annually in Kioroshi and Rokken Area.

Notable people from Inzai

* Makiko Furukawa, Olympic volleyball silver medalist * Miki Honoka, fashion model and actress ( Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo) * Naoki Kobayashi, dancer, choreographer, actor and model, member of the famous

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

boygroup

Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

and the leader and performer of

boygroup Sandaime J Soul Brothers. * Yōko Maki, actress * Sayaka Murata, novelist ( Convenience Store Woman) * Ōtori Tanigorō, sumo wrestler

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture