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 ...

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 131,852 in 63,098 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 620 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the site of

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 ...

, 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, Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Ibaraki Prefecture, ...

Geography

Narita is located in the northern center of Chiba prefecture, about from the prefectural capital at Chiba 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) 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 River) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the ...

, 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 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) 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 * Inzai * Katori * Kōzaki * Sakae * Shibayama * Shisui * Tako * Tomisato Ibaraki Prefecture * Kawachi

Climate

Narita 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 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 recently plateaued after several decades of growth.

History

The area Narita 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. Archaeologists have found

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 dating to some 30,000 years ago on the site of Narita Airport. Numerous

shell midden A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...

s from the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

, and hundreds of burial tumuli from the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

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 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 capita ...

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' (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 Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and

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 ...

, 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, the area was a center for the revolt of Taira Masakado. 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 area continued to prosper as part of the ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' within

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture as well as the bordering parts of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo (the parts that used to be located east of the lower reaches of the old Tone River prior to the ...

under direct control of 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 ...

. 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 was organized as a town under Inba District on April 1, 1889. Portions of the town were destroyed by Allied 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 laid out the plan for

. 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 (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 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 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 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 ...

Areas

Central Narita

Central Narita is roughly defined as the area between Narita Station, Keisei Narita Station and the Narita-san 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 Narita-san temple File:Naritasan-Shinshoji-Temple.Great-Main-Hall.jpg, Main Hall of Narita-san temple

Narita New Town

Narita New Town is a planned residential area to the west of Narita Station. 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 Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...

, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and Japan Customs. There are also several Urban Renaissance Agency 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 flanked by a large Your Elm department store.

Airport and farm areas

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 Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, civil strife, or turmoil, are situations when law enforcement and security forces struggle to maintain public order or tranquility. Causes Any number of things may cause civil di ...

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 Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

, called Japan Turbine Technologies, is located in the Taiei industrial estate.

Economy

Although Narita's economy was historically focused on agriculture, the opening of

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,

FedEx Express FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's List of largest airlines, largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leadi ...

, Sagawa Express and several other large logistics firms have major shipping centers in the city. Nippon Cargo Airlines and Vanilla Air are headquartered on airport property within the city.Corporate Profile
" Nippon Cargo Airlines. 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 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/junior high school, and nine public and one private junior high 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. * Narita Kokusai High School * * * Private schools: * (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

provides domestic and international services.

Railway

JR East '' Narita Express'' trains and Keisei '' Skyliner'' trains connect Narita Airport to central Tokyo. Narita station

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 *––

– Narita Line (Abiko branch line) *–

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

Keisei Electric Railway: Keisei Main Line *––– Keisei Logo

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

Keisei Electric Railway: Keisei Narita Airport Line * ––

Highway

The Higashi-Kantō Expressway 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. * * * * * * * * * *

Sister cities

Narita is twinned with: * Foxton, New Zealand, since 1995 * San Bruno, United States, since 1990

Friendship cities

* Jeongeup, North Jeolla, South Korea, since 2002 * Jung District, Incheon, South Korea, since 1998 *

Næstved Næstved () is a town in Næstved Municipality, the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five Primary education, elemen ...

, Denmark, since 2003 *

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) 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 int ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

, China, since 1988

Local attractions

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

Notable people

* Yuji Funayama, professional footballer * Yusuke Igawa, professional footballer * Yoshio Inaba, actor * Manabu Iwadate, professional baseball player * Yuki Karakawa, professional baseball player * Takeharu Kunimoto, musician * Yōko Oginome, singer * Sakura Sōgorō, Edo period folk hero

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Authority control Cities in Chiba Prefecture