is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 town 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 23,467 in 9771 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 350 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Yokoshibahikari is located in northeastern

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

, bordered by 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 ...

to the east. It is about 35 kilometers from the prefectural capital at Chiba, and about 60 to 70 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The town lacks a center, but instead consists of a collection of hamlets scattered over the countryside extending from the Yokoshiba Station on the

Sōbu Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It connects Tokyo with the east coast of Chiba Prefecture, passing through the cities of Funabashi, Chiba, and Chōshi. Its name derives from the ...

. Given such sparse structure, it takes quite a long time for the bus lines to serve the whole town. The coastal area of Yokoshibahikari, which makes up part of Kujūkuri Beach, is protected as part of Kujūkuri Prefectural Natural Park.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture * Sanmu * Shibayama *

Sōsa is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,674 in 14,688 households and a population density of 350 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Sōsa is located in far northeaster ...

* Tako

Climate

Yokoshibahikari 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 Yokoshibahikari 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,Yokoshibahikari population statistics
/ref> the population of Yokoshibahikari has remained relatively steady over the past 70 years.

History

Yokoshibahikari spans the border between the former provinces of Kazusa and Shimōsa. The village of Asahi was established in Sanbu District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It changed its name to Yokoshiba on December 28, 1892, and was raised to town status on February 1, 1955. The town of

Hikari may refer to: Places * Hikari Station, a station on Sanyō Main Line in Hikari, Yamaguchi * Hikari, Chiba, a former town in Sousa District, Chiba, Japan * Hikari, Yamaguchi, a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan People * Hikari (name), people a ...

in Sōsa District was created by the merger of four villages on May 3, 1954. Yokoshibahikari was formed by the merger on March 27, 2006, of the towns of Hikari and Yokoshiba. Sōsa District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Government

Yokoshibahikari 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 ...

town council of 16 members. Yokoshibahikari, together with neighboring Sanmu and the municipalities of Sanmu District collectively contributes two members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of 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 ...

Economy

Agriculture has been a mainstay of the economy of Yokoshibahikari since early times. The town has a cool winter and mild summer. Other than extensive rice cultivation, the town is a center of production of ''negi'', the

Welsh onion ''Allium fistulosum'', the Welsh onion, also commonly called bunching onion, long green onion, Japanese bunching onion, and spring onion, is a species of perennial plant, often considered to be a kind of scallion. The species is very similar ...

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es, and ''

kabocha Kabocha (; from Japanese language, Japanese , ) is a type of winter squash, a Japanese variety of the species ''Cucurbita maxima.'' It is also called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin in North America. In Japan, "''kabocha''" may refer to eithe ...

'', a Japanese variety of

winter squash Winter squash is an annual fruit representing several squash species within the genus '' Cucurbita''. Late-growing, less symmetrical, odd-shaped, rough or warty varieties, small to medium in size, but with long-keeping qualities and hard rinds, ...

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

and

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

farms are also found in the town. The town traditionally produced

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s. In 1991 the northern part of the town was designated as the Yokoshiba Industrial Park due to its close proximity to

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 ...

Education

Yokoshibahikari has seven public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education.

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 ...

–

Highway

* *

Noted people from Sodegaura

* Konishiki Yasokichi I, Sumo wrestler

Local attractions

* Kujūkuri Beach * Shibayama Kofun cluster, a National Historic Site

Gallery

Image:Yokoshiba Chiba.jpg, Yokoshiba (foreground) and Miyagawa (background) Image:Hikari Chiba.JPG, Hikari (near Arai)

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Chiba Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Yokoshibahikari