Chiba 千葉
—  Designated city  —
千葉市 · Chiba City
Coastal industrial area, Chiba Fork Museum Makuhari Messe, Chiba Port Tower Chiba Marine Stadium Skyscrapers of Makuhari on the coast.
Flag
Location of Chiba in Chiba
Chiba
Coordinates: 35°36′N 140°6′E / 35.6°N 140.1°E / 35.6; 140.1Coordinates: 35°36′N 140°6′E / 35.6°N 140.1°E / 35.6; 140.1
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Chiba
Government
• Mayor	Toshihito Kumagai
Area
• Total	272.08 km2 (105.05 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Total	962,624
• Density	3,540/km2 (9,200/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
- Tree	Keyaki
- Flower	Nelumbo nucifera
Phone number	043-245-5111
Address	1-1, Chiba-minato, Chūō-ku, Chiba 260-8722
Website	Chiba City

Chiba (千葉市, Chiba-shi^?) is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay.^[1] Chiba City became a government designated city in 1992. Its population as of 2008 is approximately 960,000.

Chiba City is also one of the Kantō region's primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in the nation. Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses located along the coast. There are several major urban centers in the city, including Makuhari, a prime waterfront business district in which Makuhari Messe is located, and Central Chiba, in which the prefectural government office and the city hall are located.

Chiba is famous for the Chiba Urban Monorail, the longest suspended monorail in the world, as published in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some popular destinations in the city include: Kasori Shellmound, the largest shellmound in the world at 134,000m², Inage Beach, the first artificial beach in the nation which forms part of the longest artificial beach in Japan, and the Chiba City Zoological Park, which gained popularity because of the red panda Futa, who stands with human-like posture.

Etymology[link]

The name of Chiba in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The first, 千, means "thousand" and the second, 葉 means "leaves". The name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, as the Chiba Kuni no Miyatsuko (千葉国造^?).^[2] The name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan, which held strong influence over the area of the prefecture until the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The name "Chiba" was chosen for Chiba Prefecture at the time its creation in 1873 by the Assembly of Prefectural Governors (地方官会議, Chihō Kankai Kaigi^?), an early Meiji-period body of prefectural governors that met to decide the structure of local and regional administration in Japan.^[3]

History [link]

Early history[link]

The first records related to the city of Chiba record the emigration of Taira Tsuneshige (1083?–1088), a powerful bushi warlord of the late Heian period, to Shimōsa Province, which historically occupied the north of Chiba Prefecture. Tsuneshige was appointed as gunji administrator of Sōma District, but was transferred to the same position in Chiba District two years later. Here he proclaimed himself Chiba Tsuneshige (千葉常重^?), became a kokushi governor of the province, and used the area around present-day Chiba City as a power base to rule over Shimōsa Province, Kazusa Province, as well as establish himself as a military force in the Kantō Region.^[4] Tsuneshige's son, Chiba Tsunetane (千葉常胤^?) (1118–1201) was instrumental in aiding Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199) with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. Tsuneshige built a spacious residence and numerous temples in present-day Chiba City, and in the same period he transferred his power base from Ōji Castle to Inohana Castle on Mount Inohana.^[5] The area of present-day Chiba City became jōkamachi (城下町^?), or castle town, and prospered under the Chiba clan.^[6] The clan's power extended in the region until the Muromachi period.^[7][8]

Medieval period[link]

The Chiba clan's power and influence declined because of wars around the Kantō region during the Nanboku-cho and Muromachi periods. In the 16th century, instead of the Chiba clan, the Hara clan, which was one of the servants of Chiba clan, wielded power in this region. In the Sengoku period, the Hara clan was forcibly removed by Yoshiaki Ashikaga (足利義明, not to be confused with 足利義昭). Then, Yoshiaki Ashikaga was also removed by the Sakai (酒井 not to be confused with the Sakai clan in Mikawa) clan, which was one of the servants of the Satomi (里見) clan. Finally both the Chiba and Sakai clans were annihilated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Later history[link]

In the Edo period, the Oyumi (生実氏^?),　Morikawa (森川氏^?) clan, and the Sakura (佐倉氏^?) clans governed the area now occupied by the city. A part of the area was also governed directly by the Tokugawa Bakufu. The Oyumi clan governed their territory stably. On the other hand, according to the Sakura clan, from the beginning of the Edo period, changed governors frequently, including Takeda Nobuyoshi (武田信吉^?), Matsudaira Tadateru (松平忠輝^?), Ogasawara Yoshitsugu (小笠原吉次^?), Doi Toshikatsu (土井利勝^?), and so on. Finally the Hotta clan (堀田氏^?) stabilized the governance of their territory. Chiba prospered in this period as a shukuba (宿場^?) post-town of the Tokugawa shogunate.^[6]

Modern history[link]

After the Meiji restoration in 1868 and the advent of the railroad in Japan Chiba became the political, economic, and cultural capitol of the Chiba Prefecture. Chiba City founded on January 1, 1921.^[6] Numerous small villages and towns were merged into the previous town of Chiba (千葉町^?), a process that continued until 1944. Large-scale land reclamation added to the area of the city throughout the 20th century. The city was a major center of military production leading up to World War II, and as such, was a target of aerial bombing by the United States. The city was almost completely destroyed by the end of the war. Post-war industrialization led to the city becoming a major part of the Keiyō Industrial Zone.^[6] Chiba became a Designated City of Japan on April 1, 1992.^[1]

Demographics [link]

As of February 2012, the city has an estimated population of 962,624 and a density of 3,540 persons per km². The total area of the city is 272.08km². There were 19,135 registered foreign residents in the city as of March 31, 2007, making up for about 2% of the total population. It is the 14th most populated city in Japan.

Politics and government [link]

Building of Chiba Prefectural government and Chiba Urban Monorail

Chiba was governed by Keiichi Tsuruoka, an independent (elected with support of LDP and Kōmeitō), until May 1, 2009. He had been arrested in April 2009 during a corruption investigation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He was succeeded by Toshihito Kumagai of the DPJ, who won election in June 2009.^[9]

The city assembly has 54 elected members.

Wards [link]

Culture [link]

Chiba Prefecture is famous for peanuts, or rakkasei. One of the many points of interest is the Experimental Station for Landscape Plants.

Facilities[link]

• Chiba zoo
• Makuhari Messe

Sports [link]

Home Stadium of the Chiba Marines.

Chiba plays host to the annual International Chiba Ekiden and the Chiba International Cross Country takes place just outside of the city. Chiba Velodrome is located within the city.

Chiba is home to several professional sports teams, most notably:

Transportation [link]

Air [link]

Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport are the closest major airports.

Rail [link]

Chiba Station

The Chiba Urban Monorail runs through Chiba City. The major intercity railway stations are Chiba Station, (Sobu Line, Sotobo Line, Uchibo Line, Sobu Main Line, Narita Line, transfer for Chiba Urban Monorail), Keisei Chiba Station (Keisei Chiba Line), and Soga Station, (Keiyo Line, Sotobo Line, Uchibo Line) all in Chūō-ku.

Road [link]

• Higashi-Kantō Expressway to Tokyo, Narita and Kashima
• Tateyama Expressway to Kisarazu

Education[link]

The city operates public elementary and junior high schools. Chiba Prefectural Board of Education operates public high schools.

Colleges and universities in Chiba include:

• Chiba University
• Tokyo Dental College

Hospitals and clinics[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Chiba Kaihin Hospital (Mihama-ku)
• Chiba University Hospital (Chuo-ku)
• Kashiwado Hospital (Chuo-ku)
• Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital (Mihama-ku)
• Koizumi Clinic (Hanamigawa-ku)
• Mizuno Clinic (Hanamigawa-ku)
• Hirayama Hospital (Hanamigawa-ku)

Sister cities [link]

• North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada since January 1, 1970
• Asunción, Paraguay since January 1, 1970
• Houston, Texas, United States since October 24, 1972
• Quezon City, Republic of the Philippines since November 9, 1972
• Tianjin, The People's Republic of China since May 7, 1986
• Montreux, Switzerland since May 28, 1996
• Wujiang, The People's Republic of China since October 10, 1996

Famous people[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Ishige Sawa was born in Shizuoka but moved to Chiba
• Ryuta Kawashima was born in Chiba in 1959.
• Masaki Aiba of Arashi is from Chiba.
• Pata of X Japan and Ra:IN.
• Yukihiro of L'Arc-en-Ciel is from Chiba. He is a graduate of The Chiba University of Commerce.
• Tomohisa Yamashita of News is from Chiba.
• Koki Tanaka of KAT-TUN is from Chiba.
• Naohito Fujiki, a Japan Academy Prize-winning actor, is from Chiba.
• Masato Kobayashi, a professional kickboxer and 2-time K-1 MAX Champion.
• Natsuki Mizu, Top Star of Snow Troupe in the Takarazuka Revue, is from Chiba.
• Daiki Arioka of Hey! Say! JUMP.
• Shiho Fujita, better known as Sifow.
• Momoko Tsugunaga of Berryz Koubou lives in Chiba.
• Ryūtarō Arimura and Tadashi Hasegawa of Plastic Tree were born in Chiba.
• Yuki Abe, footballer for Japan
• Kentaro Miura, creator of Berserk

References[link]

External links [link]

	Japan portal
	Tokyo portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chiba, Chiba

• Official website in Japanese, in English and in Korean
• Chiba travel guide from Wikitravel
• Chiba Japan Information Site

v t e Chiba Prefecture Chiba (capital city) Chūō Hanamigawa Inage Wakaba Midori Mihama Other cities Chōshi Ichikawa Funabashi Tateyama Kisarazu Matsudo Noda Mobara Narita Sakura Tōgane Asahi Narashino Kashiwa Katsuura Ichihara Nagareyama Yachiyo Abiko Kamogawa Kamagaya Kimitsu Futtsu Urayasu Yotsukaidō Sodegaura Yachimata Inzai Shiroi Tomisato Minamibōsō Sōsa Katori Sanmu Isumi Inba District Shisui Sakae Katori District Kōzaki Tako Tōnoshō Sanbu District Ōamishirasato Kujūkuri Shibayama Yokoshibahikari Chōsei District Ichinomiya Mutsuzawa Chōsei Shirako Nagara Chōnan Isumi District Ōtaki Onjuku Awa District Kyonan

The Earthquake in Chile (published in 1807), (German: ''Das Erdbeben in Chili'') is a novella written by Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811).
The novella's central characters are two lovers, caught up in the chaos of the 1647 Santiago earthquake in Chile.

Synopsis[link]

The story begins with the lead character, Jeronimo Rugera, preparing to hang himself in prison in Santiago in 1647. Rugera had been a tutor at the house of Don Asteron, but Don Asteron dismissed him upon Asteron's discovery of an illicit relationship between his daughter and Jeronimo. Jeronimo and Josephe continued their relationship and were soon discovered by Josephe's brother. Don Asteron sends Josephe to a convent, where she and Jeronimo continue their relationship, until one day Josephe gave birth on the steps of the cathedral.

The city folk are excited by this story and Josephe was scheduled to be executed. As the procession marched towards the execution site, Jeronimo prepares to hang himself. At this moment, a strong earthquake destroys much of the city, freeing Jeronimo from prison. Despite his fears that Josephe had already died, he begins to search for her, and is later reunited with her and their son, Philipp.

On her way to her execution as the earthquake strikes, Josephe rescues her son from the convent, where she had entrusted him to an abbess. The abbess and most of the nuns are dead. Josephe had spent much of the day searching for Jeronimo and fearing him dead. They plan to travel to Concepción, Chile, where Josephe has family, and from there to Spain. ^[1]

The following morning, the couple is approached by Don Fernando who asks Josephe to breast feed his son, Juan, since his wife, Donna Elvira, has been injured in the earthquake. She complies, and Don Fernando invites the reunited family to join his own. They are greeted as friends, and exchange stories and rumours of the happenings in Santiago. Jeronimo and Josephe decide to go to Concepción and write to the Viceroy of Santiago to ask permission to stay in Chile.

That afternoon, a service is to be held at the lone surviving church in Santiago and the party, aside from Donna Elvira and her father Don Pedro, decides to attend. Donna Elvira appears to fear for Josephe's and Jeronimo's safety but Don Pedro feels that Donna Elvira's fears are misplaced. They attend the service.

The sermon compares the earthquake to God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and speaks specifically of Josephe and Jeronimo's sin. Donna Constanza, Don Fernando's sister in law, recognizes the danger, but before the party can make their escape, someone calls out, identifying Josephe as the adulteress and accusing Don Fernando of being Jeronimo.

Josephe, who is holding Don Fernando's son Juan is grabbed by the crowd. The crowd assumes Juan is Josephe's baby. Don Fernando identifies himself and attempts to rescue Josephe. A naval officer, Don Alonzo, identifies Don Fernando but hesitates when a cobbler asks about Josephe. Josephe gives Juan and Phillip, who was being held by Jeronimo, to Don Fernando and tells him to leave and save the children, but he refuses and borrows Don Alonzo's sword. The crowd allows them to leave, and just as they think it's safe to enter the courtyard, a man claims that he is Jeronimo's father and clubs Jeronimo over the head. Donna Constanza, who had been walking with Jeronimo, runs to Don Alonzo, but is mistaken for Josephe and is also clubbed to death. Seeing this, Josephe gives herself up to the crowd and is clubbed by the cobbler, Master Pedrillo. Don Fernando defends the children with his sword but eventually his son, Juan, is torn from his grasp and bashed against a pillar.^[2]

The crowd disperses and Don Fernando is left with Philipp, whom he adopts as his own child with Donna Elvira. At the conclusion, Don Fernando compares Juan and Philipp and considers how he had acquired them, and remarks; "It almost seemed to him that he should be glad." ^[3]

Characters[link]

• Jeronimo Rugera - A Spaniard, the lover of Josephe
• Josephe Asteron - Daughter of the richest nobleman in the city, the lover of Jeronimo
• Philipp - The son of Jeronimo and Josephe
• Don Fernando Ormez - An acquaintance of Josephe, husband of Donna Elvira
• Donna Elvira - Don Fernando's wife
• Juan - Donna Elvira and Don Fernando's son
• Don Pedro - Donna Elvira's Father
• Donna Isabel - A relation of Don Fernando
• Donna Constanza - Sister of Donna Elvira
• Master Pedrillo - A cobbler
• Don Alonzo - An acquaintance of Don Fernando and Josephe, a naval officer

References[link]

1. ↑ http://www.www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13114
2. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3692/is_200205/ai_n9037867/
3. ↑ *1978, UK, Penguin books ISBN 0-14-044359-2, Pub date 29 June 1978, paperback (D. Luke translator & N. Reeves translator)

External links[link]

• German Text
• read in German librivox.org (No. 8)