Funabashi (船橋市, Funabashi-shi) is a city located in northwestern Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
As of April 2012, the city has an estimated population of 610,572 and a population density of 7,130 persons per km². The total area is 85.64 km². It is the 7th most populous city in Greater Tokyo.
Funabashi is located in northwestern Chiba Prefecture and makes up one part of the Shimōsa Plateau. The city sits 20–30 meters above sea level, and is relatively flat. Funabashi is crossed by the Tone River, and the small Ebi River is located entirely within city limits. Funabashi formerly had wide, shallow beaches, but much of the coast has been industrialized and transformed by reclaimed land.
The name "Funabashi" is mentioned in the Kamakura period chronicle Azuma Kagami. However, the name itself is even more ancient, dating from before the Nara period and the Yamatotakeru mythology. Archaeologists have found stone tools from the Japanese Paleolithic period and shell middens from the Jomon period in the area, indicating continuous inhabitation for thousands of years. A number of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the area claim to have been founded in the Nara period or Heian period. During the Muromachi periods, the area was controlled by the Chiba clan. During the Sengoku period, the Chiba clan fought the Satomi clan to the south, and the Late Hojo clan to the west. After the defeat of the Chiba clan, the area came within the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu.