Narashino


Narashino is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
As of December 1, 2015, the city had an estimated population of 170,331, and a population density of 8,120 persons per km². The total area is.

Geography

Narashino is located in far northwestern Chiba Prefecture, bordered by Tokyo Bay to the southwest. The city is located on the Shimōsa Plateau and reclaimed land fill on Tokyo Bay.

Surrounding municipalities

Chiba Prefecture
The area around Narashino has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Archaeologists have found shell middens and numerous other remains from Jōmon period, as well as burial tumuli from the Kofun period. However, for most of its history, the area was a sparsely populated wetland and swamp along the northern shore of Edo Bay.
After the Meiji Restoration, Tsudanuma was founded within Chiba District on April 1, 1889 on the merger of five small hamlets with a total population of 4500 people. The area only began to develop with the coming of the railway, and Tsudanuma was raised to town status on March 3, 1903, with a population of 6,000.
The Narashino area of Tsudanuma was used for cavalry maneuvers by the Imperial Guard and the early Imperial Japanese Army, and was visited by the Meiji Emperor early in the Meiji period. A prisoner of war camp was built in 1904 to house POWs from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and World War I. The Imperial Japanese Army Narashino School was the main training school for cavalry, and later for tank warfare.
On August 1, 1954, Tsudanuma merged with a portion of the neighboring city of Chiba to form the new city of Narashino.

Places

Narashino is a regional commercial center and a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. The coastal area, mostly on reclaimed land is part of the Keiyō Industrial Zone and is home to much heavy industry, especially related to chemical processing.

Transportation

Railways