Geography
Chiba Prefecture is located northeast of the Japanese capital, and, in fact, is part of the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area. In terms of transportation, the city of Chiba, the capital of the prefecture, is actually part of Tokyo. The northeastern part of the prefecture faces the Pacific Ocean, along the coast of which there are a number of resort hotels and beaches.
History
The history of Chiba Prefecture (which means “Thousand Leaves”) is eventful, in fact, one can speak not of a separate history of this prefecture, but of a single history of the Kanto, Edo and Tokyo region. People have lived here since ancient times, since the Jomon period. Chiba Prefecture itself as an administrative unit was formed in 1873.
Culture, attractions
and entertainment
The prefecture is home to a number of cultural and historical attractions.
First of all, we should highlight the Buddhist temple complex Narita-san, located near Narita Airport and founded in the tenth century. Nowadays, thanks to its location, it is very convenient to visit even for those tourists who visit Japan in transit. The main temple of the complex, Shinso-ji, received a new life during the Tokugawa shogunate, which paid special attention to the development of Narita-san. In addition, the three-level pagoda of Buddha Vairocana, the main gate of the Nyomon complex, as well as the prayer halls Shaka-do and Gaku-do are noteworthy. Narita-san is not only a popular tourist destination, but also regularly hosts a variety of temple festivals.
And 8 kilometers from Narita-san there is a real open-air museum, the restored historical village of Boso no Mura. Its buildings transport visitors to the village of the Edo era (1603 – 1868), when Japan was ruled by shoguns from the Tokugawa clan. Tourists here can learn one of the many traditional Japanese crafts themselves, such as ceramics or blacksmithing.
If we talk about entertainment in the modern world, they are represented here by the famous Japanese Disneyland and DisneySea, located in the city of Urayasu, a suburb of Tokyo. These super-popular theme parks, both land and sea, attract millions of tourists from Japan and around the world. Tokyo Disneyland has seven theme parks, from Westland to World Bazaar. And DisneySea is generally unique, the only amusement park of its kind in the world. You can get to both parks from central Tokyo by subway to Maihama or Tokyo Disneyland stations.
And lovers of natural beauty can go to another local celebrity, Mount Nokogiri-yama, which translates as “saw mountain” and reflects the silhouette of the mountain in its name. Nokogiri Yama is located on the shores of Tokyo Bay and offers wonderful views of Tokyo. You can get to the top by cable car, or you can take one of the hiking routes leading to the top of the mountain. The Nihon-ji temple complex, founded in the eighth century and restored under the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo era, is also located here. And not far from it is the country's largest stone statue of the Great Buddha, Daibutsu. In addition, there are one and a half thousand (!) stone statues of arhats - Buddhist monks and ascetics, and another statue of Buddha in the form of the goddess Kannon, carved from the rock.
You can get to the city of Chiba from Tokyo by an ordinary city train of a number of lines; in fact, it is a single urban agglomeration.
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