Chiba City

From ChibaWiki

Chiba City

Our fair capital. Sort of. Thanks to the designated city system, it became kind of sort of independent of Chiba Prefecture in 1992. Present population around 940,000. Lots of good stuff to be had here.

Geography

Broken into six wards:

Chuo-ku

The heart of Chiba City. Home to the prefectural office and the Chiba City Hall. Destinations include the very large Chiba City Chuo Library (with a good collection of foreign language books), Chiba Port Tower, cultural facilities such as the Chiba City Museum of Art and the Chiba Folk Museum, many parks, and Fukuda Denshi Arena, the home stadium for the professional soccer team JEF United Chiba. Major stations include Chiba, Soga, and Chibaminato.

Mihama-ku

This entire ward is located on reclaimed land. Home to various recreational facilities such as artificial beaches, the Chiba City Floral Museum, Aqua Rink Chiba, and the yacht harbor. "Makuhari New City," the area by Kaihin Makuhari Station, includes Makuhari Messe, lots of outlet shopping, and Costco. Chiba Marine Stadium, the home stadium for the Chiba Lotte Marines is also located here. Stations include: Kemigawahama and Kaihin Makuhari.

Inage-ku

Inage Ward is home to a number of educational institutions and research facilities, including Chiba University. Other destinations include the historical Inage Villa and Citizens' Gallery Inage. Mostly harmless. Stations include: Inage and Sports Center.

Midori-ku

Loooots of nature. Home to Showa-no-mori Forest Park, Izumiya Park, and the Four Seasons' Promenade. Stations include: Kamatori and Toke.

Wakaba-ku

The largest ward. Includes historical sites such as Onari-kaido Road, created in 1613, and Kasori Shellmound," the largest shellmound in the world. Also home to the Chiba City Zoological Park with its famous red panda, Futa. Stations include Tsuga and Chishirodai.

Hanamigawa-ku

Named after the Hanamigawa River, which runs through the ward. Destinations include Hanashima Park, Kotehashi Heated Indoor Swimming Pool, and the 14km Hanamigawa Cycling Course. Stations include: Makuhari and Makuhari-Hongo

Shopping, Entertainment, and Eats

Lots to be had. (Note: For stuff near Kaihin Makuhari, see Makuhari New City

Shopping

Yodobashi - massive electronics store (with hobby shop, travel agent, 100yen shop, and even big and tall store upstairs)

Dos Para - cheap computer stuff

Sogo - department store. Has a Loft on one of the upper floors, an amazing fancy supermarket-type area downstairs, and some good, if a bit pricey, restaurants upstairs.

Parco - more "hip" department store. Has restaurants, mujirushi, snowboard shop, tower records, etc.

Perie - station building at Chiba Station, Nishi-Chiba, and Inage. Good food selection for shopping (often slightly cheaper than Sogo), some clothing shops, etc.