Sakura, Chiba

Sakura

佐倉市
Sakura 佐倉市
City
	Yukarigaoka district of Sakura
	Flag
	Location of Sakura in Chiba
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Chiba
Government
• Mayor	Kazuo Warabi
Area
• Total	103.59 km2 (40.00 sq mi)
Population (February 2011)
• Total	172,176
• Density	1,660/km2 (4,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
-Tree	Sakura
- Flower	Hanashōbu (Iris ensata var. ensata)
Phone number	043-484-1111
Address	97, Kairinjimachi, Sakura-shi, Chiba-ken 285-8501
Website	City of Sakura

Sakura (佐倉市, Sakura-shi) is a city located in northern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 172,176 and a population density of 1660 persons per km². The total area was 103.59 km².

Geography

Sakura is located in northeastern Chiba Prefecture. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of the Tokyo and 15 kilometers from Narita International Airport. Chiba City, the prefectural capital, lies 15 kilometers southwest of Sakura. Lake Imba and the Imba Marsh form the northern city limits.

Neighboring municipalities

History

The area around Sakura has been inhabited since prehistory, and archaeologists have found numerous Kofun period burial tumulii in the area, along with the remains of a Hakuho period Buddhist temple. During the Kamakura and 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 Hōjō clan to the west. After the defeat of the Chiba clan, the area came within the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who assigned one of his chief generals, Doi Toshikatsu to rebuild Chiba Castle and to rule over Sakura Domain as a daimyō. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Sakura Domain came to be ruled for most of the Edo period under the Hotta clan. Towards the Bakumatsu period, the domain became a center for rangaku studies, contributing greatly towards the Meiji Restoration. After the abolition of Sakura Domain, the area eventually became part of Chiba Prefecture.

Sakura Town was one of several towns and villages created on April 1, 1889 under Inba District. On March 31, 1954, Sakura achieved city status through merger with neighboring Usui Town and Wada, Nego, Yadomi and Shizu villages.

Economy

Sakura is a regional commercial center and, due to its numerous train connections, a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo.

Education

Transportation

Railway

JR East - Narita Line, Sōbu Main Line
- Sakura

Keisei Electric Railway - Keisei Main Line
- Chiba - Yūkarigaoka - Keisei-Usui - Keisei-Sakura - Ōsakura

Yamaman - Yamaman Yūkarigaoka Line
- Yūkarigaoka - Chiku Center - Kōen - Joshidai- Chūgakkō - Chiba

Highway

Local attractions

Sakura boasts a number of tourist attractions, including the large National Museum of Japanese History (http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp, phone 043-486-0123, address 117 Jonai-cho) located on the ruins of Sakura Castle Park. Several samurai house near the old castle are open to the public and are protected as Important Cultural Properties. Other sights of interest include the Tsukamoto Sword Museum, Sakura Museum of History and Folklore, Sakura City Museum of Art, and the Sakura Juntendo Memorial Building. Nearby is also the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art. On the 40th anniversary of the city’s foundation a Dutch windmill called De Liefde was erected by the Dutch millwright company "Verbij Hoogmade BV" on the south-eastern shore of Lake Imba as a landmark of Sakura Furusato Square. The mill serving as a polder mill is named after the first Dutch sailing ship which landed on the Japanese shore in 1600. It is the only windmill of this type in Japan (a so-called "ground-sailer", which means a windmill whose sails reach almost down to the ground.

Noted people from Sakura

Hayashi Tadasu – Meiji period statesman
Tsuda Sen – Meiji period statesman
Nagashima Shigeo – Professional baseball player

References

External links

Sakura official website in Japanese
Sakura Website in English