Sakura, Chiba

Sakura (佐倉市, Sakura-shi) is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Sakura

佐倉市
City
Yuukarigaoka district of Sakura
Flag
Seal
Location of Sakura in Chiba Prefecture
Sakura
 
Coordinates: 35°43′N 140°13′E
CountryJapan
RegionKantō
PrefectureChiba Prefecture
Government
 • MayorKazuo Warabi
Area
 • Total103.59 km2 (40.00 sq mi)
Population
 (December 2014)
 • Total177,601
 • Density1,714/km2 (4,440/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
-TreeSakura
- FlowerHanashōbu (Iris ensata var. ensata)
Phone number043-484-1111
Address97, Kairinjimachi, Sakura-shi, Chiba-ken 285-8501
Websitehttp://www.city.sakura.chiba.jp/
Sakura City Hall

As of December 2014, the city has an estimated population of 177,601, and a population density of 1714 persons per km². The total area is 103.59 km².

Geography

Sakura is located in northeastern Chiba Prefecture on the Shimōsa Plateau.[1] 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 Inba and the Inba Marsh form the northern city limits.[2][3]

Neighboring municipalities
  • Chiba, Chiba
  • Yotsukaido, Chiba
  • Yachiyo, Chiba
  • Inzai, Chiba
  • Yachimata, Chiba
  • Shisui, Chiba

History

The area around Sakura has been inhabited since prehistory, and archaeologists have found numerous Kofun period burial tumuli 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 Later 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.[2] Doi rebuilt the area as a jōkamachi, or castle town, which became the largest castle town in the Bōsō region.[1][3] Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Sakura Domain came to be ruled for most of the Edo period under the Hotta clan. In the Bakumatsu period the domain became a center for rangaku studies, centered on the Juntendō school of the doctor Taizen Satō (1804 – 1872).[1][4] The Juntendō and other educational institutions in Sakura contributed greatly to the Meiji Restoration.[1] 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 of the neighboring municipalities of Usui, Wada, Nego, Yadomi and Shizu.[1]

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

Highway

Local attractions
De Liefde Windmill, constructed in 1994

Sakura boasts a number of tourist attractions, including the large National Museum of Japanese History [5] located on the ruins of Sakura Castle in the Sakura Castle Park.[2] Several samurai houses 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. In 1994 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 Inba 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
  1. "佐倉（市）" [Sakura (City)]. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 153301537. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  2. "Sakura". Encyclopedia of Japan. Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 56431036. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  3. "佐倉" [Sakura]. Dijitaru daijisen (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 56431036. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  4. "佐藤泰然" [Satō Taizen]. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 153301537. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  5. Official website, National Museum of Japanese History; phone 043-486-0123, address 117 Jonai-cho.
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