Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Kantō Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Funabashi (船橋市) is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city and second largest in Chiba Prefecture.

Geography Funabashi is located in north-western Chiba Prefecture approximately 20 km in either direction from the prefectural capital at Chiba and downtown Tokyo. The central area forms a flat diluvial upland of the Shimōsa Plateau. The city sits at an elevation of 20 to 30 meters above sea level, and is relatively flat. The highest point is 32.3 meters in Narashino 3-chome, and the lowest point is 0.2 meters in Minatomachi 1-chome. Funabashi is crossed by the Tone River, and the small Ebi River is located entirely within city limits. Funabashi formerly had wide, shallow beaches, but much of the coast has been industrialised and transformed by reclaimed land. The city extends for 13.86 km east–west and 14.95 km north–south.

Neighboring municipalities Chiba Prefecture • Ichikawa • Narashino • Yachiyo • Kamagaya • Shiroi.

History The name "Funabashi" is mentioned in the Kamakura period chronicle Azuma Kagami. However, the name itself is even more ancient, dating from before the Nara period and the Yamatotakeru mythology. Archaeologists have found stone tools from the Japanese Paleolithic period and shell middens from the Jōmon period in the area, indicating continuous inhabitation for thousands of years. A number of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the area claim to have been founded in the Nara period or Heian period. During the 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.

Under the Tokugawa shogunate, the area prospered as a post town on the river crossing of the Tone River, and was largely retained as tenryō under the direct control of the Shogunate and administered through a number of hatamoto. The area was also a favored hunting grounds for the Shōgun. During the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, Funabashi was the location of a minor skirmish between Tokugawa loyalists under Enomoto Takeaki and the pro-Imperial forces of Okayama Domain and Satsuma Domain, during which most of the town burned down.

After the abolition of the han system, the area eventually became part of Chiba Prefecture. Funabashi Town was one of several towns and villages created on April 1, 1889, under Inba District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The area developed rapidly due to its proximity to Tokyo and the presence of numerous military facilities in the area. On April 1, 1937, Funabashi was elevated to city status through merger with neighboring Katsushika Town and Yasakae, Hoden and Tsukada Villages. The new city was host to numerous military installations in World War II, and was bombed in the air raids on Japan in 1945.

The city developed rapidly in the postwar period, with the development of industries, public housing developments and port facilities. With the annexation of neighboring Ninomiya Town in 1953, the population exceeded 100,000. The population exceeded 300,000 in 1969 and 500,000 in 1982. Funabashi was designated a core city on April 1, 2005, with increased local autonomy from the central government. The population exceeded 600,000 in 2006.

Government Funabashi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 50 members. Funabashi contributes seven members to the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is divided between the Chiba 4th district and the Chiba 13th districtof the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy Funabashi is a regional commercial centre and, due to its numerous train connections, a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. Approximately 34.5% of the working population commutes to Tokyo, per the 2015 census.

Companies from Funabashi • Mugen Seiki - a remote control car manufacturer

Education • Nihon University branch campus • Funabashi has 54 public elementary schools and 27 public middle schools operated by the city government, and 11 public high schools operated by the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private elementary school, one private middle school and four private high schools. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transport: Rail JR East – Musashino Line • Funabashihōten - Nishi-Funabashi

JR East – Keiyō Line • Nishi-Funabashi ->>- Minami-Funabashi

JR East – Chūō-Sōbu Line • Higashi-Funabashi - Funabashi - Nishi-Funabashi - Shimōsa-Nakayama

Keisei Electric Railway - Keisei Main Line • Keisei Nakayama - Higashi-Nakayama - Keisei-Nishifuna - Kaijin - Keisei Funabashi - Daijingūshita - Funabashi-Keibajō

Shin-Keisei Electric Railway - Shin-Keisei Line • Futawamukōdai - Misaki - Takifudō - Takanekōdan- Takanekido - Kita-Narashino - Narashino- Yakuendai - Maebara

Hokusō Railway -Hokusō Line • Komuro

Tobu Railway – Tobu Noda Line • Magomezawa - Tsukada - Shin-Funabashi - Funabashi

Tōyō Rapid Railway - Tōyō Rapid Line • Nishi-Funabashi - Higashi-Kaijin - Hasama - Kita-Narashino - Funabashi-Nichidaimae

Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line • Baraki-Nakayama - Nishi-Funabashi

Transport: Road • Keiyō Road • Higashi-Kantō Expressway • National Route 14 • National Route 16 • National Route 296 • National Route 357 • National Route 464.

Notable structures • Funabashi Racecourse • Funabashi Sports Park Arena, playground of the Chiba Jets • Nakayama Racecourse • LaLaPort shopping mall, one of the largest in Japan • SSAWS indoor ski slope (closed and demolished in 2003) • Japan's first large-format IKEA store, built on the site of SSAWS

Notable places　 • Funabashi Shrine • Ninomiya Jinja • Narashinohara • Kūtei-kan • Meiji Tennō Chūhitsu no Tokoro no Hi • Gyōda Musen • Cherry blossoms on the Ebi River • Nishonoseki stable.