Japan: From Aichi to Yamanashi! #4
It’s been a while, but I’d like to welcome back the feature “From Aichi to Yamanashi”, which looks in closer detail at each of the prefectures in Japan. Today, we’re looking at Chiba.
Chiba Prefecture is located to the east of Tokyo. If you have ever visited Tokyo, chances are you flew in to Narita Airport, which is located in this prefecture~ The capital is Chiba - what a suprise!
I’m sure you’ve seen this big ol’ yellow face around the Internet. This is Funasshi. In case you’re wondering, it’s supposed to be a “pear fairy” and is actually the unofficial mascot of a city in the prefecture, named Funabashi.
Other than Funabashi, there’s Urayasu, home to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Sea, the Bōsō Peninsula, which is where the rather terrifying Mount Nokogiri is, as well as the temple, Nihon-ji, home to the daibutsu (large Buddha) you see pictured at the start of this post, and though the beach might not be the first thing you associate with Japan, there’s a lovely looking one in the fishing town of Onjuku.
Planning on attending a festival or big trade show in Japan? Chances are it’ll be in Chiba at Makuhari Messe! The large convention centre has played host to events like Summer Sonic, Jump Festa, as well as huge dates on artists’ tours. Note that this is not the other famed convention centre, Big Sight, which is in Tokyo proper and hosts events like Comiket.
If you have ever seen the anime Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru, which is set in Chiba, you might already know a little about the local cuisine.
Apparently, peanuts are big in this prefecture, and you can find a whole assortment of peanut flavoured candies and snacks. There’s even a peanut-themed mascot, named Pinyattsu, a pun on the word peanuts and the noise cats make in Japanese - nya.
In general, the prefecture is known for vegetables and seafood, with dishes such as sazae curry to be found in local establishments; a sazae being a type of sea snail dubbed the “horned turban” in English. Though not a dish, Chiba is also well known for soy sauce production, given that Kikkoman is headquartered there. Those with a sweet tooth might want to stop by Zourokumochi Kimuraya in Sakura for one of their famous bean paste treats.
Given its proximity to Tokyo, I naively thought Chiba wouldn’t have many dialectal differences, but it turns out the southern part of the prefecture in particular has some peculiarities. Even something as simple as the first person pronoun is vastly different - ate instead of watashi.
Finally, a famous face you might know from Chiba :p Yoshiki of X Japan!
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Photo credits:
Daibutsu at Nihon-ji: Travelblog and taken by Kristi Knupp
Funasshi: still from this bizarre video
Mt. Nokogiri: Flickr user kana hata
Makuhari Messe from Wikimedia (User 掬茶)
Sazae curry: Planetyze
Zourokumochi from Zourokumochi Kimuraya’s site
Yoshiki from Huffington Post Japan













