Chiba Castle is within Inohana Park 亥鼻公園 which is noted for cherry blossoms in spring. The reconstructed castle tower is a Folk Museum tracing the history of the Chiba clan who ruled Chiba during the 15th and 16th centuries.

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Great place to see a lot of weeping cherry blossoms showering the small pond. Over 600 cherry trees. About a 10-min. walk from Chba Station or one stop via monorail to Chiba Koen Station.

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Other sights include Chiba Station, the monorail, and prefectural capital.

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Also called the Hadaka (Nude) Matsuri, this annual festival is held by Tamasaki Shrine near Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station (JR Sotobo Line). On Sept. 13, 2009 (Sun.), the main festival day, portable shrines from twelve shrines (junisha) in the same area are paraded and rushed to the beach with hundreds of people surrounding each one. They run with the portable shrine. At the beach in ankle-deep water, they jostle and toss the mikoshi in the air. In the evening, they return to town near the train station and parade the shrines again. Also see my video at YouTube.

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This annual festival is held in Ohara on Sept. 23-24, climaxing with many people carrying portable shrines into the ocean. Portable shrines from 18 shrines in the area join in the festival. "Hadaka" means nude, but no one is nude. They go into the ocean only on the 23rd. These photos were taken on Sept. 23, 2004. Also see the video at YouTube.

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The small coastal town of Katsuura holds one of Japan's most impressive hina matsuri doll festival during late Feb. to early March. A whopping 25,000 hina ningyo dolls are displayed all over town.

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A scenic coastal park with dramatic views of the ocean, rocky shore, torii island, and Katsuura lighthouse.

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After her first Space Shuttle flight in April 2010, astronaut Naoko Yamazaki returned to Japan briefly and included a visit to her hometown of Matsudo, Chiba where she had a homecoming parade on May 22, 2010. NASA photos of her training and STS-131 shuttle mission are also included. Also see my video at YouTube.

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Near JR Matsudo Station is Matsudo Shrine and Edogawa River.

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The biggest taiko drum festival in the Kanto region is held annually in April. Various taiko drum troupes perform for two full days on various outdoor stages in Narita, including the main stage in front of the Narita-san temple. Most of these pictures were taken on April 9, 2005.

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Held in July, this is a festival of ornate floats pulled on the streets of Narita and to Narita-san temple. These pictures were taken in 2002.

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Setsubun bean-throwing festival at Narita-san temple. Celebrities included Yokozuna Musashimaru and actresses Riho Makise. Taken on Feb. 3, 2001.

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Narita-san Shinshoji Temple is Chiba Prefecture's most famous temple, location of most of Narita's major festivals. It also has a large Japanese garden, including cherry blossoms.

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Other pictures of Narita city including the Museum of Aeronautical Sciences near Narita International Airport.

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Onjuku is a well-known beach town famous for its beach and ama women divers (no longer topless).

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This hadaka (nude) festival held on Feb. 25 has a unique is being a mud festival. Men wearing loincloths wrestle in the mud in a rice paddy. They also make it fashionable to have mud on your face.

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