is a city

Cities of Japan

||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

 located in northern Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. As of February 2011, the town had an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 86,911 and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 2500 persons per km². The total area was 34.70 km².

Neighboring municipalities

• Inage-ku, Chiba
  Inage-ku, Chiba
  is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the ward had an estimated population of 157,967 and a population density of 7,430 persons per km²...
  
  
• Hanami-ku, Chiba
• Wakaba-ku, Chiba
  Wakaba-ku, Chiba
  is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the ward had an estimated population of 151,672 and a population density of 1,800 persons per km²...
  
  
• Sakura, Chiba
  Sakura, Chiba
  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:...
  
  

History

Yotsukaidō was inhabited by the Mononobe clan

Mononobe clan

The was a Japanese clan of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, not on religious grounds, but more so as the result of feelings of conservatism and a degree of xenophobia...

 in ancient Japan, from whose name the Monoi region of the city is derived. In the Heian and Kamakura period, it was under the control of shōen

Shoen

A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...

 ruled by the Chiba clan

Chiba clan

The ' was a branch family of the Taira clan descended from Chiba no Suke, son of Taira no Tadatsune. Historically, they controlled the city of Chiba, outside Tokyo, and also an area called Soma which included the Grand Shrine of Ise....

 for over 600 years. During the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, portions were ruled by the Sakura Domain

Sakura Domain

was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Shimōsa Province , Japan. It was centered on Sakura Castle in what is now part of the city of Sakura...

, and portions were tenryō under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 . After the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

, the villages of Chiyoda and Asahi were founded on April 1, 1889 within Inba District

Inba District, Chiba

is a district located in Chiba, Japan.As of 2011, the district has an estimated population of 43,480 and a density of 845 persons per km². The total area is 51.48 km².There are two towns within the district.*Sakae*Shisui-District timeline:...

, Chiba Prefecture. However, much of the area of these villages was already under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

, who had established a field artillery

Field artillery

Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....

 training school in 1886. The artillery school remained an active military installation until 1945. Chiyoda was elevated to town status on December 23, 1940, and merged with Asahi Village on Marych 10, 1955 to form Yotsukaidō town. Yotsukaidō became a city on April 1, 1981. Proposals to merge the city into neighboring Chiba were rejected by public referendum in 2003 and 2004.

Economy

Yotsukaidō is a regional commercial center and a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo. The largest industry within the city borders is a large food processing facility operated by Yakult

Yakult

is a Japanese probiotic milk-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a special strain of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei Shirota. It was created by Minoru Shirota who graduated from the Medical School of Kyoto University in 1930. In 1935, he started manufacturing and...

.

Railway

• JR East
  East Japan Railway Company
  is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....
  
   - Sōbu Main Line
  • -

Noted people from Yachimata

• Kazuo Shii
  Kazuo Shii
  is a Japanese politician and chairman of the Japanese Communist Party .- Early life :Shii was born in Yotsukaido, Chiba Prefecture. He graduated from the Department of Physical Engineering at Tokyo University...
  
   – Japan Communist Party chairman
• Yusuke Kobori
  Yusuke Kobori
  is a retired professional boxer from Japan and a former WBA lightweight champion.Kobori won the Japanese super featherweight title on January 14, 2006 by knocking out Keita Manabe in the second round. He went on to defend it 6 times....
  
   – professional boxer
• Kodai Watanabe – professional soccer player

Sister city relations

– Livermore, California

Livermore, California

Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, from April 19, 1977

External links

Yotsukaido official website