About Chiba
Chiba Prefecture curves around the eastern flank of Tokyo Bay on the Boso Peninsula, connecting Japan's capital to the Pacific Ocean. Home to Narita International Airport, Chiba is often the first piece of Japanese soil visitors experience — yet the prefecture rewards those who venture beyond the terminals with ancient temples, dramatic coastlines, and surprisingly rural landscapes.
Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, a short walk from Narita Station, is one of Japan's most visited Buddhist temples, drawing over ten million worshippers annually. Founded in 940 AD and dedicated to Fudo Myoo, a fierce guardian deity, the temple complex spans a broad hillside park with multiple halls, pagodas, and pond gardens. The approach road (Omotesando) is lined with traditional restaurants serving Narita's specialty — unaju (freshwater eel over rice) — drawing on the Tone River eel tradition.
The Boso Peninsula offers another Chiba entirely — a rural coastline of fishing villages, surfer beaches, and flower fields that feels worlds away from metropolitan Japan. Cape Inubosaki and Cape Toi offer dramatic Pacific Ocean panoramas, while Nokogiriyama Mountain features a dramatic stone Buddha carved into a cliff face and a 100-meter 'Jigoku Nozoki' (Hell Peek) cliff overhang. Chiba is Japan's leading peanut-producing prefecture, and local peanut products — from tofu to miso — appear throughout the cuisine.
Featured Spot: Naritasan Shinshoji Temple
Naritasan Shinshoji Temple is one of the most important Shingon Buddhist temples in eastern Japan. Its main hall, rebuilt in 1968, enshrines a statue of Fudo Myoo said to have been carved by the monk Kukai (Kobo Daishi) himself. The temple's three-story pagoda, great main gate, and extensive grounds create an imposing sacred complex. The temple is particularly famous for vehicle safety blessings — rows of cars queue up on weekends for priests to wave purification wands over their hoods — and for spectacular Setsubun bean-throwing ceremonies in February.
What to Experience
- Visit Naritasan Shinshoji, one of Japan's most important Buddhist temples
- Explore the dramatic cliff-carved Buddha and 'Hell Peek' at Nokogiriyama
- Discover the rural surfing beaches and fishing villages of the Boso Peninsula
- Taste Narita's celebrated freshwater eel rice and Chiba's peanut products
Best Seasons to Visit
Spring (March–May) is beautiful for temple visits and the tulip and poppy fields that carpet parts of the Boso Peninsula. Summer (June–August) is peak season for beaches and surfing on the Pacific coast. Autumn brings harvest festivals and comfortable hiking weather. Winter is mild compared to inland Japan, making Chiba accessible year-round, with illumination events at Naritasan Temple in December.