Kujūkuri, Chiba

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Location of Kujukuri in Chiba Prefecture

A typical Kujukuri residential scene

An agricultral scene from the Kujukuri area

Kujukuri Beach

Kujūkuri (九十九里町, Kujūkuri-machi^?) is a town located in Sanbu District, Chiba, Japan and lies approximately 60km from Tokyo.

As of 2006 the town had a registered population of 19,494 and a density of 821.84 persons per km². The total area is 23.72 km².

Kujukuri owes its name to its beach, Kujukuri Beach, which is Japan's second longest. The word 'Kujukuri' roughly translates to mean 'Ninety Nine Miles', with 'kujuku' meaning 'ninety nine' and 'ri' being an old measurement equating to approximately 3.93 kilometers.

Thanks to its seaside location Kujukuri attracts in excess of a million tourists each year, many of whom travel from nearby Tokyo to enjoy the mild seaside climate and the well patrolled swimming areas. Kujukuri and surrounding towns are also popular surfing destinations.

Tourism has always played a key role in the economy of Kujukuri and efforts are underway to raise its profile, positioning the town as one of the nation's premier resort areas. Such efforts have included the establishment of the Togane Kujukuri Toll Road to improve the town's accessibility and the opening of the Kujukuri Sardine Museum as a point of cultural interest.

Despite these tourism related efforts, however, the town is still largely dependent upon the more traditional industries of sardine fishing, marine product processing (particularly sardine processing) and agriculture (predominantly rice).

[edit] Tourism Attractions

Kujukuri Beach
Kujukuri Sardine Museum
Inubo Point

[edit] Famous People

Kujukuri was the birthplace of Ino Tadataka, who is famous for being the first person to create a complete and accurate map of Japan. Ino was born in Kujukuri in 1745.