| Sakura 佐倉市 |
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| — City — | |||
| Yukarigaoka district of Sakura | |||
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| Location of Sakura in Chiba | |||
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Sakura
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Japan | ||
| Region | Kantō | ||
| Prefecture | Chiba | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Kazuo Warabi | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 103.59 km2 (40 sq mi) | ||
| Population (February 2011) | |||
| • Total | 172,176 | ||
| • Density | 1,660/km2 (4,299.4/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) | ||
| City Symbols | |||
| -Tree | Sakura | ||
| - Flower | Hanashōbu (Iris ensata var. ensata) | ||
| Phone number | 043-484-1111 | ||
| Address | 97, Kairinjimachi, Sakura-shi, Chiba-ken 285-8501 | ||
| Website | City of Sakura | ||
Sakura (佐倉市 Sakura-shi) 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.
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Sakura is located in northeastern Chiba Prefecture. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of the Tokyo and 15 kilometers from Narita International Airport. Chiba City, the prefectural capital, lies 15 kilometers southwest of Sakura. Lake Imba and the Imba Marsh form the northern city limits.
The area around Sakura has been inhabited since prehistory, and archaeologists have found numerous Kofun period burial tumulii in the area, along with the remains of a Hakuho period Buddhist temple. During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, the area was controlled by the Chiba clan. During the Sengoku period, the Chiba clan fought the Satomi clan to the south, and the Late Hōjō clan to the west. After the defeat of the Chiba clan, the area came within the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who assigned one of his chief generals, Doi Toshikatsu to rebuild Chiba Castle and to rule over Sakura Domain as a daimyō. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Sakura Domain came to be ruled for most of the Edo period under the Hotta clan. Towards the Bakumatsu period, the domain became a center for rangaku studies, contributing greatly towards the Meiji Restoration. After the abolition of Sakura Domain, the area eventually became part of Chiba Prefecture.
Sakura Town was one of several towns and villages created on April 1, 1889 under Inba District. On March 31, 1954, Sakura achieved city status through merger with neighboring Usui Town and Wada, Nego, Yadomi and Shizu villages.
Sakura is a regional commercial center and, due to its numerous train connections, a bedroom community for nearby Chiba and Tokyo.
Sakura boasts a number of tourist attractions, including the large National Museum of Japanese History (http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp, phone 043-486-0123, address 117 Jonai-cho) located on the ruins of Sakura Castle Park. Several samurai house near the old castle are open to the public and are protected as Important Cultural Properties. Other sights of interest include the Tsukamoto Sword Museum, Sakura Museum of History and Folklore, Sakura City Museum of Art, and the Sakura Juntendo Memorial Building. Nearby is also the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art. On the 40th anniversary of the city’s foundation a Dutch windmill called De Liefde was erected by the Dutch millwright company "Verbij Hoogmade BV" on the south-eastern shore of Lake Imba as a landmark of Sakura Furusato Square. The mill serving as a polder mill is named after the first Dutch sailing ship which landed on the Japanese shore in 1600. It is the only windmill of this type in Japan (a so-called "ground-sailer", which means a windmill whose sails reach almost down to the ground.
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