page_title: Chiba (city)
section_title: Politics and government
hierarchical_section_title: Chiba (city) / Politics and government
caption_attribution_description: Chiba Prefectural offices with Chiba monorail in foreground.
context_page_description: Chiba is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about 40 kilometres southeast of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government-designated city in 1992. In June 2019, its population was 979,768, with a population density of 3,605 people per km². The city has an area of 271.77 square kilometres.
  Chiba City is one of the Kantō region's primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in the nation. Much of the city is residential, although there are many factories and warehouses along the coast. There are several major urban centres in the city, including Makuhari, a prime waterfront business district in which Makuhari Messe is located, and Central Chiba, in which the prefectural government office and the city hall are located.
  Chiba is famous for the Chiba Urban Monorail, the longest suspended monorail in the world.
context_section_description: Chiba was governed by Keiichi Tsuruoka, an independent (elected with support of LDP and Kōmeitō), until May 1, 2009. He was arrested in April 2009 during a corruption investigation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He was succeeded by Toshihito Kumagai of the DPJ, who won election in June 2009.
  The city assembly has 54 elected members.
caption: Building of Chiba Prefectural government and Chiba Urban Monorail
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