Japan · Chiba-ken · Kamagaya
Honchō, Kamagaya — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Honchō is the central district of Funabashi, a city of Chiba Prefecture lying midway between Tokyo and Chiba, known for shopping and horse racing.
About Honchō
Where to stay in Honchō
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Few travellers book a night in Honchō itself. The district holds the middle of Funabashi, midway along the run between Tokyo and Chiba, so the beds around it tend to serve people changing trains or going on to Tokyo Disney Resort rather than sightseers. Shopping is what fills these streets.
Horse racing brings the rest. A room here trades sightseeing for position, since Funabashi works better as a base than as a destination in its own right and few visitors come for the city alone.
About Honchō
What are the main landmarks in Honchō?
The district's list is short and mixed. Funabashi H. C. Andersen Park draws families, and it is the one entry that people cross the city for rather than come upon while shopping in the streets around Honchō. Honchō holds older ground as well.
The Torikakenishi Shell Mound sits among the built-up blocks, and the stone marker 明治天皇駐蹕之処の碑 completes a set of three.
What is the history of Honchō?
Shell mounds come first. The Torikakenishi Shell Mound survives from long before any municipality drew a line around the ground Honchō occupies, and it remains the oldest thing the district has on record. Funabashi became a city in 1937.
The stone marker 明治天皇駐蹕之処の碑 keeps the Meiji emperor's name attached to the spot it stands on, while the shopping and the horse racing that Funabashi is known for belong to the century that followed.
Where is Honchō?
Honchō holds the middle of Funabashi, on ground midway between Tokyo and Chiba, with the Torikakenishi Shell Mound among its blocks.
Good for
Updated August 2026