Japan · Chiba-ken · Urayasu
Ichikawa, Urayasu — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Ichikawa is the core district of a Chiba Prefecture city where shell mounds and Shimōsa Kokubun-ji Temple stand beside the rail routes into Tokyo.
About Ichikawa
Where to stay in Ichikawa
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Rail is the argument here. Trains out of Ichikawa reach the centre of Tokyo readily, and the major routes that pass through the district make a room here a workable base for someone whose days are spent in the capital rather than in Chiba Prefecture. Sightseeing is thinner.
The Ichikawa City Museum of Literature and the Chiba Museum of Science and Industry hold an afternoon between them, while the Ubayama Shell Mound and the Horinouchi Shell Mound give a walk its destination. Beds sit near the lines.
About Ichikawa
What are the main landmarks in Ichikawa?
Shell mounds dominate the record. The Ubayama Shell Mound, the Horinouchi Shell Mound and the Soya Shell Mound all lie within the district, and the Kōnodai Site, the Onitaka Site and the Suwada Site add more ground that has been dug over. Temples follow.
Shimōsa Kokubun-ji Temple and Shimōsa Kokubun-niji stand as a pair under the same name, while the Chiba Museum of Science and Industry, the Ichikawa City Museum of Literature and the ballpark at 市川市スポーツセンター国府台球場 cover the modern end of the list.
What is the history of Ichikawa?
The shell mounds date the district. Ubayama Shell Mound and Horinouchi Shell Mound record settlement long before any of it was written down, and the Onitaka Site and the Suwada Site extend that picture across the surrounding ground. Temples came later.
Shimōsa Kokubun-ji Temple and Shimōsa Kokubun-niji belong to the centuries between, and Ichikawa became a city in 1934, many hundreds of years after the temples and far longer after the mounds.
Where is Ichikawa?
Ichikawa covers a wide stretch of Chiba Prefecture, crossed by the major rail routes and roads that carry on into the centre of Tokyo.
Good for
More areas in Urayasu
Updated September 2026