Ichikawa, Chiba

History

The area around present-day Ichikawa has been inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic period. Archaeologists have found stone tools dating to some 30,000 years ago. Numerous shell middens from the Jomon period, and hundreds of burial tumuli from the Kofun period have been found in numerous locations around Ichikawa. During the Nara period, Ichikawa was the provincial capital of Shimosa Province and is mentioned in the Manyoshu. During the Heian period, this area was the center of the rebellion by Taira Masakado. During the Sengoku period, it was the site of a major battles (Battle of Konodai) between the Satomi clan and the Late Hojo clan.

In more recent history, the area was also the site of some minor battles during the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration and was promoted as a possible site for the new Diet of Japan by Katsu Kaishu, who envisioned a structure to be built on the Edogawa River similar to the Houses of Parliament in London along the Thames. Ichikawa Town was organized in 1889. On November 3, 1934 it merged with the neighboring towns of Yawata, Nakayama and village of Kokubun to form the city of Ichikawa. The city expanded by annexing the village of Okashiwa on November 3, 1949, the town of Gyotoku on March 31, 1955 and town of Minami-Gyotoku on October 1, 1956.