Chiba Nanohana News (November 11, 2026)

 Index

I.Festivals and Events     II.Exhibitions, Concerts, etc 

I.Festivals and Events

1)Narita Airport - Kujukuri Cycling Stamp Rally 2026 (Yokoshibahikari Town, Shibayama Town, Sanmu City)

The Montbell Friend Area Kujukuri Liaison Committee (Yokoshibahikari Town, Shibayama Town and Sanmu City) are collaborating with Narita Airport, Chiba University and local cyclists to bring about a new cycle tourism initiative. The aim of this industry-academia-government collaboration is to increase the number of visitors in the area and revitalize the local community.

As a part of this initiative a second round of last year’s very popular digital stamp rally is being held.

The stamp rally has 10 locations, such as each town and city’s roadside station, that are the highlights of a challenging cycling route, established as digital stamp spots. Depending on the number of stamps you acquire, you can be entered into lotteries in which you can win local goods and hotel vouchers. This year luxurious prizes have been prepared that far exceed last year’s in both number and content, so please take this time to participate and visit some of Japan’s leading beaches where you can watch planes fly overhead.

Digital Stamp Points（10 locations）

• Orai Hasunuma Roadside Station
• Motosuka Beach
• Narita Airport Onsen - Sora no Yu
• Fuwari Shibayama Roadside Station
• Shibayama Nioson Kannonkyo-ji Temple
• Sanmu City Information Centre
• Yokoshiba Station Information Exchange Centre - Yoridokoro
• Marin-pia Kuriyamagawa
• Landing Site of the Principal Deity of Naritasan - where the statue of the deity Fudo Myo-o first came ashore.
• Fureai Sakataike Park

Prizes

• 【A Prize】10 locations: Luxurious! Kujukuri Area Hotel Voucher or Gourmet Food (3 people will be chosen via a lottery)
• 【B Prize】5 or more locations: Nice! Set of Kujukuri Area Local Products (15 people will be chosen via a lottery)
• 【C Prize】2 or more locations: Fun! Set of Kujukuri Area Local Products (12 people will be chosen via a lottery)
• 【Special Prize 】10 locations: Original Cycling Jersey (3 people will be chosen via a lottery)
• 【Participation Prize】For all participants: Original Can Badge

 

• Dates: until Thursday December 31^st, 2026 (ongoing)
• Location: Various locations in Yokoshibahikari Town, Shibayama Town and Sanmu City
• Enquiries: Montbell Friend Area Kujukuri Liaison Committee TEL: 0479-77-3919

2)Mihama-en Lantern Festival 2026 - Garden Light-up / Makuhari Seaside Park Japanese Garden “Mihama-en” (Chiba City)

Mihama-en is the Japanese Garden inside of Makuhari Seaside Park. It is a chisen-kaiyushiki garden (a walking garden that centres around a pond) with various elements that represent mountains and rivers, the sea, and forests, where visitors can enjoy the natural beauty of each season.

In Autumn, the gardens are painted vivid red and yellow as the leaves of Japanese maples and Euonymus trees, one of the world’s three most-popular red-leaf trees, begin to change.

In order to further enhance the atmosphere of the Japanese garden, from mid-October the branches of the trees are tied up in a traditional technique called yukitsuri. Yukitsuri is mainly used in snowy regions such as the Hokuriku area to protect the trees from the weight of snow. Seeing this landscape, visitors can truly sense the arrival of winter.

In addition, visitors can enjoy seasonal Japanese sweets and matcha sets in the park’s authentic teahouse and experience feeding the carp（1 bag of fish food for \100）.

 

• Date: Saturday 14^th - Monday 23^rd November 2026
  【Illumination Period】Weekday 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm / Weekend and Holidays 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
• Location: Prefectural Makuhari Seaside Park / 2-116 Hibino, Mihama-ku, Chiba City
• Entry Fee:【Regular admission fee】Adults \100 / Students (Elementary - High School) \50
  ※To watch the illuminations, you will need to pay a nighttime viewing fee of \500
  ※For visitors over 65 and those with disabilities and their carers, entry is free
  ※If you enter the park before 5 pm, you will have to leave the park at closing time and reenter
• Access: By car - Exit the Higashi-Kanto Expressway at the Wangan-Narashino IC onto Route 357. Continue straight and take a right at the Nakase Intersection, then turn left at the Messe Intersection.
  Exit the Higashi-Kanto Expressway at the Wangan-Chiba IC onto Route 357. Continue straight and take a left at the Wakaba Intersection, then turn right at the Hibino 2-Chome Intersection
  By train - Approx. 10 minutes on foot from Kaihin-Makuhari Station South Exit (JR Keiyo Line)
• Enquiries: Prefectural Makuhari Seaside Park, Park Centre TEL: 043-296-0126

3)Autumn Leaves / Sakura Castle Ruins Park (Sakura City)

The Castle ruins park of Sakura Castle, one of Japan’s 100 best castles, is beloved for being a historical park where visitors can enjoy the nature of each of the four seasons. As Autumn deepens, the park becomes decorated with autumn leaves which, together with the atmosphere of the castle ruins, creates a truly unique charm.

Inside the park, remnants of the former Sakura Castle, such as that of the castle tower and dry moat, are scattered around and the stone walls and ramparts covered in autumn leaves silently tell a story of the weight of history and the beauty of nature.

By the side of the castle tower remains are the “Wedded Mokkoku Trees” which are around 400 years old. These evergreen trees against the backdrop of red autumn leaves add depth to the autumn landscape.

At the Management Centre on the East side of the park, models and old photographs of Sakura Castle are displayed along with artifacts excavated from the site. Visitors can enjoy a stroll through history while admiring the autumn leaves.

In addition, at the National Museum of Japanese History, on the site of the Ninomaru (a courtyard located close to the castle’s main keep), visitors can experience Japanese archaeology, history, and folklore and enjoy an autumn moment that intertwines culture and nature.

Please enjoy Autumn at Sakura Castle Ruins Park, where autumn leaves and history are woven together!

 

• Dates: mid-November to mid-December
• Location: Sakura Castle Ruins Park / Jonaicho, Sakura City
• Access:
  By train - Approx. 20 minutes on foot from Keisei Sakura Station South Exit (Keisei Line), or 5 minutes on foot if you take the Keisei-Chiba East Bus bound for "Tamachi Shako", and get off at "Kokuritsu hakubutsukan iriguchi" / "Kokuritsu rekishi-minzoku hakubutsukan mae" bus stop.
  - Approx. 25 minutes on foot from Sakura Station North Exit (JR Sobu Main Line), or 5 minutes on foot if you take the Keisei-Chiba East Bus bound for "Tamachi Shako", and get off at "Kokuritsu hakubutsukan iriguchi" / "Kokuritsu rekishi-minzoku hakubutsukan mae" bus stop.
• Enquiries: Sakura City Parks and Greenery Division TEL: 043-484-6165

4)Rice Terrace Illumination / Oyama Senmaida (Kamogawa City)

Oyama Senmaida is hosting the ‘Rice Terrace Illumination’, a light-up event that has widely become an　autumn-winter tradition. It is a nationally famous and beautiful rice terrace that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery has certified as one of “Japan’s 100 Rice Terraces” and a “Tsunagu Rice Terrace Heritage”.

However, in autumn when the rice harvest is over and the rice fields are temporarily bare, it is not yet the end of the story. When night falls, the landscape of the quintessentially Japanese terraced rice fields, transforms as if under a magic spell. Blue, orange, green, various coloured LED lights frame the rice field and create a spectacle similar to a wave of light.

This autumn-winter season, escape from the hustle and bustle and find yourself entranced by the magical atmosphere of illuminations in the great outdoors.

 

• Date: Saturday October 10^th 2026 - Monday January 11^th 2027
  5 pm - 8 pm (around 3 hours from sunset)
• Location: Oyama Senmaida / 540 Hiratsuka, Kamogawa City
• Entry Fee: Free for viewing
• Access:
  By car - Approx. 50 minutes from the Kimitsu IC (Tateyama Expressway). Approx. 20 minutes from the Kyonan-Hota IC (Futtsu-Tateyama Road).
  By train - Approx. 20 minutes on foot from Awa-Kamogawa Station East Exit (JR Uchibo and Sotobo Lines), or 25 minutes by local bus (Nagasa/Kanaya Lines) to "Oyama Senmaida iriguchi" bus stop.
• Enquiries: NPO Oyama Senmaida Preservation Association TEL: 04-7099-9050

II.Exhibitions Concerts ETC 

1)    Chiba City 900^th Anniversary Commemorative Special Exhibition 2026: “Chiba Town Anthology - 900 Years of the Town Created by the Chiba Clan” / Chiba City Local History Museum（Chiba City）

 

Chiba Town, which is celebrating 900 years since its founding, began as the stronghold for the Chiba Clan.

In the Medieval Period the stronghold developed as a transportation hub, then in the Early-Modern Period flourished into a bustling urban area. Finally, in the modern era with the establishment of the Prefectural Government, Chiba Town became the Prefectural Capital.

This exhibition introduces the historical continuity and evolution of the town built by the Chiba Clan, through a variety of resources.

<Exhibits>

1. Prologue - Chiba town’s 900 years of history that sleeps beneath the city streets
2. Chapter 1: Ancient Period - The Prehistory of Chiba Town: Connected by Roads, Stations, Villages, and Temples
3. Chapter 2: Medieval Period - Chiba Town Becomes the Centre of Shimosa under the Chiba Clan
4. Chapter 3: Early-Modern Period - Bustling Towns, Prosperous Ports and the Inheritance of the Myoken Faith
5. Chapter 4: Modern Era - Chiba Town’s Return to the Centre of the Prefectural Administration: Various Facets of the Prefectural Capital
6. Epilogue - The Past and the Future of Chiba Town as seen from Chiba Castle

 

• Time: until Sunday December 6^th  9 am - 5 pm (Last entry 4:30 pm)
• Location: Chiba City Local History Museum, Special Exhibition Room /  1-6-1 Inohana, Chuo-Ku, Chiba City
• Access: By train - From JR Chiba Station, catch the bus bound for either "Chiba Daigakubyoin" (Chiba University Hospital) or "Minamiyahagi" at the East Exit Bus Terminal Stop No.7. Get off at "Kyodohakubutsukan/Chibaken-Bunkakaikan" (Chiba City Folk Museum / Chiba Prefectural Cultural Hall) and walk around 3 minutes.
  Approx. 13 minutes on foot from Kencho-mae Station (Chiba Urban Monorail).
  Approx. 15 minutes on foot from Hon-Chiba Station (JR Uchibo and Sotobo Lines).
  Approx. 20 minutes on foot from Chiba Chuo Station (Keisei Chiba Line)
• Enquiries: Chiba City Local History Museum TEL: 043-222-8231

 

 

I.Festivals and Events      II.Exhibitions, Concerts, etc