Keiyō Industrial Zone (京葉工業地域,Keiyō Kōgyō Chiiki),[1] also known as the Keiyō Industrial Region, the Keiyō Industrial Area, or the Keiyō Industrial Belt, is anindustrial zone on the northeastern coast ofTokyo Bay that crosses 8 cities inChiba Prefecture,Japan. The zone spans from the western part ofUrayasu in the northeast toFuttsu in the southeast of the region. The zone has no political or administrative status.[2]
The name of the industrial zone is formed from twokanji characters. The first,京, means "capital city" and refers to Tokyo. The second,葉, meaning "leaf", is the second kanji in "Chiba" and refers to Chiba Prefecture, and the compound refers to the Tokyo-Chiba region.[3]
The Keiyō Industrial Zone spans the coast of Tokyo Bay from Urayasu in the northeast, throughFunabashi,Chiba City,Kisarazu,Kimitsu,Ichihara,Sodegaura, and ends inFuttsu to the southeast. Numerous small rivers empty into the industrial region, and provide a source of water to support industry. They include theEdo River, theYōrō River, and theKoito River.
Before industrialization the Keiyō region was originally home tonoriseaweed collection, theshellfish industry, mixed small-scale fishing and agricultural villages, andbeach resorts.[4] TheKeihin region, spanning west from Tokyo toYokohama, was developed afterWorld War I. With the rapid development of thedefense industry in Japan from the beginning of theShōwa period in 1926, a plan for thedecentralization of industry from the immediate Tokyo area was planned in 1935.The Keiyō Industrial Region was fully developed afterWorld War II. Someland reclamation had been carried out in coastal areas of Tokyo Bay as part of the industrialization of Japan in the early 20th century. Reclaimed land areas replaced traditional fishing areas and supported small factories. The construction of theKawasakiSteel Works in Chiba City in 1953 marked the beginning of the large-scale construction ofheavy industry infrastructure in the industrial zone,[5] and other industries soon followed. Thedeepwater ports of the Keiyō Industrial Zone were built starting in the 1950s.Thermal powergenerators were built,[6] and large tracts of land were reclaimed from the bay for expansion of the Keiyō region. Keiyō was significantly expanded in the 1960s.Heavy metal andchemical production were among the highest in Japan by the 1970s.
The zone is a major base for theelectric power generation,petrochemical,petroleum,shipbuilding,logistics,shipping, andsteel industries.[7] ThePort of Chiba is a major component to the Keiyō Industrial Region.
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