Mobara Shoten Church, chapel, Mobara City
Article

12210 / もばらし

Chiba Prefecture

Mobara City

A chapel whose outline forms a cross.

Mobara Shoten Church, chapel

Photo by Suikotei (CC BY 4.0)

01 / Sacred cedar

A great log dug from the soil of a new fieldwas thought to be a mast of Yamato Takeru's ship.

Sacred cedar in Mobara City
Photo by Jerry fish tkc (CC BY-SA 3.0)

In 1724, while a new field was being developed in a village of the area, a huge tree was found buried in the soil and dug out. Thought possibly to be a mast of Yamato Takeru's ship, it was dedicated to Tachibana Shrine. Ogyu Tasukuru took part of it and made a koto; about 6 shaku remain as a shrine treasure.

  • Dug up in 1724
  • Thought possibly a ship's mast
  • City-designated (1993)

02 / Place of study

At 14 he followed his father to Honno Village;at 25 he returned to Edo.

Ogyu Sorai followed his exiled father to Honno Village in Kazusa at 14. The city says that until he was pardoned and returned to Edo at 25, in 1690, he studied hard and laid the foundation of a great Confucian scholar. The place of study is a prefecturally designated historic site.

  • To Honno Village at 14
  • To Edo at 25
  • Prefectural historic site (1957)

03 / Tanabata horses

Made of wheat straw and water oats,a large horse paired with a small ox.

This Oshiba technique makes the horse and ox displayed at Tanabata. Using wheat straw, water oats, sedge, cattail and Chinese parasol tree, makers form a large horse and a small ox as a pair. Until the 1960s it was a farm sideline sold at periodic markets. In 2022 the nation selected it as an intangible folk cultural property requiring documentation.

  • A large horse and a small ox as a pair
  • Farm sideline until the 1960s
  • National selection (2022)

Mobara City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

2016 (shot FY2016)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles(年度別空中写真(2016年度)/国土画像情報(第一期:1974〜1978年撮影))

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

53 minutes from Tokyo by the Ltd. Express Wakashio.

  • about 90,000 people
  • 60 min to a city centre

Mobara Station is 53 minutes at the fastest from Tokyo Station by the Limited Express Wakashio (a daily service; October 2026 timetable; a limited express surcharge applies). The city's own guide says about 60 minutes, and gives Nishimachi bus stop as nearest to City Hall by route bus from the station.

People living here
86,782people
19952020

−3.2% since 2015

91,664 → 86,782

Area
99.92km²

83.69km² of it habitable

2024

Households
37,120households

2.3 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
49,965yen

National average 60,630 yen

2023

Healthcare
8 hospitals / 63 clinics

8.2 per 10,000 people

2023

Area99.92km²Habitable land83.69km² / 84%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—12 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy
—
Average annual temperature
—

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Mobara City in Japan35.428°N 140.288°E
OsakaMobara City
Mobara Station
茂原駅2021
  • to TokyoLtd. exp. Wakashio53min

Travel times follow JR東日本の駅の時刻表(2610版=2026年10月ダイヤ)『茂原駅 外房線 下り』の平日(tt1563/1563010.html)と土曜・休日(1563011.html)。列車ページ https://timetables.jreast.co.jp/2610/train/045/049511.html の『特急 わかしお9号 1059M』:東京14:00発→海浜幕張14:23→蘇我14:33→大網14:45→茂原14:53着(京葉線経由・普通車全車指定席)。docs/handoff/tools/jr_count.py を『毎日』だけに絞って数えた(平日と土休日の両方のリストに同じ列車ページ049511が載る=日で分かれない毎日運転。運転日の備考は無い) (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 8 municipalities.

Territory of Mobara City
Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号 平27情使、第585号)

Mobara City isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Mobara Shoten Church is a wooden single-story chapel from 1933 whose plan outlines a Latin cross, and is a nationally registered tangible cultural property
  2. 02Tachibana Shrine keeps the remainder of a great log dug from the soil during field development, part of which Ogyu Tasukuru made into a koto
  3. 03Ogyu Sorai's place of study in Honno, where he lived from 14 to 25, is a prefectural historic site, and Oshiba's Tanabata horse technique is nationally selected as an intangible folk cultural property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.