Shirako Shrine, town's namesake, Shirako Town
Article

12424 ／ しらこまち

Chiba Prefecture 長生郡

Shirako Town

The town took the name of one shrine.

Shirako Shrine, town's namesake

Photo by Alpharigid (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Net-master's house

On a village at the southwest of Kujukuri Beach,stands an 1866 former net-master's house.

The main building of Hosoya House is a single-story, thatched, hipped-roof structure built in 1866 (Keio 2). Cultural Heritage Online calls it the main building of a former net-master's house, and the recommendation notes it was moved in 1974. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 November 2025.

  • Built in 1866 (Keio 2)
  • Single-story thatched hipped roof
  • Registered 17 Nov 2025

02 ／ Green laver

The town's reader records that green laverbegan in the Nabaki River's brackish water in 1871.

Green laver in Shirako Town
Photo by ゆりのき橋 (CC BY 3.0)

The town board of education's reader records that production of green laver began at Shirako in 1871 (Meiji 4), in the brackish water where sea and fresh water mix on the Nabaki River. According to the prefecture, chopped green laver is spread by hand, sheet by sheet, into boards and dried in the sun.

  • Brackish-water green laver
  • Chopped, spread sheet by sheet
  • Town-designated monument (1980)

03 ／ Milk

A Seki Village native learned milking at a Dutch dairyand opened a dairy in Yokohama in 1863.

Maeda Tomekichi was born in 1840 in Seki Village, Nagara District, Kazusa Province. A chronology in a paper by Adachi and Yazawa says he learned milking in 1861 while employed at a Dutchman's dairy. It says that in 1863 he opened a dairy at 8-chome, Ota-machi, Yokohama.

  • Born in Seki Village, 1840
  • Opened a dairy in 1863
  • Ota-machi 8-chome, Yokohama

Shirako Town from the sky

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

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot February–March 2012)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／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

60 minutes by bus from Chiba Station.

  • about 10,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in town. On the Kominato Railway highway bus Chiba-Shirako Nakazato Line, the 14:30 departure from Chiba Station, Stop 4, which runs on weekdays and on weekends and holidays, reaches Shirako Depot at 15:30. The 18:40 departure also takes 60 minutes; the timetable was revised on 8 May 2023.

People living here
10,305people
19952020

−7.6% since 2015

13,238 → 10,305

Area
27.5km²

25.85km² of it habitable

2024

Households
4,137households

2.5 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals ／ 5 clinics

4.9 per 10,000 people

2023

Area27.5km²Habitable land25.85km² ／ 94%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—3 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.

Shirako Town in Japan35.454°N 140.374°E
OsakaShirako Town
Shirako Town Office
白子町役場2024
  • to ChibaHighway bus60min

Travel times follow 町に鉄道の駅は無い（Wikidata にも項目が無い。町公式『交通アクセス』〈2015-04-01 更新〉も電車は『茂原駅下車』とし、町外の茂原駅からのバスを案内する）。小湊鐵道の高速バス『千葉～白子中里線』（2023年5月8日改定）の時刻表の、平日・土休日の両方にある便を採った (checked 2026-10-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Shirako Town
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)

Shirako Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The town says Shirako was named after Shirako Shrine when one town and two villages merged in 1955. The main hall, completed in 1762, is a prefecturally designated cultural property (4 March 2016)
  2. 02The main building of Hosoya House is the main building of a former net-master's house from 1866, whose thatched roof shapes the local landscape
  3. 03The town's reader records that green laver production began on the Nabaki River in 1871, and Maeda Tomekichi, born in Seki Village, opened a dairy in Yokohama in 1863

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shirako Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes

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Next town Chiba Prefecture Nagara Town →Many of these cave tombs have a raised burial floor.