KISARAZU

city, Chiba ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the west coast of the Boso Peninsula, about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Tokyo and on the east coast of Tokyo Bay. Located in the delta of the Obitsu River, it prospered as an early regional commercial and post town. During the Tokugawa period (16031867), Kisarazu obtained the exclusive right of sea traffic between the western Boso Peninsula and Edo (now Tokyo). In the late 19th century Kisarazu declined with the introduction of the steamship and the opening of a railway from Tokyo along the coast of the Boso Peninsula. The expansion of the Keiyo (Tokyo-Chiba) Industrial Zone on reclaimed lands had reached the city, however, by the early 1970s, and chemicals, iron, steel, and electrical machinery are now produced there. The city is also the southeastern terminus of the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway. The last large stretch of natural beach within Tokyo Bay is at Kisarazu and is a popular recreation area. Pop. (1985) 120,201; (1990) 123,433; (1994 est.) 125,510.