NARASHINO

city, Chiba ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. Narashino is situated on the northeastern shore of Tokyo Bay. Formed in 1951 by the merger of Minomi, Maka, Tsuda-numa, and Okubo, the settlement has no city centre because the former towns are lined up along two railways to Tokyo. Truck farming is the main economic activity. Narashino is a weekend vacation area because of its proximity to Tokyo. Formerly the site of a military base, the city is now a residential suburb of the TokyoYokohama metropolitan area. Several institutions of higher learning, including the Chiba Institute of Technology and the Nihon University, are located there. Pop. (1987 est.) 143,800.