Beautiful trip mixing mountains, ocean, beach and mountains.
Starting in Tokyo prefecture, the port hub of Chiba is a thriving modern city. A mix of traditional shrines and contemporary theme parks.
Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan’s eastern Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo, and is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It is home to Narita International Airport and the Tokyo Disney Resort. The entirety of the coast of Chiba Prefecture is protected as two quasi-national parks and one prefectural natural park under the national park system of Japan. Cities, towns, and villages in the prefecture also have designated and protected parklands. These parks are maintained for environmental protection as well as providing local recreational facilities.
Umihotaru services area is the world’s only toll road rest area located on the sea. It is part of the Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line Expressway, a highway toll road that runs underneath Tokyo Bay from Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture to Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture. As you drive through the tunnel, it rises again to the surface at Umihotaru PA, and you can stop to take in the view.
Umihotaru was built in 1997 on an artificial island designed to structurally support the transitional point of the underground tunnel from Kanagawa and the bridge from Chiba.
Umihotaru means sea firefly in Japanese. The island brilliantly illuminates the Tokyo Bay area at night as well.