Industry
Chiba Prefecture is home to one of Japan's largest industrial areas. Prior to World War II manufacturing in the prefecture was centered on the brewing industry, specifically the production of soy sauce, sake and mirin sweet cooking sake. The manufacturing sector expanded greatly after the war. The prefecture was chosen as the site for a major Kawasaki Steel factory in 1950. In the same period the prefectural government embarked on a large-scale land reclamation program to dredge large plots of waterfront property. The large-scale construction of factories, warehouses, and docks on this reclaimed land around the Tokyo Bay area ultimately formed the Keiy? Industrial Zone. Chiba Prefecture is now 6th in Japan in industrial output with the bulk of the industry focued on the petroleum, chemical, and steel and machine industries. Together, these industries account for forty-five percent of the prefecture's exports. In recent years, the government has funded more than eighty industrial parks to bring development further inland as well.
Agriculture
The prefecture also boasts Japan's overall second-highest agricultural output. Among all the prefectures, only Hokkaid? produces more agricultural products, and Chiba leads Hokkaid? in vegetable production. Peanuts are considered a specialty product of Chiba Prefecture. 78% of the peanuts in Japan are produced in the prefecture.
Primary products
Chiba Prefecture leads the nation in the production of several vegetables, including:
� carrots
� cabbage
� daikon radish
� negi, the ubiquitous Japanese cultivar of the Welsh onion
� loquat
� nashi, the Japanese cultivar of the pear, which has a two hundred year history of cultivation in the Chiba Prefecture
� tomatoes
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