is a city located in Chiba, Japan. The city was founded on March 31, 1954. It is situated 40 kilometers northeast of the Japanese capital Tokyo and nearly 15 kilometers from Narita International Airport. Chiba City, the prefectural capital, lies 15 kilometers southwest of Sakura. Lake Imba and the vast Imba Marsh is bound by the northern city limits. It takes around 60 minutes to Tokyo and 20 minutes to Chiba City (or to Narita) by the Keisei Electric Railway or the Sōbu Main Line both running through Sakura.

As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 171,473 and the density of 1,660 persons per km². The total area is 103.59 km².

On her 40^th anniversary a Dutch windmill called De Liefde (Dutch for The Love) has been erected by the Dutch millwright company "Verbij Hoogmade BV" near the south-eastern shore of Lake Imba as a landmark of the Sakura Furusato Square. The mill serving as a polder mill is named after the first Dutch sailing ship which landed on the Japanese shore in 1600. For safety reasons against earthquakes the mill-tower is made of concrete and covered with brick-looking tiles (half-stones). The mill's sail-cross diameter amounts to 27.5 metres (90 ft). It's the only windmill of that type in Japan (a so-called "ground-sailer", which means a windmill whose sails reach almost down to the ground which the canvas sails are set from.).

See also

• Keisei-Sakura Station

External links

• Sakura official website in Japanese
• Sakura Website in English