Kamakura 鎌倉市
—  City  —
Flag
Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture
Kamakura
Coordinates: 35°19′N 139°33′E / 35.317°N 139.55°E / 35.317; 139.55Coordinates: 35°19′N 139°33′E / 35.317°N 139.55°E / 35.317; 139.55
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa
Government
• Mayor	Takashi Matsuo (Politician)
Area
• Total	39.60 km2 (15.29 sq mi)
Population (March 1, 2010)
• Total	174,016
• Density	4,390/km2 (11,400/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City Symbols
– Tree	Yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura)
– Flower	Gentian
Phone number	0467-23-3000
Address	18-10 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 248-8686
Website	City of Kamakura

Kamakura (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi^?) is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called Renpu (鎌府^?) (short for Kamakura Bakufu (鎌倉幕府, or Kamakura Shogunate^?)).

Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period. Yet, despite Kamakura's annihilation of Kyoto-based political and military power at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185, and the failure of the Emperor to free himself from Kamakura's control during the Jōkyū War, Takahashi (2005) has questioned whether Kamakura's nationwide political hegemony actually existed.^[1] Takahashi claims that if Kamakura ruled the Kantō, not only was the Emperor in fact still the ruler of Kansai, but during this period the city was in many ways politically and administratively still under the ancient capital of Kyoto.^[1] Kamakura was simply a rival center of political, economic and cultural power in a country that had Kyoto as its capital.^[1]

According to The Institute for Research on World-Systems,^[2] Kamakura was the 4th largest city in the world in 1250 AD, with 200,000 people, and Japan's largest, eclipsing Kyoto by 1200 AD.

As of March 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 174,016 and a population density of 4,390 inhabitants per square kilometre (11,400 /sq mi). The total area is 39.60 square kilometres (15.29 sq mi).

Kamakura was designated as a city on November 3, 1939.

Kamakura has a beach which, in combination with its temples and proximity to Tokyo, makes it a popular tourist destination. Kamakura's bay has a surf break off of the headland point, albeit an inconsistent one, which makes it at least a second-tier destination for surfers. It is also noted for its senbei, which are crisp crackers grilled and sold fresh along the main shopping street.

Geography[link]

A map of Kamakura with the approximate location of the most important historical sites. The darker color indicates flatland.

Surrounded to the north, east and west by hills and to the south by the open water of Sagami Bay, Kamakura is a natural fortress.^[3] Before the construction of several tunnels and modern roads that now connect it to Fujisawa, Ofuna and Zushi, on land it could be entered only through narrow artificial passes, among which the seven most important were called Kamakura's Seven Entrances (鎌倉七口^?), a name sometimes translated as "Kamakura's Seven Mouths". The natural fortification made Kamakura an easily defensible stronghold.^[3]

Before the opening of the Entrances, access on land was so difficult that the Azuma Kagami reports that Hōjō Masako came back to Kamakura from a visit to Sōtōzan temple in Izu bypassing by boat the impassable Inamuragasaki cape and arriving in Yuigahama.^[3] Again according to the Azuma Kagami, the first of the Kamakura shoguns, Minamoto no Yoritomo, chose it as a base partly because it was his ancestors' land (his yukari no chi), partly because of these physical characteristics.^[3]

To the north of the city stands Mt. Genji (Genjiyama) (源氏山^?) (92 m/302 ft), which then passes behind the Daibutsu and reaches Inamuragasaki and the sea.^[4]

From the north to the east Kamakura is surrounded by Mt. Rokkokuken (六国見^?) (147 m/482 ft), Mt. Ōhira (大平山^?) (159 m/522 ft), Mt. Jubu (鷲峰山^?) (127 m/417 ft), Mt. Tendai (天台山^?)（141 m/463 ft), and Mt. Kinubari (衣張山^?)（120 m/390 ft), which extend all the way to Iijimagasaki and Wakae Island, on the border with Kotsubo and Zushi.^[4] From Kamakura's alluvional plain branch off numerous narrow valleys like the Urigayatsu, Shakadōgayatsu, Ōgigayatsu, Kamegayatsu, Hikigayatsu, and Matsubagayatsu valleys. (The ending "ヶ谷" meaning "valley", common in place names and usually read "-gaya", in Kamakura is pronounced "-gayatsu").

Kamakura is crossed by the Namerigawa river, which goes from the Asaina Pass in northern Kamakura to the beach in Yuigahama for a total length of about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi). The river marks the border between Zaimokuza and Yuigahama.

In administrative terms, the municipality of Kamakura borders with Yokohama to the north, with Zushi to the east, and with Fujisawa to the west.^[4] It includes many areas outside the Seven Entrances as Yamanouchi, Koshigoe (腰越^?), Shichirigahama, and Ofuna, and is the result of the fusion of Kamakura proper with the cities of Koshigoe, absorbed in 1939, Ofuna, absorbed in 1948, and with the village of Fukasawa, absorbed in 1948.

Kita-Kamakura (Yamanouchi)[link]

North-west of Kamakura lies Yamanouchi, commonly called Kita-Kamakura because of the presence of East Japan Railway Company's (JR) Kita-Kamakura Station. Yamanouchi, however, was technically never a part of historical Kamakura since it is outside the Seven Entrances. Yamanouchi was the northern border of the city during the shogunate,^[5] and the important Kobukorozaka and Kamegayatsu Passes, two of Kamakura's Seven Entrances, led directly to it. Its name at the time used to be Sakado-gō (尺度郷^?).^[6] The border post used to lie about a hundred meters past today's Kita-Kamakura train station in Ofuna's direction.^[5]

Although very small, Yamanouchi is famous for its traditional atmosphere and the presence, among others, of three of the five highest-ranking Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura, the Kamakura Gozan (鎌倉五山^?). These three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of the Hōjō clan, a branch of the Taira clan which ruled Japan for 150 years. Among Kita-Kamakura's most illustrious citizens were artist Isamu Noguchi and movie director Yasujirō Ozu. Ozu is buried at Engaku-ji.

Wakamiya Ōji and the shogunate's six avenues[link]

Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and the dankazura during the Edo period

Kamakura's defining feature is Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, a Shinto shrine located in the center of the city. A 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) road (参道, sandō^?) runs from Sagami Bay directly to the shrine. This road is known as Wakamiya Ōji, the city's main street. Built by Minamoto no Yoritomo as an imitation of Kyoto's Suzaku Ōji, Wakamiya Ōji used to be much wider, delimited on both sides by a 3 metre deep canal and flanked by pine trees.^[7]

Walking from the beach toward the shrine, one passes through three torii, or Shinto gates, called respectively Ichi no Torii (first gate), Ni no Torii (second gate) and San no Torii (third gate). Between the first and the second lies Geba Yotsukado which, as the name indicates, was the place where riders had to get off their horses in deference to Hachiman and his shrine.^[7]

Approximately 100 metres after the second torii, the dankazura, a raised pathway flanked by cherry trees that marks the center of Kamakura, begins. The dankazura becomes gradually wider so that it will look longer than it really is when viewed from the shrine. Its entire length is under the direct administration of the shrine. Minamoto no Yoritomo made his father-in-law Hōjō Tokimasa and his men carry by hand the stones to build it to pray for the safe delivery of his son Yoriie. The danzakura used to go all the way to Geba, but it was drastically shortened during the 19th century to make way for the newly-constructed Yokosuka railroad line.^[7]

In Kamakura, wide streets are called Ōji (大路^?)、narrower ones Kōji (小路^?), the small streets that connect the two are called zushi (辻子^?), and intersections tsuji (辻^?). Komachi Ōji and Ima Kōji run respectively east and west of Wakamiya Ōji, while Yoko Ōji, the road that passes right under San no Torii, and Ōmachi Ōji, which goes from Kotsubo to Geba and Hase, run in the east – west direction.^[7] Near the remains of Hama no Ōtorii runs Kuruma Ōji Avenue (also called Biwa Koji). These six streets (three running north to south and three east to west) were built at the time of the shogunate and are all still under heavy use. The only one to have been modified is Kuruma Ōji, a segment of which has disappeared.

Early history[link]

The earliest traces of human settlements in the area date back at least 10,000 years. Obsidian and stone tools found at excavation sites near Jōraku-ji were dated to the Old Stone Age (between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago). During the Jōmon period, the sea level was higher than now and all the flat land in Kamakura up to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and, further east, up to Yokohama's Totsuka-ku and Sakae-ku was under water. Thus, the oldest pottery fragments found come from hillside settlements of the period between 7500 BC and 5000 BC. In the late Jōmon period the sea receded and civilization progressed. During the Yayoi period (300 BC–300 AD), the sea receded further almost to today's coastline, and the economy shifted radically from hunting and fishing to farming.^[8]

The Azuma Kagami describes pre-shogunate Kamakura as a remote, forlorn place, but there is reason to believe its writers simply wanted to give the impression that prosperity had been brought there by the new regime.^[9] To the contrary, it is known that by the Nara Period (about 700 AD) there were both temples and shrines. Sugimoto-dera for example was built during this period and is therefore one of the city's oldest temples.^[8] The town was also the seat of area government offices and the point of convergence of several land and marine routes. It seems therefore only natural that it should have been a city of a certain importance, likely to attract Yoritomo's attention.^[9]

Etymology of the name Kamakura and its first use[link]

There are various hypotheses about the origin of its name. According to the most likely one, Kamakura, surrounded as it is on three sides by mountains, was likened both to a cooking stove (a kamado (竃^?)) and to a warehouse (a kura (倉^?)), because both only have one side open. It seems therefore likely that it was called at first Kamadokura, and that the syllable do was then gradually dropped.^[10]

Another and more picturesque explanation is a legend according to which Fujiwara no Kamatari stopped at Yuigahama on his way to today's Ibaraki Prefecture where he wanted to pray for peace at the Kashima Jingu Shrine. He dreamed of an old man who promised his support, and the day after he found next to his bed a type of sword called kamayari. Kamatari enshrined it in a place called Okura. Kamayari plus Okura turned into Kamakura.^[10]

The name appears in the Kojiki of 712.^[10][11] Kamakura is also mentioned in the c. 8th century Man'yōshū^[12][13] as well as in the Wamyō Ruijushō^[14] of 938. However, the city clearly appears in the historical record only with Minamoto no Yoritomo and his shogunate of 1192.

The Kamakura period[link]

Portrait traditionally believed to be of Minamoto no Yoritomo, but now believed to be of Ashikaga Tadayoshi^[15]

The extraordinary events, the historical characters and the culture of the twenty years which go from Minamoto no Yoritomo's birth to the assassination of the last of his sons have been throughout Japanese history the background and the inspiration for countless poems, books, jidaigeki TV dramas, Kabuki plays, songs, manga and even videogames; and are necessary to make sense of much of what one sees in today's Kamakura.

Yoritomo, after the defeat and almost complete extermination of his family at the hands of the Taira clan, managed in the space of a few years to go from being a fugitive hiding from his enemies inside a tree trunk to being the most powerful man in the land. Defeating the Taira clan, Yoritomo became de facto ruler of much of Japan and founder of the Kamakura shogunate, an institution destined to last 141 years and to have immense repercussions over the country's history.

The Kamakura shogunate era is called by historians the Kamakura period and, although its end is clearly set (Siege of Kamakura (1333)), its beginning is not. Different historians put Kamakura's beginning at a different point in time within a range that goes from the establishment of Yoritomo's first military government in Kamakura (1180) to his elevation to the rank of Seii Taishogun (征夷大将軍^?) in 1192.^[1] It used to be thought that during this period, effective power had moved completely from the Emperor in Kyōto to Yoritomo in Kamakura, but the progress of research has revealed this wasn't the case.^[1] Even after the consolidation of the shogunate's power in the east, the Emperor continued to rule the country, particularly its west.^[1] However, it's undeniable that Kamakura had a certain autonomy and that it had surpassed the technical capital of Japan politically, culturally and economically.^[1] The shogunate even reserved for itself an area in Kyōto called Rokuhara (六波羅^?) where lived its representatives, who were there to protect its interests.^[1]

The stele on the spot where Yoritomo's Ōkura Bakufu used to stand

In 1179, Yoritomo married Hōjō Masako, an event of far-reaching consequences for Japan. And in 1180, he entered Kamakura, building his residence in a valley called Ōkura (in today's Nishi Mikado). The stele on the spot (see photo) reads:

820 years ago, in 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo built his mansion here. Consolidated his power, he later ruled from home, and his government was therefore called Ōkura Bakufu (大蔵幕府^?). He was succeeded by his sons Yoriie and Sanetomo, and this place remained the seat of the government for 46 years until 1225, when his wife Hōjō Masako died. It was then transferred to Utsunomiya Tsuji (宇津宮辻^?).
Erected in March 1917 by the Kamakurachō Seinendan

In 1185 his forces, commanded by his younger brother Minamoto no Yoshitsune, vanquished the Taira and in 1192 he received from Emperor Go-Toba the title of Seii Tai Shogun.^[16] Yoshitsune's power would however cause Yoritomo's jealousy; the relationship between the brothers soured, and in 1189 Yoritomo was given Yoshitsune's head pickled in liquor. For the same reason, in 1193 he had his other brother Noriyori killed. Power was now firmly in his hands, but the Minamoto dynasty and its power however were to end as quickly and unexpectedly as they had started.

In 1199 Yoritomo died falling from his horse when he was only 51 and was buried in a temple that had until then housed his tutelary goddess.^[17] He was succeeded by his 17-year-old son and second shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie under the regency of his maternal grandfather Hōjō Tokimasa. A long and bitter fight ensued in which entire clans like the Hatakeyama, the Hiki, and the Wada were wiped out by the Hōjō who wished to get rid of Yoritomo supporters and consolidate their power. Yoriie did become head of the Minamoto clan and was regularly appointed shogun in 1202 but, by that time, real power had already fallen into the hands of his grandfather Hōjō Tokimasa and of his mother.^[16] Yoriie plotted to take power back from the Hōjō clan, but failed and was assassinated on July 17, 1204.^[16] His six-year-old first son Ichiman had already been killed during political turmoil in Kamakura, while his second son Yoshinari at age six was forced to become a Buddhist priest under the name Kugyō. From then on all power would belong to the Hōjō, and the shogun would be just a figurehead. Since the Hōjō were part of the Taira clan, it can be said that the Taira had lost a battle, but in the end had won the war.

The Hōjō family crest, ubiquitous in Kamakura

Yoritomo's second son and third shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo spent most of his life staying out of politics and writing good poetry, but was nonetheless assassinated in February 1219 by his nephew Kugyō under the giant ginkgo tree that still stands at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.^[16] Kugyō himself, the last of his line, was beheaded as a punishment for his crime by the Hōjō just hours later. Barely 30 years into the shogunate, the Seiwa Genji dynasty who had created it in Kamakura had tragically ended.^[16]

The Hōjō regency, a unique episode in Japanese history, however continued until Nitta Yoshisada destroyed it in 1333 at the Siege of Kamakura. It was under the regency that Kamakura acquired many of its best and most prestigious temples and shrines, for example Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jōchi-ji, and Zeniarai Benten Shrine. The Hōjō family crest in the city is therefore still ubiquitous.

From the middle of the thirteenth century, the fact that the vassals (the gokenin) were allowed to become de facto owners of the land they administered, coupled to the custom that all gokenin children could inherit, led to the parcelization of the land and to a consequent weakening of the shogunate. This, and not lack of legitimacy, was the primary cause of the Hōjō's fall.

The fall of the Kamakura shogunate[link]

This field is the former site of Tōshō-ji, the Hōjō family temple. In 1333, the Hōjō clan committed mass suicide here.

On July 3, 1333,^[18] warlord Nitta Yoshisada, who was an Emperor loyalist, attacked Kamakura to reestablish imperial rule. After trying to enter by land through the Kewaizaka Pass and the Gokuraku-ji Pass, he and his forces waited for a low tide, bypassed the Inamuragasaki cape, entered the city and took it.^[19]

In accounts of that disastrous Hōjō defeat it is recorded that nearly 900 Hōjō samurai, including the last three Regents, committed suicide at their family temple, Tōshō-ji, whose ruins have been found in today's Ōmachi. Almost the entire clan vanished at once, the city was sacked and many temples were burned.^[20] Many simple citizens imitated the Hōjō, and an estimated total of over 6,000 died on that day of their own hand.^[19] In 1953, 556 skeletons of that period were found during excavations near Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's Ichi no Torii in Yuigahama, all of people who had died of a violent death, probably at the hand Nitta's forces.

The Muromachi and Edo periods[link]

The Kamakura-fu at the time of its maximum expansion

The fall of Kamakura marks the beginning of an era in Japanese history characterized by chaos and violence called the Muromachi period. Kamakura's decline was slow, and in fact the next phase of its history, in which, as the capital of the Kantō region, it dominated the east of the country, lasted almost as long as the shogunate had.^[21] Kamakura would come out of it almost completely destroyed.^[22]

The situation in Kantō after 1333 continued to be tense, with Hōjō supporters staging sporadic revolts here and there.^[23] In 1335, Hōjō Tokiyuki, son of last regent Takatoki, tried to re-establish the shogunate by force and defeated Kamakura's de-facto ruler Ashikaga Tadayoshi in Musashi, in today's Kanagawa prefecture.^[24] He was in his turn defeated in Koshigoe by Ashikaga Takauji, who had come in force from Kyoto to help his brother.^[22][24]

Takauji, founder of the Ashikaga shogunate which, at least nominally, ruled Japan during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, at first established his residence at the same site in Kamakura where Yoritomo's Ōkura Bakufu had been (see above), but in 1336 he left Kamakura in charge of his son Yoshiakira and went west in pursuit of Nitta Yoshisada.^[23] The Ashikaga then decided to permanently stay in Kyoto, making Kamakura instead the capital of the Kamakura-fu (鎌倉府^?) (or Kantō-fu (関東府^?)), a region including the provinces of Sagami, Musashi, Awa, Kazusa, Shimōsa, Hitachi, Kozuke, Shimotsuke, Kai, and Izu, to which were later added Mutsu and Dewa, making it the equivalent to today's Kanto, plus the Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures.^[21]

A 1685 illustration from the Shinpen Kamakurashi of the lot where the Kantō kubō's mansion once stood. It was left empty in the hope that he may one day return.

Kamakura's ruler was called Kantō kubō, a title equivalent to shogun assumed by Ashikaga Takauji's son Motouji after his nomination to Kantō kanrei, or deputy shogun, in 1349.^[25] Motouji transferred his original title to the Uesugi family, which had previously held the hereditary title of shitsuji (執事^?), and would thereafter provide the Kantō kanrei.^[25] Motouji had been sent by his father because this last understood the importance of controlling the Kantō region and wanted to have an Ashikaga in power there, but the administration in Kamakura was from the beginning characterized by its rebelliousness, so the shogun's idea never really worked and actually backfired.^[26] The kantō kubō era is essentially a struggle for the shogunate between the Kamakura and the Kyoto branches of the Ashikaga clan, because both believed they had a valid claim to power.^[27] In the end, Kamakura had to be retaken by force in 1454.^[25] The five kubō recorded by history, all of Motouji's bloodline, were in order Motouji himself, Ujimitsu, Mitsukane, Mochiuji and Shigeuji.^[25] The last kubō had to escape to Koga, in today's Ibaraki prefecture, and he and his descendants thereafter became known as the Koga kubō. According to the Shinpen Kamakurashi, a guide book published in 1685, more than two centuries later the spot where the kubō's mansion had been was still left empty by local peasants in the hope he may one day return.

A long period of chaos and war followed the departure of the last Kantō kubō (the Sengoku period). Kamakura was heavily damaged in 1454 and almost completely burned during the Siege of Kamakura (1526).^[22] Many of its citizens moved to Odawara when it came to prominence as the home town of the Late Hōjō clan.^[19] The final blow to the city was the decision taken in 1603 by the Tokugawa shoguns to move the capital to nearby Edo, the place now called Tokyo.^[19] The city never recovered and gradually returned to be the small fishing village it had been before Yoritomo's arrival.^[19] Edmond Papinot's "Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan", published in 1910 during the late Meiji period, describes it as follows:

Kamakura. A small town (7250 inh.) in Sagami which for several centuries was the second capital of Japan. [...] At present there remain of the splendor of the past only the famous Daibutsu and the Tsurugaoka Hachiman temple.^[28]

The Meiji period and the 20th century[link]

After the Meiji restoration Kamakura's great cultural assets, its beach and the mystique that surrounded its name made it as popular as it is now, and for pretty much the same reasons.^[19] The destruction of its heritage nonetheless didn't stop: during the anti-Buddhist violence of 1868 (haibutsu kishaku) that followed the official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) many of the city temples were damaged.^[29] In other cases, because mixing the two religions was now forbidden, shrines or temples had to give away some of their treasures, thus damaging their cultural heritage and decreasing the value of their properties.^[29] Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's giant Niō (仁王^?)} (the two wooden warden gods usually found at the sides of a Buddhist temple's entrance), for example, being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, were brought to Jufuku-ji, where they still are.^[19][30] The shrine also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its tahōtō tower, its midō (御堂^?), and its shichidō garan.^[29] Some Buddhist temples were simply closed, like Zenkō-ji, to which the now-independent Meigetsu-in used to belong.^[31]

In 1890, the railroad, which until then had arrived just to Ofuna, reached Kamakura bringing in tourists and new residents, and with them a new prosperity.^[19] Part of the ancient Dankazura (see above) was removed to let the railway system's new Yokosuka Line pass.

The damage caused by time, centuries of neglect, politics, and modernization was further compounded by nature in 1923. The epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake that year was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay, a short distance from Kamakura. Tremors devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, causing widespread damage throughout the Kantō region.^[32] It was reported that the sea receded at an unprecedented velocity, and then waves rushed back towards the shore in a great wall of water over seven meters high, drowning some and crushing others beneath an avalanche of waterborne debris. The total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims.^[33] Large sections of the shore simply slid into the sea; and the beach area near Kamakura was raised up about six-feet; or in other words, where there had only been a narrow strip of sand along the sea, a wide expanse of sand was fully exposed above the waterline.^[34]

Many temples founded centuries ago are just careful replicas, and it's for this reason that Kamakura has just one National Treasure in the building category (the Shariden at Engaku-ji). Much of Kamakura's heritage was for various reasons first lost and later rebuilt.^[35]

Nichiren in Kamakura[link]

The monument on the spot at Ryūkō-ji where Nichiren was saved from execution

Kamakura is known among Buddhists for having been during the 13th century the cradle of Nichiren Buddhism. Founder Nichiren wasn't a native: he was born in Awa Province, in today's Chiba Prefecture, but it was only natural to a preacher to come here because at the time the city was the political center of the country.^[36] He settled down in a straw hut in the Matsubagayatsu^[37] district, where three temples (Ankokuron-ji, Myōhō–ji, and Chōshō-ji), have been fighting for centuries for the honor of being the true heir of the master.^[36] During his turbulent life Nichiren came and went, but Kamakura always remained at the heart of his religious activities. It's here that, when he was about to be executed by the Hōjō Regent for being a troublemaker, he was allegedly saved by a miracle, it's in Kamakura that he wrote his famous Risshō Ankoku Ron (立正安国論^?), or "Treatise on Peace and Righteousness", it's here that he was rescued and fed by monkeys and it's here that he preached.^[36]

Some Kamakura locations important to Nichiren Buddhism are:

• The three temples in Matsubagayatsu

Ankokuron-ji claims to have on its grounds the cave where the master, with the help of a white monkey, hid from his persecutors.^[36] (However Hosshō-ji in Zushi's Hisagi district makes the same claim, and with a better historical basis.^[38][39]) Within Ankokuron-ji lie also the spot where Nichiren used to meditate while admiring Mount Fuji, the place where his disciple Nichiro was cremated, and the cave where he is supposed to have written his Risshō Ankoku Ron.^[36]

Nearby Myōhō–ji (also called "Koke-dera" or "Temple of Moss"), a much smaller temple, was erected in an area where Nichiren had his home for 19 years.^[36]

The third Nichiren temple in Nagoe, Chōshō-ji, also claims to lie on the very spot where it all started.

• The Nichiren Tsujiseppō Ato (日蓮聖人辻説法跡^?) on Komachi Ōji in the Komachi district contains the very stone from which he used to harangue the crowds, claiming that the various calamities that were afflicting the city at the moment were due to the moral failings of its citizens.^[36]
• The former execution ground at Katase's Ryūkō-ji where Nichiren was about to be beheaded (an event known to Nichiren's followers as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution (龍ノ口法難^?)), and where he was miraculously saved when thunder struck the executioner.^[36] Nichiren had been condemned to death for having written the Risshō Ankoku Ron.^[40] Every year, on September 12, Nichiren devotees gather to celebrate the anniversary of the miracle.^[41]
• The Kesagake no Matsu (袈裟掛けの松^?), the pine tree on the roads between Harisuribashi and Inamuragasaki from which Nichiren hanged his kesa (a Buddhist stole) while on his way to Ryūkō-ji.^[40] The original pine tree however died long ago and, after having been replaced many times, now no longer exists.^[40]

Famous locations[link]

The statue of Amida Buddha at Kōtoku-in

Kamakura has many historically significant Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, some of them, like Sugimoto-dera, over 1,200 years old. Kōtoku-in, with its monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha, is the most famous. A 15th century tsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since. This iconic Daibutsu is arguably amongst the few images which have come to represent Japan in the world's collective imagination. Kamakura also hosts the so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the Kamakura Gozan).

The architectural heritage of Kamakura is almost unmatched, and the city has proposed some of its historic sites for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list. It must be remembered, however, that much of the city was devastated in the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and that many temples and shrines, however founded centuries ago, are physically just careful replicas.

Some of Kamakura's highlights are:

• The Asaina Pass and its Kumano Jinja
• Ankokuron-ji
• An'yō-in
• Chōju-ji, one of Ashikaga Takauji's two "bodaiji" (funeral temples)
• Engaku-ji, ranked Number Two among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
• Hatakeyama Shigeyasu's grave
• Hōkai-ji, dedicated to the memory of the Hōjō clan
• Jōchi-ji, ranked Number Four among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
• Jōmyō-ji temple, ranked Number Five among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
• Jufuku-ji, ranked Number Three among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
• Hase-dera

Visitors crowd the entrance way of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū

• Kamakura-gū in Nikaidō, built on the spot where Prince Morinaga, son of Emperor Go-Daigo, was imprisoned and then beheaded by Ashikaga Tadayoshi in 1335.
• Kamakura Museum of National Treasures
• Kanagawa Prefectural Ofuna Botanical Garden
• Kenchō-ji, ranked Number One among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples and, together with Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, the pride of the city
• Kōmyō-ji
• Kōtoku-in and its Great Buddha
• The Kamakura Museum of Literature, the former villa of Marquises Maeda
• Meigetsu-in
• Moto Hachiman
• Ōfuna Kannon^[42]
• Tatsunokuchi, where Mongol emissaries were beheaded and buried.
• Katase's Ryūkō-ji
• Sasuke Inari Shrine Sasuke Inari Shrine and Hidden Village

Sasuke Inari Shrine's entrance

• Sugimoto-dera
• The Shakadō Pass (see description below)
• Tōkei-ji, famous in the past as a refuge for battered women
• Tomb of Minamoto no Yoritomo
• Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, symbol of the city
• Wakamiya Ōji Avenue with its three torii and cherry trees
• Yuigahama, a popular beach
• Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine, where visitors go to wash their coins
• Zuisen-ji, funeral temple of the Ashikaga kubō, rulers in Kamakura during the early Muromachi period

Festivals and other events[link]

The parade during the Kamakura Festival

Kamakura has many festivals (matsuri (祭り^?)) and other events in each of the seasons, usually based on its rich historical heritage. They are often sponsored by private businesses and, unlike those in Kyoto, they are relatively small-scale events attended mostly by locals and a few tourists.^[43] January in particular has many because it's the first month of the year, so authorities, fishermen, businesses and artisans organize events to pray for their own health and safety, and for a good and prosperous working year. Kamakura's numerous temples and shrines, first among them city symbols Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and Kenchō-ji, organize many events too, bringing the total to over a hundred.^[43]

January[link]

4th – Chōna-hajimeshiki (手斧初式^?) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū: This event marks the beginning of the working year for local construction workers who, for the ceremony, use traditional working tools.^[43] The festival also commemorates Minamoto no Yoritomo, who ordered the reconstruction of the main building of the shrine after it was destroyed by fire in 1191.^[43] The ceremony takes place at 1:00 PM at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.^[44]

February[link]

Day before the first day of spring (usually Feb. 3) – Setsubun Matsuri (節分祭^?) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, Kenchō-ji, Hase-dera, Kamakura-gū, etc. : Celebration of the end of winter.^[43] Beans are scattered in the air to ensure good luck.^[43]

April[link]

2nd to 3rd Sunday: Kamakura Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and other locations: A whole week of events that celebrate the city and its history.^[43]

May[link]

5th – Kusajishi (草鹿^?) at the Kamakura Shrine: Archers in samurai gear shoot arrows at a straw deer while reciting old poems.^[43]

July[link]

1st – 31st – Little Thailand Beach Event: A group of Thai restaurants and shops stays open until the end of August on Yuigahama's beach.

August[link]

10th (or following Monday if it falls on a Saturday): A full hour of fireworks on the beach in Yuigahama (Cancelled in 2010 and 2011.^[44]

September[link]

14th, 15th and 16th – Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Reitaisai (鶴岡八幡宮例大祭^?): Famous festival with many attractions, the most famous of which is the Yabusame (流鏑馬^?), or Japanese horseback archery, which takes place on the 16th.^[44]

[edit] The Shakadō Pass

The Ōmachi-side of the Shakadō Pass

Besides the Seven Entrances there is another great pass in the city, the huge Shakadō Pass (釈迦堂切通^?) which connects Shakadōgayatsu^[37] to the Ōmachi and Nagoe (formerly called Nagoshi) districts.

According to the plaque near the pass itself, the name derives from the fact that third Shikken Hōjō Yasutoki built here a Shakadō (a Buddhist temple devoted to Shakyamuni) dedicated to his father Yoshitoki's memory. The original location of the temple is unclear, but it was closed some time in the middle Muromachi Period.^[45] The Shaka Nyorai statue that is supposed to have been its main object of cult has been declared an Important Cultural Property and is conserved at Daien-ji in Meguro, Tokyo.^[45]

Although important, the pass was not considered one of the Entrances because it connected two areas both fully within Kamakura.^[7] Its date of creation is unclear, as it's not explicitly mentioned in any historical record, and it could be therefore recent.^[7] It seems very likely however that a pass which connected the Kanazawa Road to the Nagoe area called Inukakezaka (犬懸坂^?) and mentioned in the Genpei Jōsuiki (源平盛哀記^?) in relation to a 1180 war in Kotsubo between the Miura clan and the Hatakeyama clan is indeed the Shakadō Pass.^[45] In any case, the presence of two yagura tombs (see the following section) within it means that it can be dated to at least the Kamakura period. It was then an important way of transit, but it was also much narrower than today and harder to pass.^[45]

Inside the pass there are two small yagura tombs containing some gorintō. On the Shakadōgayatsu side of the pass, just before the first houses a small street on the left takes to a large group of yagura called Shakadōgayatsu Yagura-gun.^[45] There rest the bones of some of the hundreds of Hōjō family members who committed suicide at Tōshō-ji after the fall of Kamakura in 1333.^[45]

The pass appears many times in some recent Japanese films like "The Blue Light", Tada, Kimi o Aishiteru, and "Peeping Tom" (真木栗ノ穴, Makiguri no ana^?). The pass is presently closed to all traffic because of the danger posed by falling rocks.

On April 28, 2010, a day of heavy rain, a large section of rock on the Omachi side of the Shakado Pass gave way, making the road temporarily impassable for pedestrians.

[edit] The yagura tombs

Hōjō Masako's yagura at Jufuku-ji. Her ashes are not actually there, as they were lost centuries ago.

An important and characteristic feature of Kamakura is a type of grave called yagura (やぐら^?).^[46] Yagura are caves dug on the side of hills during the Middle Ages to serve as tombs for high-ranking personalities and priests.^[46] Two famous examples are Hōjō Masako's and Minamoto no Sanetomo's cenotaphs in Jufuku-ji's cemetery, about 1 km from Kamakura Station.

Usually present in the cemetery of most Buddhist temples in the town, they are extremely numerous also in the hills surrounding it, and estimates of their number always put them in the thousands.^[46] Yagura can be found either isolated or in groups of even 180 graves, as in the Hyakuhachi Yagura (百八やぐら^?).^[46] Many are now abandoned and in a bad state of preservation.^[46]

The reason why they were dug is not known, but it is thought likely that the tradition started because of the lack of flat land within the narrow limits of Kamakura's territory. Started during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), the tradition seems to have declined during the following Muromachi period, when storehouses and cemeteries came to be preferred.

True yagura can be found also in the Miura Peninsula, in the Izu Peninsula, and even in distant Awa Province (Chiba).^[46]

Tombs in caves can also be found in the Tohoku region, near Hiroshima and Kyoto, and in Ishikawa Prefecture, however they are not called yagura and their relationship with those in Kanagawa Prefecture is unknown.

Transportation[link]

Rail[link]

The East Japan Railway Company's Yokosuka Line has three stations within the city. Ōfuna Station is the northernmost. Next is Kita-Kamakura Station. In the center of the city is Kamakura Station, the central railway station in the city.

Kamakura Station is the terminal for the Enoshima Electric Railway. This narrow-gauge railway runs westward to Fujisawa, and part of its route runs parallel to the seashore. After leaving Kamakura Station, trains make eight more station stops in the city. One of them is Hase Station, closest to Hase-dera and Kōtoku-in.

Education[link]

Kamakura has many educational facilities. The city operates sixteen public elementary schools and nine middle schools. The national government has one elementary and one middle school, and there are two private elementary and six private middle schools. At the next level are four prefectural and six private high schools. Also in Kamakura is a prefectural special school.

Kamakura Women's University is the city's sole university.

Government and administration[link]

Kamakura has a mayor and a city council, all publicly elected. The mayor is Takashi Matsuo (Politician).^[47] The City Council consists of 28 members.

Sister cities[link]

Kamakura has five sister cities. Three are domestic and two are overseas:^[48]

• Nice, France (1966)
• Ueda, Nagano, Japan (1979)
• Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan (1979)
• Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan (1982)
• Dunhuang, China (1998)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Hall, John Whitney, Peter Duus (1990). Yamamura Kozo. ed. The Cambridge History of Japan (Hardcover). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22354-6. http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=nT9CI5YQF_4C&pg=PA232&lpg=PA232&dq=kubo+kanto&source=web&ots=DvvDpRzmqR&sig=xV1xoJzUyheUXf1VLI9Ec6fCt6s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result. 
• Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. 10-ISBN 0-7432-6465-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-7432-6465-5 (cloth)
• Harada, Hiroshi (2007) (in Japanese). Kamakura no Koji. JTB Publishing. ISBN 4-533-07104-X. 
• Jansen, Marius (1995). Warrior Rule in Japan. Cambridge University Press.  10-ISBN 0521482399/13-ISBN 9780521482394;10-ISBN 0521484049/13-ISBN 9780521484046; OCLC 31515317
• Kamakura City's List of Festivals and Events (Japanese)
• Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008) (in Japanese). Kamakura Kankō Bunka Kentei Kōshiki Tekisutobukku. Kamakura: Kamakura Shunshūsha. ISBN 978-4-7740-0386-3. 
• Kamakura Today: Annual Events (English)
• Kamiya, Michinori (2000/08) (in Japanese). Fukaku Aruku – Kamakura Shiseki Sansaku Vol. 1. Kamakura: Kamakura Shunshūsha. ISBN 4-7740-0340-9. 
• Kita-Kamakura Yūsui Network (2008) (in Japanese). Gaidobukku ni Noranai Kita-Kamakura. Yume Kōbō. ISBN 978-4-86158-026-0. 
• Kokushi Daijiten Iinkai (in Japanese). Kokushi Daijiten. Vol. 3 (1983 ed.). 
• Kurano, Kenji; Yūkichi Takeda (1958). Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 1: Kojiki. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4-00-060001-X. 
• Matsu, Ri (2012) (in English). Everyday Kamakura. DigitalKu. ISBN 978-1-4700-3285-2. 
• Matsuo, Kenji (1997) (in Japanese). Chūsei Toshi Kamakura wo Aruku. Tokyo: Chūkō Shinsho. ISBN 4-12-101392-1. 
• Minamoto, Shitagō; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (1966). Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Gaihen. Kyōto: Rinsen. ISBN 4-653-00508-7. 
• Mutsu, Iso (1995/06). Kamakura. Fact and Legend. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-1968-8. 
• Ōnuki, Akihiko (2008) (in Japanese). Kamakura. Rekishi to Fushigi wo Aruku. Tokyo: Jitsugyō no Nihonsha. ISBN 978-4-408-59306-7. 
• Papinot, Edmond (1910). Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan (Japanese Edition). Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-0996-8. 
• Sansom, George Bailey (January 1, 1977). A History of Japan (3-volume boxed set). Vol. 2 (2000 ed.). Charles E. Tuttle Co.. ISBN 4-8053-0375-1. 
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (2002) (in Japanese). Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū 3. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4-00-240003-4. 
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (2003) (in Japanese). Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū 4. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/4-00-240004-4|4-00-240004-4]]. 
• Takahashi, Shin'ichirō (2005) (in Japanese). Buke no koto, Kamakura. Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppansha. ISBN 4-634-54210-2. 

External links[link]

Look up 鎌倉 or kamakura in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kamakura

• Official web site
• Kamakura's Daibutsu

v t e Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama (capital city) Wards Aoba Asahi Hodogaya Isogo Izumi Kanagawa Kanazawa Kōhoku Kōnan Midori Minami Naka Nishi Sakae Seya Totsuka Tsurumi Tsuzuki Kawasaki Wards Asao Kawasaki Miyamae Nakahara Saiwai Takatsu Tama Sagamihara Wards Chūō Midori Minami Other cities Atsugi Ayase Chigasaki Ebina Fujisawa Hadano Hiratsuka Isehara Kamakura Minamiashigara Miura Odawara Yamato Yokosuka Zama Zushi Aikō District Aikawa Kiyokawa Ashigarakami District Kaisei Matsuda Nakai Ōi Yamakita Ashigarashimo District Hakone Manazuru Yugawara Kōza District Samukawa Miura District Hayama Naka District Ninomiya Ōiso Other areas Shōnan

Kanagawa Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
• Japanese	神奈川県
• Rōmaji	Kanagawa-ken
Symbol of Kanagawa Prefecture
Coordinates: 35°26′51.03″N 139°38′32.44″E / 35.4475083°N 139.6423444°E / 35.4475083; 139.6423444Coordinates: 35°26′51.03″N 139°38′32.44″E / 35.4475083°N 139.6423444°E / 35.4475083; 139.6423444
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Island	Honshu
Capital	Yokohama
Government
• Governor	Yuji Kuroiwa (since April 2011)
Area
• Total	2,415.84 km2 (932.76 sq mi)
Area rank	43rd
Population (September 1, 2010)
• Total	9,029,996
• Rank	2nd
• Density	3,740/km2 (9,700/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	JP-14
Districts	6
Municipalities	33
Flower	Golden-rayed lily (Lilium auratum)
Tree	Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
Bird	Common gull (Larus canus)
Website	www.pref.kanagawa.jp/

Minato Mirai 21

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏, Kanagawa-oki nami-ura^?) original print

Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県, Kanagawa-ken^?) is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan.^[1] The capital is Yokohama.^[2] Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.

History[link]

The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period (around 400 BC). About 3,000 years ago, Mount Hakone produced a volcanic explosion which resulted in Lake Ashi on the western area of the prefecture.

It is believed^{[by whom?]} that the Yamato Dynasty ruled this area from 5th century onwards. In the ancient era, its plains were very sparsely inhabited.

Kamakura in central Sagami was the capital of Japan during the Kamakura period (1185–1333).

In medieval Japan, Kanagawa was part of the provinces of Sagami and Musashi.^[3]

During the Edo period, the western part of Sagami Province was governed by the daimyo of Odawara Castle, while the eastern part was directly governed by the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo (Tokyo).

Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Kanagawa in 1853 and 1854 and signed the Convention of Kanagawa to force open Japanese ports to the United States. Yokohama, the largest deep-water port in Tokyo Bay, was opened to foreign traders in 1859 after several more years of foreign pressure, and eventually developed into the largest trading port in Japan. Nearby Yokosuka, closer to the mouth of Tokyo Bay, developed as a naval port and now serves as headquarters for the U.S. 7th Fleet and the fleet operations of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. After the Meiji Period, many foreigners lived in Yokohama City, and visited Hakone. The Meiji Government developed the first railways in Japan, from Shinbashi (in Tokyo) to Yokohama in 1872.

The epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, and caused widespread damage throughout the Kantō region.^[4] The sea receded as much a quarter of a mile from the shore at Manazuru Point, and then rushed back towards the shore in a great wall of water which swamped Mitsuishi-shima.^[5] At Kamakura, the total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims.^[6] At Odawara, ninety percent of the buildings collapsed immediately, and subsequent fires burned the rubble along with anything else left standing.^[7]

Yokohama, Kawasaki and other major cities were heavily damaged by the U.S. bombing in 1945. Casualties amounted to more than several thousand. After the war, General Douglas MacArthur, the chief commander of Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers for the Occupation of Japan, landed in Kanagawa, before moving to other areas. U.S. military bases still remain in Kanagawa, including Camp Zama (Army), Yokosuka Naval Base, Naval Air Station Atsugi (Navy).

In 1945, Kanagawa was the 15th most populous prefecture in Japan, with the population of about 1.9 million. In the years after the war, the prefecture underwent rapid urbanization as a part of the Tokyo Greater Zone. The population was about 8.9 million as of 2008,^[8] and Kanagawa became the second most populous prefecture in 2006.

Geography[link]

Kanagawa is a relatively small prefecture located at the southeastern corner of the Kantō Plain^[9] wedged between Tokyo on the north, the foothills of Mount Fuji on the northwest, and the Sagami Bay^[9] and Tokyo Bay on the south and east. The eastern side of the prefecture is relatively flat and heavily urbanized, including the large port cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki.

The southeastern area nearby the Miura Peninsula is less urbanized, with the ancient city of Kamakura drawing tourists to temples and shrines. The western part, bordered by Yamanashi Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture on the west,^[10] is more mountainous and includes resort areas like Odawara and Hakone. The area, stretching 80 km from west to east and 60 km from north to south, contains 2,400 km² of land, accounting for 0.64 % of the total land area of Japan.^[10]

Topography[link]

Topographically, the prefecture consists of three distinct areas. The mountainous western region features the Tanzawa Mountain Range and Hakone Volcano. The hilly eastern region is characterized by the Tama Hills and Miura Peninsula. The central region, which surrounds the Tama Hills and Miura Peninsula, consists of flat stream terraces and low lands around major rivers including the Sagami River, Sakai River, Tsurumi River, and Tama River.^[10]

The Tama River forms much of the boundary between Kanagawa and Tokyo. The Sagami River flows through the middle of the prefecture. In the western region, the Sakawa (river) runs through a small lowland, the Sakawa Lowland, between Hakone Volcano to the west and the Ōiso Hills to the east and flows into Sagami Bay.^[9]

The Tanzawa Mountain Range, part of the Kantō Mountain Range, contains Mount Hiru (1,673 m), the highest peak in the prefecture. Other mountains measure similar mid-range heights: Mount Hinokiboramaru (1,601 m), Mount Tanzawa, (1567 m), Mount Ōmuro (1588 m), Mount Himetsugi (1,433 m), and Mount Usu (1,460 m). The mountain range is lower in height southward leading to Hadano Basin to the Ōiso Hills. At the eastern foothills of the mountain range lies the Isehara Plateau and across the Sagami River the Sagami Plateau.^[9]

Map of Kanagawa Prefecture

Cities[link]

Nineteen cities are located in Kanagawa Prefecture:

Prefectural office of Kanagawa

Towns and villages[link]

Mergers[link]

Festivals and events[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Odawara Hojo Festival

• Tama River Firework event
• Yokohama Port Anniversary Festival (June)
• Kamakura Festival (April)
• Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival (July)
• Odawara Hojo Godai Festival (May)
• Yugawara Kifune Festival (July)

Transportation[link]

Kanagawa's transport network is heavily intertwined with that of Tokyo (see: Transportation in Greater Tokyo). Shin-Yokohama and Odawara stations on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen are located in the prefecture, providing high-speed rail service to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and other major cities.

Railways[link]

• East Japan Railway Company
  • Tōkaidō Main Line
  • Nambu Line
  • Tsurumi Line
  • Yokohama Line
  • Negishi Line
  • Yokosuka Line
  • Sagami Line
  • Chūō Main Line
• Central Japan Railway Company
  • Tōkaidō Shinkansen
  • Gotemba Line

• Keikyu
  • Main Line
  • Daishi Line
  • Kurihama Line
  • Zushi Line

• Odakyu
  • Odawara Line
  • Enoshima Line
  • Tama Line

• Sagami Railway
  • Main Line
  • Izumino Line

• Tokyu
  • Tōyoko Line
  • Den-en-toshi Line
  • Ōimachi Line
  • Meguro Line

• Minatomirai Line

• Izuhakone Railway
  • Daiyuzan Line

• Enoshima Electric Railway

Subways[link]

• Yokohama Municipal Subway
  • Blue Line
  • Green Line

People movers[link]

• Kanagawa Seaside Line

Road[link]

Expressway[link]

• Tomei Expressway
• Chuo Expressway
• Shuto Expressway
• Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line

National Highways[link]

• Route 1
• Route 15
• Route 16
• Route 20
• Route 129 (Hiratsuka-Atsugi-Sagamihara)
• Route 132
• Route 133
• Route 134
• Route 135 (Shimoda-Atami-Odawara)
• Route 138
• Route 246 (Chiyoda, Tokyo-Kawasaki-Machida-Atsugi-Isehara-Gotenba-Numazu)
• Route 255
• Route 357 (Chiba-Funabashi-Daiba of Tokyo-Yokohama-Yokosuka)
• Route 409
• Route 412
• Route 413 (Fujiyoshida-Lake Yamanaka-Sagamihara)
• Route 466 (Setagaya, Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama)
• Route 467

Port[link]

• Yokohama Port - International container hub port
• Misaki Port - Ferry Route to Kisarazu

Education[link]

The Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education manages and oversees individual municipal school districts. The board of education also directly operates most of the public high schools in the prefecture.

University[link]

• Kawasaki
  • Keio Gijyuku University - Shin Kawasaki Campus
  • Meiji University - Ikuta Campus
  • Senshu University - Ikuta Campus
  • Japan Women's University
  • Showa University of Music
  • Den-en Chofu University - Aso Ward
  • Nippon Medical School
  • St. Marianna University, School of Medicine - Miyamae
  • Japan Cinema School
  • Tokyo City University - Aso Ward

• Yokohama
  • Tokyo Institute of Technology - Suzukakedai
  • Tokyo University of the Arts - Naka Ward
  • Yokohama National University - Hodogaya
  • Yokohama City University - Kanazawa Ward
  • Kanagawa University - Kanagawa Ward
  • Kanto Gakuin University - Kanazawa Ward
  • Toin University of Yokohama - Aoba Ward
  • Tsurumi University - Tsurumi Ward
  • Yokohama College of Commerce - Tsurumi Ward
  • Yokohama College of Phamacy - Totsuka Ward
  • Keio Gijyuku University - Hiyoshi
  • Tokyo City University - Tsuzuki Ward
  • Meiji Gakuin University - Totsuka Ward
  • Nippon Sport Science University - Aoba Ward
  • Toyo Eiwa University - Midori Ward
  • Kokugakuin University - Tama Plaza
  • Senzoku Gakuen College of Music

• Sagamihara
  • Aoyama Gakuin University
  • Azabu University
  • Kitasato University
  • Sagami Women's University
  • Obirin University
  • Joshi University of Art and Design
  • Teikyo University

• Yokosuka
  • Kanagawa Dental College
  • Kanagawa University of Human Services

• Hiratsuka
  • Tokai University - Hiratsuka Campus
  • Shoin University - Hiratsuka Campus
  • Kanagawa University

• Isehara
  • Tokai University - Isehara Campus
  • Sanno University

• Odawara
  • Kanto Gakuin University - Odawara Campus
  • International University of Health and Welfare

• Chigasaki
  • Bunkyo University - Chigasaki Campus

• Atsugi
  • Tokyo University of Agriculture - Atsugi Campus
  • Kanagawa Institute of Technology
  • Tokyo Polytechnic University - Atsugi Campus

Sports[link]

Facilities[link]

Football and athletics[link]

• Nissan Stadium (International Stadium of Yokohama)—in Yokohama, the final venue of 2002 FIFA World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2005-2007
• Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium (Mitsuzawa Stadium)—in Yokohama, only for football
• Todoroki Athletics Stadium—in Kawasaki, the final venue of 2007 IFAF World Cup (American football).
• Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium

Baseball[link]

• Yokohama Stadium—for baseball and American football
• Kawasaki Stadium—former homeground of Taiyo Whales (now Yokohama BayStars) and Lotte Orions (now Chiba Lotte Marines).
• Yokosuka Stadium

Indoor[link]

• Yokohama Arena—also for music concert
• Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium—a volleyball venue of 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
• Todoroki Arena—in Kawasaki
• Odawara Arena

Other[link]

• Enoshima Yacht Course—used for 1964 Summer Olympics.
• Hakone Ekiden Course—from Tokyo to Hakone, 108.0 km, mostly on Japan National Route 1 and Route 15. Runners run on the divided route for ten parts on January 2 (to Hakone) and January 3 (to Tokyo) every year.
• Lake Sagami—hosted canoeing and rowing for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Teams[link]

Soccer (football)[link]

• Kawasaki Frontale (Kawasaki)—Todoroki Athletics
• Yokohama F. Marinos (Yokohama, Yokosuka)—Nissan Stadium
• Yokohama F.C. (Yokohama)—Mitsuzawa Ballpark
• Shonan Bellmare (Hiratsuka, Odawara and some cities and towns in central and western area of Kanagawa)—Hiratsuka Athletic Stadium (football) and Odawara Arena (futsal)

Baseball[link]

• Yokohama BayStars (Yokohama)—Yokohama Stadium, and Yokosuka Stadium (for its farm team, "Shonan Searex").

Volleyball[link]

• NEC Red Rockets (Kawasaki)—Todoroki Arena

Tourism[link]

• The city of Kamakura is famous as the location of many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
• Yokohama Chinatown is the largest Chinatown in Japan, larger than Chinatowns in both Kobe and Nagasaki, and one of the largest in the world.
• Other sightseeing spots include Hakone, Ashinoko, Enoshima, and Kawasaki Daishi^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture[link]

• Stephen Sondheim's stage musical Pacific Overtures, about the "opening" of Japan to Western influence by Commodore Perry, contains the song "Welcome to Kanagawa".
• The main team in the Japanese manga and anime series Slam Dunk, Shohoku, is from Kanagawa.
• The Hinata Inn and surrounding town from the manga and anime series Love Hina takes place in Kanagawa.
• The Japanese manga series Elfen Lied takes place in Kanagawa, mainly in Kamakura and Enoshima (Fujisawa).
• The Japanese anime series S-CRY-ED takes place in Kanagawa Prefecture, after a seismic event raises it from the ground.
• The Japanese manga and anime series Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō takes place in the fictional Kanagawa city of Umineko.
• The Japanese anime series Gundam Wing's early episodes feature Kanagawa prominently, mainly Yokohama and Yokosuka.

See also[link]

• Politics of Kanagawa

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. 10-ISBN 0743264657/13-ISBN 9780743264655; OCLC 67774380
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

External links[link]

Media related to Kanagawa prefecture at Wikimedia Commons

• Official Kanagawa Prefecture website
• Official Kanagawa Living website
• Kanagawa Prefectural Tourist Association website (English)

v t e Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama (capital city) Wards Aoba Asahi Hodogaya Isogo Izumi Kanagawa Kanazawa Kōhoku Kōnan Midori Minami Naka Nishi Sakae Seya Totsuka Tsurumi Tsuzuki Kawasaki Wards Asao Kawasaki Miyamae Nakahara Saiwai Takatsu Tama Sagamihara Wards Chūō Midori Minami Other cities Atsugi Ayase Chigasaki Ebina Fujisawa Hadano Hiratsuka Isehara Kamakura Minamiashigara Miura Odawara Yamato Yokosuka Zama Zushi Aikō District Aikawa Kiyokawa Ashigarakami District Kaisei Matsuda Nakai Ōi Yamakita Ashigarashimo District Hakone Manazuru Yugawara Kōza District Samukawa Miura District Hayama Naka District Ninomiya Ōiso Other areas Shōnan

v t e Regions and administrative divisions of  Japan Regions Hokkaido Tōhoku Kantō Nanpō Islands Chūbu Hokuriku Kōshin'etsu Shin'etsu Tōkai Kansai Chūgoku San'in San'yō Shikoku Kyushu Northern Kyushu Ryukyu Islands Prefectures Hokkaido Hokkaido Tōhoku Aomori Iwate Miyagi Akita Yamagata Fukushima Kantō Ibaraki Tochigi Gunma Saitama Chiba Tokyo Kanagawa Chūbu Niigata Toyama Ishikawa Fukui Yamanashi Nagano Gifu Shizuoka Aichi Kansai Mie Shiga Kyoto Osaka Hyōgo Nara Wakayama Chūgoku Tottori Shimane Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Shikoku Tokushima Kagawa Ehime Kōchi Kyushu Fukuoka Saga Nagasaki Kumamoto Ōita Miyazaki Kagoshima Okinawa