260px, Morito Beach is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, on central

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

, Japan. , the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 32,961 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 1900 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Since 1894, the

Japanese Imperial Family The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

has maintained a residence in Hayama, the seaside

Hayama Imperial Villa , located in the town of Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan is a residence owned by the Japanese Imperial Family, and used on infrequent intervals as an informal winter retreat. History The Imperial Family of Japan previously had residences in se ...

Geography

Hayama is located at the northern end of

Miura Peninsula is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kamakura. ...

, facing

Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the ...

on the Pacific Ocean. Geographically, it is often cited as the easternmost point of the

Shōnan is the name of a region along the coast of Sagami Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture, central Japan. Centered on Sagami River, about 60 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, the Shōnan region stretches from Ninomiya in the west to Fujisawa in the east, i ...

region.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture *

Zushi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 58,087, and a population density of 3,350 per km². The total area is . Geography Zushi is located at the head of Miura Peninsula, facin ...

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

Climate

Hayama has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hayama is 15.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1872 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hayama has grown relatively steadily until around the year 2000 and is now slightly declining.

History

During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, all of eastern

Sagami Province was a province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu, Musashi, and Suruga. It had access to the Paci ...

was ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

'' territory under direct control of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, and administered by various ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

''. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

in April 1889, the area was reorganized into Hayama village through the merger of six hamlets. Hayama was elevated to town status in 1925.

Government

Hayama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

town council of 14 members. Hayama, together with neighboring Zushi, contributes one member to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Kanagawa 4th district , the House of Representatives of Japan is elected from a combination of multi-member districts and single-member districts, a method called Parallel voting. Currently, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member districts (called proportional r ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

Despite its lack of rail connections, Hayama is now primarily a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for Tokyo and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

and, due to its mild climate, a popular resort area with a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

. From the

it became a prestigious summer home location for the upper classes of Tokyo, partly due to the prestige of the Imperial villa. In the postwar period, its popularity continued with actors, artists and wealthy expatriates. Local agricultural produce includes ''

shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...

'' mushrooms, and a brand of beef known as "Hayama-gyu".

Education

Hayama has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government. In addition, the

Graduate University for Advanced Studies is one of the national universities of Japan, headquartered in Shonan Village (湘南国際村) in the town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. , as it is generally called in its abbreviated form, was established in 1988, with Dr. Saburo Nagakur ...

's main administrative campus is hosted here.

Transportation

Railway

Hayama has no passenger rail service. The nearest train station is the

Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...

Zushi Station is a passenger railway station on the Yokosuka Line in Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Zushi Station is served by the Yokosuka Line and also by Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through services. It lie ...

Keikyū Zushi Line The is a commuter railway line in Japan owned and operated by the private railway operator Keikyu. It connects in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama with in Zushi, all in Kanagawa Prefecture. Service outline Three service types operate on the Keikyu Zu ...

Zushi·Hayama Station is a railway station on the Keikyu Zushi Line in Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keikyu. This station comes last in an alphabetical list of Japanese railway stations (Abashiri Station in Hokkaido is first). Line ...

in neighboring Zushi.

Highway

Sister city relations

* –

Kusatsu, Gunma 250px, Kusatsu town hall is a town located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 6,255 in 3407 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Kusatsu is one of the mos ...

, since March 1969 * –

City of Holdfast Bay The City of Holdfast Bay is a local government area in the south-western coastal suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. History The council was formed 1 January 1997, when the City of Glenelg and City of Brighton councils were amalgamated by ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

(Australia) since 1997; November 18, 2009, Holdfast Bay wrote a letter signed by their Deputy Mayor admonishing Hayama for Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Local attractions

Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama The is the first public modern art museum in Japan. The museum consists of three halls: Kamakura, Kamakura annex, and Hayama. Outline of halls Kamakura hall (main building) The hall is located in Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture, ...

Notable people from Hayama, Kanagawa

Prince Tomohito of Mikasa was a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the eldest son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa. He was a first cousin of Emperor Akihito, and was formerly sixth in the line of succession to the Japanese throne and the ...

(1946–2012), member of the

Imperial House of Japan The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

and the eldest son of

Takahito, Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in th ...

and

Yuriko, Princess Mikasa (born ; 4 June 1923), is a member of the Imperial House of Japan as the widow of Takahito, Prince Mikasa, the fourth son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. The Princess is the last surviving paternal great-aunt-in-law of Emperor Naruhito, an ...

Yasuko Kosuge is a Japanese former windsurfer, who specialized in the RS:X class. She was the country's top female windsurfer for the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing in thirteenth place. A member of Toyama Sailing Federation, Kosuge trained most of her comp ...

(born 1974), Japanese former

windsurfer Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

* Sekai (born 1991), singer, dancer and

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

idol, leader and member of J-pop boygroup

Fantastics from Exile Tribe Fantastics from Exile Tribe (Japanese: ファンタスティックス・フロム・エグザイル・トライブ, stylized as FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE and formerly known as Fantastics) is a nine-member Japanese male dance and vocal group forme ...

(Real Name: Sekai Yamamoto,

Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic languages, Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyu ...

: 山本世界, ''Yamamoto Sekai'') * miwa (born 1990), Japanese singer-songwriter and actress

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Hayama, Kanagawa