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. Kanag ...

, 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 6,949 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Located in the southeast of

Mount Hakone , with its highest peak Mount Kami (1,438 meters), is a complex volcano in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan that is truncated by two overlapping calderas, the largest of which is 10 × 11 km wide. The calderas were formed as a result of ...

, the consists of the small Manazuru Peninsula, which extends into

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 th ...

from the southeast to the northwest, sandwiched between Odawara City in the north and Yugawara Town in the south. The Manazuru Peninsula is a

lava plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanism, volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive erup ...

with a steep coast and The town area is generally rugged with few flat areas. The urban area is at the base of the peninsula, with Manazuru Station to the northwest, Iwa Fishing Port and Iwo Beach to the east, and Manazuru Port to the southeast. There are many quarries in the mountains north of the city.

Mandarin orange The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-colou ...

s are cultivated in the hills along the northern coast. The northwestern part of the town is part of a mountainous area that extends to the outer ring of the Hakone volcano. The town is within the Manazuru Hantō Prefectural Natural Park.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture *

Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western por ...

Yugawara is a town located in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 23,267 and a population density of 570 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Yugawara is located in the fa ...

Climate

Manazuru has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Manazuru is 14.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2144 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.2 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Manazuru peaked around the year 1970, and is now slightly declining.

History

As with the rest of Ashigarashimo District, the area now comprising modern Manazuru was part of

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 Pac ...

under control of the

later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply Hōjō (北条) but in order to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan with the s ...

in the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, and part of

Odawara Domain 250px, Odawara Castle, Headquarters of the Odawara Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located primarily in western Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture). It was centered on Odawara Castle in what is now the city of Oda ...

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 characte ...

. During this time, it was known for high quality stones for construction. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Manazuru was established as a village in 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. On October 1, 1927 Manazuru village was elevated to town status. On September 30, 1956, neighboring Iwa village was merged into Manazuru. A proposal to merge Manazuru into neighboring

was overwhelmingly rejected by a citizen's

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in 2005.

Government

Manazuru 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 multi ...

town council of 11 members. Manazuru, together with neighboring Yugawara, contributes one member to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kanagawa 16th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Traditionally, the industry characterizing Manazuru was the mining of Komatsu stone ( ja) dating back to

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. The economy of Manazuru is now based on tourism, and as a summer resort area, promoting itself as the "Japanese Riviera", claiming to losely resembles the

Mediterranean coast The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the eas ...

of France and Italy.http://www.city.odawara.kanagawa.jp/field/lifelong/youth/takengakusyuu/chiikisedaiwokoetataikenngakusyuuhoukokuh27.html 小田原市平成27年度「あれこれ体験in片浦」開催内容の紹介 The town also functions as a

bedroom community 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 nearby Odawara. The hilly, stony peninsula is not suited for agriculture, but cultivation of

mikan ''Citrus unshiu'' is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as miyagawa mandarin, unshu mikan, cold hardy mandarin, satsuma mandarin, satsuma orange, naartjie, and tangerine. ''Citrus unshiu'' was named after Unshu (Wenzho ...

and

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

also contribute to the local economy.

Education

Manazuru has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railway

JR East –

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

* Manazuru Station

Highway

Area attractions

* Iwa Beach ( ja) *

Dōsojin is a generic name for a type of Shinto ''kami'' popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighboring areas in Japan where, as tutelary deities of borders and paths, they are believed to protect travellers, pilgrims, villages, and individuals in "transit ...

( ja) * Ryumonji ( ja) * The monument of Stonemason's ancestors ( ja) * Manazuru Hantō Prefectural Natural Park * Kibune jinja Shrine ( ja) ** ''Kibune Festival'' which is designated as an important intangible folk cultural asset designated as a country and is considered one of Japan’s three major festivals. Held two days from 27 to 28 July. * Nakagawa Kazumasa art Museum ( ja) *

Kuroda Nagamasa was a ''daimyō'' during the late Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was the son of Kuroda Kanbei, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's chief strategist and adviser. Biography His childhood name was Shojumaru (松寿丸). In 1577, when Nagamasa was a ...

memorial tower ( ja) * Shitodo-no-iwaya Hidden Cave ( ja) ** This historic site near Manazuru Port is associated with

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

. After losing a battle with the

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divi ...

at Mt. Ishibasiyama in 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into the

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is a national park in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It consists of Mount Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park covers . Rat ...

, stayed in this cave, then escaped to

Awa Awa (or variants) may refer to: People * Awa (given name), notable people named Awa or Hawa * Awá (Brazil), an indigenous people of Brazil * Awa-Kwaiker, an indigenous people of Colombia and Ecuador Languages * Awa language (China) or Wa (Va) ...

(south of present-day Chiba). * Odaiba memorial tower * Manazuru Industrial vitalization Centre（

Satoumi ''Satoumi'' (里海) is defined as marine and coastal landscapes that have been formed and maintained by prolonged interaction between humans and ecosystems. See also * '' Satoyama'', management of forests through local agricultural communities ...

Base）( ja) * Sakanaza * ''Setomichi'' - The back streets of Manazuru File:Iwa-bridge.jpg, Iwa-bridge File:Manazuru-dosojin.jpg, Dōsojin File:真鶴町龍門寺本堂.jpg, Ryumonji File:IshikuSenzo-no-Hi.jpg, The monument of Maiden's ancestors File:Cape Manazuru 01.jpg, Manazuru Hantō Prefectural Natural Park File:Kibune jinja manaduru kaidan.JPG, Kibune jinja Shrine File:Manazuru-Kibune-Festival.jpg, Kibune Festival
(Mikoshi) File:Manazuru-Hayashi.jpg, Kibune Festival
(Kobayabune) File:Manazuru-kobayabune.jpg, Kibune Festival
(Hayashibune) File:Nakagawa Kazumasa Art Museum.jpg, Nakagawa Kazumasa art Museum File:KurodaNagamasa-KuyouNoHi1.jpg,

memorial tower File:真鶴町しとどの窟.jpg, Shitodo-no-iwaya Hidden Cave File:品川台場礎石の碑.jpg, Odaiba memorial tower File:まなづる里海BASE 真鶴産業活性化センター.jpg, Manazuru Industrial vitalization Centre（

Base） File:真鶴町魚座.jpg, Sakanaza File:Manazuru-Okage.jpg, Setomichi File:Manazuru-Sashimi boat1.jpg,

Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means "pierced body", i.e. " 刺身" = ''sashimi'', where 刺し = ''sashi'' (pierced, stu ...

boat

Sister city relations

* -

Azumino, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 97,761 in 39744 households. and a population density of 290 persons per km2. Its total area is . Etymology of Azumino Azumino is a combination of two wo ...

, since September 15, 1995 * -

Hinohara, Tokyo is a village located in West Tokyo, the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 2,101, and a population density of 20 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . It is the only administrat ...

, since March 28, 2014 * -

Ama, Shimane is a town located on Nakanoshima, in Oki District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of March 2017, the town had an estimated population of 2,293 and a population density of 68 persons per km². The total area was . History Ama was part of the a ...

, since July 10, 2017

References

External links

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