is an area within the

Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

Pref., in Japan that runs along the sea from Cape Iijima near

Kotsubo Kotsubo (Red Bluff) is a small fishing village in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is half way between Zushi and the old Japanese capital of Kamakura. It is on Sagami Bay and just over one hour by train from Tokyo. Location and scenery The ...

harbor to the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

of the

Namerigawa The is a river that goes from the Asaina Pass in northern Kamakura, Kanagawa to the beach in Yuigahama, for a total length of about 8 km. Although Yuigahama is in fact the name of the entire 3.2 km beach that goes from Inamuragasaki to ...

. The relation between the beach's name and that of its neighboring areas is complex. Although

Yuigahama is a beach near Kamakura, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The relation between the beach and its neighboring areas is complex. Although Yuigahama is legally the entire 3.2 km beach that goes from Inamuragasaki, which separates it from ...

is in fact the entire 3.2 km beach that goes from

Inamuragasaki is a cape at the western end of Yuigahama (Beach) in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The cape divides Yuigahama from Shichirigahama (Beach) and Enoshima. Its name seems to stem from its shape, similar to a stack of rice at harvest time (an ...

to Zaimokuza's Iijima cape, the name is usually used to indicate just its half west of the

river, while the eastern half is called .Kamakura's Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism (2008:33) This is the reason why, although the beach gives its name to only the west part of the beachside area, traces of the name Yuigahama can be found also in Zaimokuza (for example in

Moto Hachiman is a small but very old and historically important Shinto shrine in Kamakura, Kanagawa Pref., Japan. History Although officially called , this tiny shrine in Zaimokuza Beach, Zaimokuza is universally known as ''Moto Hachiman'' ("original Hachima ...

's official name, Yui Wakamiya).

Minamoto no Sanetomo was the third ''shōgun'' of the Kamakura shogunate. He was the second son of the Kamakura shogunate founder, Minamoto no Yoritomo. His mother was Hōjō Masako and his older brother was second Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoriie. His childhood n ...

, planning a voyage to China, allegedly had a big ship built here, but then couldn't sail it because of

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 ...

's shallowness. Zaimokuza during the Kamakura period was a busy port of call for the commerce of lumber, and through it passed much of the material for the construction of Kamakura's famous temples and shrines. This is in fact the origin of its name: ''Zaimoku'' means lumber, and '' za'' was the guild of timber merchants and craftsmen of the area who served businessmen and temples. When the tide is low, at the west end of the beach are still visible the remains of

Wakae Island is an artificial island, the oldest in Japan, now in ruins. The name means "Waka Bay Island" from Waka, Zaimokuza's old name (see the text of the commemorative stele, below). Its remains are located at the east end of Zaimokuza Beach near Kamakura ...

, the oldest artificial island in the country and the harbor that served both Zaimokuza and Kamakura.

Historical landmarks

or Wakaejima - the remains of a medieval harbor *

, the original location of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū *

Kōmyō-ji Kōmyō-ji ( ja, 光明寺, link=no，) is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan and other East Asian communities, and may refer to: *Kōmyō-ji (Ayabe), a temple in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture; see List of National Treasures of Japan (temples ...

Notes

References

* , Kamakura Shunshūsha, 2008 ;
Kamakura: History & Historic Sites
of the Kamakura Citizen Net

External links

{{coord, 35.306244, 139.548611, format=dms, display=inline,title, type:landmark_region:JP_scale:10000 (Zaimokuza Beach) Kamakura, Kanagawa