is a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

located in

Kanagawa 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. Kanagaw ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It lies south of

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 T ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

and divides

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...

, to the east, from

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 ...

, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and

Kamakura 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 ...

. The northern limit of the peninsula runs from Koshigoe, Kamakura in the west, across to Mt. Enkai, in the southern wards of Yokohama in the east, overlooking Tokyo Bay.

Overview

The peninsula is 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 those who work in Tokyo and a popular tourist destination for people from Tokyo. It is also an important area for Japan's self-defense, with the eastern side hosting the

National Defense Academy of Japan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and the Yokosuka Naval Base, serving both the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and the

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...

. A significant portion of Tokyo's electricity is generated at Tokyo Electric's power station at Kurihama, and important R&D activity on next-generation mobile phones is done at Yokosuka Research Park.

Three lighthouses

There are three important

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on Miura Peninsula. Kannonzaki Lighthouse stands at the easternmost tip of the peninsula, facing Cape Futtsu across the bay. At Cape Tsurugi on the eastern side of the southernmost tip of the peninsula is the Tsurugisaki Lighthouse, one of Japan's oldest western style lighthouses, first illuminated in 1871. On the island of Jōgashima, off the southernmost and western tip of the peninsula, stands the Jōgashima Lighthouse.

References

External links

*
Japan National Tourist Organization Miura-hanto Peninsula Tourist Guide
Peninsulas of Japan Landforms of Kanagawa Prefecture {{Kanagawa-geo-stub