is a

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

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 ...

located in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

Honshu , 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 s ...

. 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. Kanagawa Prefecture borders

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 ...

to the north,

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

to the northwest and

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

to the west.

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 ...

is the capital and largest city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Kawasaki, Sagamihara, and Fujisawa. Kanagawa Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

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 ...

and Sagami Bay, separated by the Miura Peninsula, across from

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

on the Bōsō Peninsula. Kanagawa Prefecture is part of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

, the most populous

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

in the world, with Yokohama and many of its cities being major commercial hubs and southern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

s of Tokyo. Kanagawa Prefecture was the political and economic center of Japan during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle b ...

when

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 ...

was the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

capital and largest city of Japan as the seat of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no ...

from 1185 to 1333. Kanagawa Prefecture is a popular tourist area in the Tokyo region, with Kamakura and Hakone being two popular side trip destinations.

History

The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

(around 400 BCE). About 3,000 years ago, Mount Hakone produced a volcanic explosion which resulted in

Lake Ashi , also referred to as Hakone Lake or Ashinoko Lake, is a scenic lake in the Hakone area of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, Japan. It is a crater lake that lies along the southwest wall of the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano that la ...

on the western area of the prefecture. It is believed that the Yamato dynasty ruled this area from the 5th century onwards. In the

ancient era Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history c ...

, its plains were very sparsely inhabited. In medieval Japan, Kanagawa was part of the provinces of Sagami and Musashi.

in central Sagami was the capital of Japan during the

(1185–1333). 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 character ...

, the western part of Sagami Province was governed by the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' of Odawara Castle, while the eastern part was directly governed by 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 ...

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

(modern-day Tokyo). Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Kanagawa in 1853 and 1854 and signed the

Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...

to force open Japanese ports to the United States.

, the largest deep-water port in

, 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 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 t ...

and the fleet operations of the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJ ...

. After the

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 ...

, many foreigners lived in Yokohama City, and visited Hakone. The

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

developed the first railways in Japan, from Shinbashi (in Tokyo) to Yokohama in 1872. The epicenter of the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the port city of

, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, and caused widespread damage throughout the

. The sea receded as much as 400 metres from the shore at Manazuru Point, and then rushed back towards the shore in a great wall of water which swamped Mitsuishi-shima. At

, the total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims. At Odawara, ninety percent of the buildings collapsed immediately, and subsequent fires burned the rubble along with anything else left standing. Yokohama, Kawasaki, and other major cities were heavily damaged by the U.S. bombing in 1945. Total Casualties amounted to more than several thousand. After the war, General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers for the

Occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States ...

, landed in Kanagawa, before moving to other areas. U.S. military bases still remain in Kanagawa, including Camp Zama (

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

), Yokosuka Naval Base,

Naval Air Facility Atsugi is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean and once housed the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), which ...

(

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

Demographics

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 Greater Tokyo Area. The population is estimated to be 9.1 million. Kanagawa became the second most populous prefecture in 2006.

Geography

Prefectural office of Kanagawa in Yokohama

Kanagawa is a relatively small prefecture located at the southeastern corner of the Kantō Plain wedged between Tokyo on the north, the foothills of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

on the northwest, and the Sagami Bay and

on the south and east. The eastern side of the prefecture is relatively flat and heavily urbanized, including the large port cities of

and Kawasaki. The southeastern area nearby the Miura Peninsula is less urbanized, with the ancient city of

drawing tourists to temples and shrines. The western part, bordered by

and

on the west, is more mountainous and includes resort areas like Odawara and Hakone. The area, stretching from west to east and from north to south, contains of land, accounting for 0.64% of the total land area of Japan. , 23% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park; Tanzawa-Ōyama Quasi-National Park; and Jinba Sagamiko, Manazuru Hantō, Okuyugawara, and Tanzawa-Ōyama Prefectural Natural Parks.

Topography

Topographically, the prefecture consists of three distinct areas. The mountainous western region features the Tanzawa Mountain Range and the volcano Mount Hakone. The hilly eastern region is characterized by the

Tama Hills is an area of hills stretching across southwest Tokyo and northeast Kanagawa Prefecture in the Kantō Plain on Honshū, Japan. Its total area is approximately 300 km2. The Tama River marks its northeastern boundary. The Tama Hills border the ...

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 The is a river in Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It begins at the confluence of the Onda and Yamoto rivers in Yokohama and flows 22 kilometers before emptying into Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region ...

, and

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The rive ...

. The

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 runs through a small lowland, the Sakawa Lowland, between Mount Hakone to the west and the Ōiso Hills to the east, and flows into Sagami Bay. The Tanzawa Mountain Range, part of the Kantō Mountain Range, contains Mount Hiru (), the highest peak in the prefecture. Other mountains measure similar mid-range heights: Mount Hinokiboramaru (),

Mount Tanzawa is a mountain of the Tanzawa Mountains, with an elevation of . Its summit marks the border between Sagamihara is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 723,470, with 334,812 househo ...

, (), Mount Ōmuro (), Mount Himetsugi (), and

Mount Usu is an active stratovolcano in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Hokkaido, Japan. It has erupted four times since 1900: in 1910 (which created Meiji-shinzan 神沼克伊,小山悦郎 ''日本の火山を科学する　日本列島津々浦々、 ...

(). 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

Sagamino plateau The , also known as the or , is a wide plateau situated between the Tama Hills and the Sagami River in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Near its northern boundary with the city of Sagamihara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city ...

Cities

Nineteen cities are located in Kanagawa Prefecture. *

Atsugi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 223,960 and a population density of 2400 persons per km². The total area of the city is . While the name "Atsugi" is often associated with the Unite ...

* Ayase * Chigasaki * Ebina * Fujisawa *

Hadano is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,787 and a population density of 1600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Hadano is located in the foothills of the ...

* Hiratsuka * Isehara *

* Kawasaki * Minamiashigara * Miura * Odawara * Sagamihara * Yamato *

(capital) * Yokosuka * Zama * Zushi

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

: * Aikō District ** Aikawa ** Kiyokawa * Ashigarakami District ** Kaisei ** Matsuda ** Nakai ** Ōi ** Yamakita * Ashigarashimo District ** Hakone **

Manazuru is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 6,949 and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Located in the southeast of Mount Hakone, the consist ...

** Yugawara * Kōza District **

Samukawa is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 48,679 and a population density of 3600 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Samukawa is located in the flatlands of central Kana ...

* Miura District ** Hayama * Naka District ** Ninomiya **

Ōiso 260px, Ōiso Long Beach resort is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 31,101 and a population density of 1800 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Ōiso is located on t ...

Mergers

Festivals and events

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

Transportation

Kanagawa's transport network is heavily intertwined with that of Tokyo (''see:

Transportation in Greater Tokyo The transport network in Greater Tokyo includes public and private rail and highway networks; airports for international, domestic, and general aviation; buses; motorcycle delivery services, walking, bicycling, and commercial shipping. While the n ...

''). Shin-Yokohama and Odawara stations on the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 19 ...

are located in the prefecture, providing high-speed rail service to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and other major cities.

Railways

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

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 ...

** Nambu Line ** Tsurumi Line ** Yokohama Line ** Negishi Line ** Yokosuka Line **

Sagami Line The is a railway line in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It approximately parallels the east bank of the Sagami River. The line connects Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara and Chigasaki Station ...

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

** Tokaido Shinkansen ** Gotemba Line *

Keikyu (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. ...

** Main Line ** Daishi Line ** Kurihama Line ** Zushi Line * Odakyu ** Odawara Line ** Enoshima Line ** Tama Line * Sagami Railway ** Main Line ** Izumino Line ** Shin-Yokohama Line * Tokyu ** Tōyoko Line ** Den-en-toshi Line ** Ōimachi Line ** Meguro Line *

Minatomirai Line The Minatomirai 21 Line (みなとみらい21線 ''Minato-mirai-21-sen''), commonly known as the Minatomirai Line (みなとみらい線 ''Minatomirai-sen''), is a subway line in Yokohama, Japan that runs from Yokohama Station to Motomachi-Chū ...

* Keio ** Sagamihara Line *

Izuhakone Railway The is a private railway company in Kanagawa Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The company also operates excursion ships, and the group companies operate buses and taxis. The company has its roots in founded in 1893. Izuhakone Railway ...

Daiyūzan Line The is a commuter railway line in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Izuhakone Railway. The line connects Odawara Station in the city of Odawara with the Daiyūzan Station in the city of Minamiashigara. Sta ...

* Enoshima Electric Railway

Subways

* Yokohama Municipal Subway **Blue Line **Green Line

Monorail

Shonan Monorail The is a suspended SAFEGE monorail in the cities of Kamakura and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the which belongs to Michinori Holdings, and opened on March 7, 1970, the first monorail of its kind in Japan. Tr ...

People movers

Kanazawa Seaside Line The is an automated guideway transit line operated by which operates between Shin-Sugita in Isogo Ward to Kanazawa-Hakkei in Kanazawa Ward in Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municip ...

Road

Expressway

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels N ...

* Chūō Expressway * Shuto Expressway * Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line

National highways

Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads number ...

* 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 is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...

-Kawasaki- Machida-Atsugi-Isehara-

Gotenba is a city on the southeastern flank of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,370 in 36,096 households, and a population density of 450 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geo ...

– Numazu) * Route 255 * Route 357 ( Chiba–

Funabashi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city (aft ...

– Daiba of Tokyo-Yokohama-Yokosuka) * Route 409 * Route 412 * Route 413 (

Fujiyoshida is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,782 in 19,806 households and a population density of 400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fujiyoshida lies at the northern ...

– Lake Yamanaka-Sagamihara) * Route 466 (

Setagaya, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orch ...

-Kawasaki-Yokohama) * Route 467

Ports

* Yokohama Port – International container hub port *Misaki Port – Ferry Route to Kisarazu

Education

The

Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education The is the board of education for Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. The board consists of six members; one of them is elected as the chair, and one of them is appointed by the board as the superintendent. The board administers municipal education and ...

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

University facilities

*Kawasaki **

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowment ...

– Shin Kawasaki Campus **

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

– Ikuta Campus ** Senshu University – Ikuta Campus ** Japan Women's University **

Showa University of Music is a private university in Asao-ku, Kawasaki Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. History The predecessor of the school was founded in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, in 1930. It relocated to Atsugi, Kanagawa is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japa ...

Den-en Chofu University is a private university in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 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 Jap ...

– Aso Ward ** Nippon Medical School **St. Marianna University, School of Medicine – Miyamae **Japan Cinema School **

Tokyo City University , often called or TCU for short, is an engineering, environmental and information sciences focused private university located in Tokyo, Japan. The university has four campuses, the Setagaya campus close to the Tama River at Oyamadai, Setagay ...

– Aso Ward *Yokohama **

Tokyo Institute of Technology is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, one of first five Designated National University and selected as ...

– Suzukakedai ** Tokyo University of the Arts – Naka Ward ** Yokohama National University – Hodogaya **

Yokohama City University is a public university, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2013, YCU has two faculties with a total of around 4,850 students, 111 of whom are foreign. YCU also has four campuses (Kanazawa-Hakkei, Fukuura, Maioka and Tsurumi) and t ...

– Kanazawa Ward **

Kanagawa University , abbreviated to is a private university in Japan. The main campus is located in Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. History The university was founded in 1928 by as . It was an evening school for the working youth. In ...

– Kanagawa Ward ** Kanto Gakuin University – Kanazawa Ward ** Toin University of Yokohama – Aoba Ward **

Tsurumi University is a private university in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Tsurumi University traces its origin to Tsurumi Girls' High School, which was established in 1925. In 1953, Tsurumi Girls' Junior College was established, and it was chartered as ...

– Tsurumi Ward ** Yokohama College of Commerce – Tsurumi Ward **

Yokohama College of Pharmacy is a private university in Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 2006 on the site of the former Yokohama Dreamland amusement park, converting the existing hotel building into classrooms and a library. It was f ...

– Totsuka Ward **

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowment ...

– Hiyoshi Campus **Tokyo City University – Tsuzuki Ward **

Meiji Gakuin University is a Christian university in Tokyo and Yokohama that was established in 1863. The Reverend Dr. James Curtis Hepburn was one of its founders and served as the first president. The novelist and poet Shimazaki Toson graduated from this coll ...

– Totsuka Ward ** Nippon Sport Science University – Aoba Ward ** Toyo Eiwa University – Midori Ward ** Kokugakuin University – Tama Plaza **

Senzoku Gakuen College of Music is a private educational institution in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The institution operates a school of music, a junior college, primary and secondary schools, and a kindergarten. The first Senzoku Gakuen school, the Hiratsuka Sewing School ...

*Sagamihara ** Aoyama Gakuin University ** Azabu University ** Kitasato University **

Sagami Women's University is a private women's college in Sagamihara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 723,470, with 334,812 households, and a population density of 1,220 persons per km2. The total area of the city ...

**Obirin University **Joshi University of Art and Design ** Teikyo University *Yokosuka ** Kanagawa Dental College **

Kanagawa University of Human Services is a public university at Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, 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 ...

* Hiratsuka ** Tokai University – Hiratsuka Campus **

Shoin University is a private university in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Founded as a women's school in 1941, Shoin became coeducational in 2004. It is a member of the Western Metropolitan Area University Association. History The predecessor of the scho ...

– Hiratsuka Campus **Kanagawa University *Isehara **Tokai University – Isehara Campus **

Sanno University The , also stylized SANNO Institute of Management, is a private university established in 1979 in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture Japan. It offers highly interdisciplinary and practical programs in the field of management and information science. ...

*Odawara **Kanto Gakuin University – Odawara Campus ** International University of Health and Welfare *Chigasaki **

Bunkyo University is a private university located in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, with campuses in Saitama and Kanagawa Prefecture. The kanji of the word "Bunkyo" mean education and learning. The university offers courses mainly in education and research of the ...

– Chigasaki Campus *Atsugi **

** Tokyo University of Agriculture – Atsugi Campus **

Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT) is a private university in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The predecessor of the school, a vocational school, was founded in 1963. It was chartered as a university in 1975. The present name was adopted in 1988. Abstract The un ...

** Tokyo Polytechnic University – Atsugi Campus *Hayama **

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 Nagak ...

Sports

Facilities

Football and athletics

*Nissan Stadium ( International Stadium Yokohama)—in Yokohama, the final venue of

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

in 2005–2007 and

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

*Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium ( Mitsuzawa Stadium)—in Yokohama, only for football *

Todoroki Athletics Stadium The , or officially Todoroki Athletics Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Todoroki Ryokuchi in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Kawasaki Frontale. Unti ...

—in Kawasaki, the final venue of

2007 IFAF World Cup The 2007 IFAF World Championship was the third instance of the IFAF World Championship, the quadrennial international American football world championship tournament. It was held July 7–15, 2007 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. Venues Part ...

(American football). * Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium

Baseball

* Yokohama Stadium—for baseball (

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...

) and hosted

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

* Kawasaki Stadium—former homeground of Taiyo Whales (now Yokohama BayStars) and Lotte Orions (now Chiba Lotte Marines). * Yokosuka Stadium—home field of Shonan Searex, minor league team of Yokohama BayStars

Indoor

* Yokohama Arena—also for music concert * Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium—a volleyball venue of

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

in Tokyo * Todoroki Arena—in Kawasaki and multi-purpose venue (including basketball) * Odawara Arena—2020 Kanagawa Pre-Games training facilities

Other

* Enoshima

Yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Course—used for 1964 Summer Olympics. *

Hakone Ekiden , officially called the , is one of the most prominent university '' ekiden'' (relay marathon) races of the year held between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan on January 2 and 3. The race is telecast on Nippon Television. This two-day race from Ōtemachi ...

Course—from Tokyo to Hakone, 108.0 km, mostly on

Japan National Route 1 is a major highway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It connects Chūō, Tokyo in the Kantō region with the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture in the Kansai region, passing through the Chūbu region en route. It follows the old Tōkaidō west ...

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 Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...

and rowing for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Teams

Soccer (football)

* Kawasaki Frontale ( Kawasaki)—Todoroki Athletics * Yokohama F. Marinos (

, Yokosuka)—Nissan Stadium * Yokohama F.C. (

)—Mitsuzawa Ballpark *

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

( Hiratsuka, Odawara and some cities and towns in central and western area of Kanagawa)—Hiratsuka Athletic Stadium (football) and Odawara Arena (futsal)

Baseball

* Yokohama BayStars (

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

Basketball

* Toshiba Brave Thunders Kanagawa ( Kawasaki)— Todoroki Arena

Volleyball

NEC Red Rockets is a women's volleyball team based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. It plays in V.League (Japan), V.League 1. The owner of the team is NEC. The club was founded in April 1978 as NEC's corporate team, participating the same year in the 10th V.Chal ...

( Kawasaki)—Todoroki Arena

Visitors attractions and places of interest

* Yokohama Municipal Children's Botanical Garden * Yokohama War Cemetery * Yokohama Chinatown

Sister areas

Kanagawa Prefecture has sister relationships with these places: *

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, United States (1981) *

Liaoning Province Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, China (1983) *

Odessa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its admin ...

, Ukraine (1986) *

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, Germany (1989) * Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea (1990) * City of Gold Coast, Australia (1990) *

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

, Malaysia (1991) *

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

, Sweden (1998) *

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of a ...

, México (2013)

In popular culture

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

'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 Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series ''

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

'', Shohoku, is from Kanagawa. *The Hinata Inn and surrounding town from the

and

series '' Love Hina'' are located in Kanagawa. *The Japanese

series '' Elfen Lied'' takes place in Kanagawa, mainly in Kamakura and Enoshima (Fujisawa). *The Japanese

series '' S-CRY-ED'' takes place in Kanagawa Prefecture, after a seismic event raises it from the ground. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori, which has been serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from issue 33 of 2005 to issue 21-22 of 2008. It has been adapted into an anime television series, d ...

'' takes place in the fictional Kanagawa city of Umineko. *The Japanese

series ''

Gundam Wing ''Mobile Suit Gundam Wing'', also known in Japan as , is a 1995 Japanese mecha anime series directed by Masashi Ikeda and written by Katsuyuki Sumizawa. It is the sixth installment in the '' Gundam'' franchise, taking place in the "Af ...

s early episodes feature Kanagawa prominently, mainly Yokohama and Yokosuka. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Area no Kishi is a Japanese manga series written by Hiroaki Igano and illustrated by Kaya Tsukiyama. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from April 2006 to March 2017, with its chapters collected in 5 ...

'' takes place in Kanagawa, mostly Kamakura. *The Japanese

and

series '' Hamatora'' takes place in Kanagawa, mainly in Yokohama. *The Japanese

and

series ''

His and Her Circumstances is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Tsuda. It was serialized in ''LaLa'' from 1996 to 2005 and collected in 21 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Hakusensha. It depicts the romance between "perfect" student Yukino Miyazawa and ...

'' takes place in Kanagawa Prefecture, mainly in Kawasaki city and

. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion ...

'' takes place in Tokyo-3, which is located in the village of Hakone, in the Ashigarashimo District *A team from the Japanese

and

series '' Kuroko's Basketball'', Kaijo, is from Kanagawa. *The manga ''Shonan Junai Gum''i, along with its prequel '' Bad Company'', and the sequel '' Great Teacher Onizukas spin off '' GTO: 14 Days in Shonan'', are set in Shonan, in Kanagawa *The Japanese

and

series '' Yowamushi Pedal'', Hakone Academy is from Hakone, Kanagawa. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's '' seinen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 ' ...

'' Fifth Stage is set in Kanagawa, and Final Stage is set in Hakone. *The Japanese

and

series '' Bungo Stray Dogs'' is set in Yokohama. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Aoi Hana is a Japanese yuri manga series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura. It was serialized between November 2004 and July 2013 in Ohta Publishing's manga magazine ''Manga Erotics F'', with its chapters collected in eight ''tankōbon'' volum ...

'' is set in Kamakura. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai ''Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kamoshida and illustrated by Kēji Mizoguchi. ASCII Media Works have published twelve volumes since April 2014 under the ...

'' takes place in various places in Kanagawa Prefecture, such as Fujisawa and

. *The Japanese

and

series ''

Astro Fighter Sunred is a Japanese manga created by Makoto Kubota. It started serialization on Square Enix's seinen manga magazine ''Young Gangan'' from December 3, 2004 to December 19, 2014. An anime adaptation produced by AIC A.S.T.A. aired from October 3, ...

'' is set in Kanagawa Prefecture, specifically Kawasaki City and the area around the

Citations

General references

* Hammer, Joshua (2006). ''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II''. New York: Simon & Schuster. ; . * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth (2005)
''Japan Encyclopedia''
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; .

External links

Kanagawa Prefecture Official Website

Kanagawa Prefecture Tourism Website
* {{Authority control Kantō region Prefectures of Japan

History

Demographics

Geography

Topography

Cities

Towns and villages

Mergers

Festivals and events

Transportation

Railways

Subways

Monorail

People movers

Road

Expressway

National highways

Ports

Education

University facilities

Sports

Facilities

Football and athletics

Baseball

Indoor

Other

Teams

Soccer (football)

Baseball

Basketball

Volleyball

Visitors attractions and places of interest

Sister areas

In popular culture

See also

Citations

General references

External links