Kanagawa Prefecture: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Geography and Location

Aerial map

Kanagawa prefecture (神奈川県)

Kanagawa prefectural symbol
Capital	Yokohama
Region:	Kanto
Island:	Honshu
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 43rd 2,415.42 km² 2.3%
Population  - Total (Jan 1, 2000)  - Density	Ranked 3rd 8,639,665 3,577/km²
Districts:	7
Municipalities:	37
:	JP-14
Symbols
Pref. Flower:	Golden-rayed lily (Lilium auratum)
Pref. Tree:	Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba)
Pref. Bird:	Common gull (Larus canus)

Kanagawa prefecture (神奈川県; Kanagawa-ken) is a geographic and political area located in the Kanto region on Honshu island, Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Yokosuka Port commanding the mouth of Tokyo Bay is headquatered by the U.S. 7th Fleet.

This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.

History

• The present sphire of the prefecture belonged to Sagami Province and some parts of Musashi Province in Ancient Japan.
• In the medieval age, samurai clans in Eastern Japan took military supremacy and established the shugunate government at Kamakura in central Sagami.
• In the early modern age, the western part of Sagami Province was governed by a feudal lord with a castle in Odawara, and the eastern part was directly governed by the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo or today's Tokyo.
• Under foreign pressure, Japan opened Yokohama Port to foreign traders in 1859. Yokohama developped into a modern and prosperous port in the modern age.
• Yokosuka City commanding a strategic locattion at the mouth of Tokyo Bay developed as a naval port during the age of militarism. The port is still headquatered by the U.S. 7th Fleet and the Japanese Self-Defence Fleet.
• Urban areas including Yokohama and Kawasaki were heavily damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and the heavy bombing in 1945.

Cities

• Atsugi
• Ayase
• Chigasaki
• Ebina
• Fujisawa
• Hadano
• Hiratsuka
• Isehara
• Kamakura
• Kawasaki
  • Asao-ku
  • Kawasaki-ku
  • Miyamae-ku
  • Nakahara-ku
  • Saiwai-ku
  • Takatsu-ku
  • Tama-ku
• Minamiashigara
• Miura
• Odawara
• Sagamihara
• Yamato
• Yokohama (capital)
  • Aoba-ku
  • Asahi-ku
  • Hodogaya-ku
  • Isogo-ku
  • Izumi-ku
  • Kanagawa-ku
  • Kanazawa-ku
  • Kohoku-ku
  • Kounan-ku
  • Midori-ku
  • Minami-ku
  • Naka-ku
  • Nishi-ku
  • Sakae-ku
  • Seya-ku
  • Totsuka-ku
  • Tsuzuki-ku
  • Tsurumi-ku
• Yokosuka
• Zama
• Zushi

Towns and Villages

• Aiko
  • Aikawa
  • Kiyokawa
• Ashigarakami
  • Kaisei
  • Matsuda
  • Nakai
  • Oi
  • Yamakita
• Ashigarashimo
  • Hakone
  • Manatsuru
  • Yugawara
• Koza
  • Samukawa
• Miura
  • Hayama
• Naka
  • Ninomiya
  • Oiso
• Tsukui
  • Fujino
  • Sagamiko
  • Shiroyama
  • Tsukui

Kanagawa is well known for the popularity of soccer. It is also the prefecture in which the manga Love Hina takes place.

Prefectures of Japan

Aichi | Akita | Aomori | Chiba | Ehime | Fukui | Fukuoka | Fukushima | Gifu | Gunma | Hiroshima | Hokkaido | Hyogo | Ibaraki | Ishikawa | Iwate | Kagawa | Kagoshima | Kanagawa | Kochi | Kumamoto | Kyoto | Mie | Miyagi | Miyazaki | Nagano | Nagasaki | Nara | Niigata | Oita | Okayama | Okinawa | Osaka | Saga | Saitama | Shiga | Shimane | Shizuoka | Tochigi | Tokushima | Tokyo | Tottori | Toyama | Wakayama | Yamagata | Yamaguchi | Yamanashi