is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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. Kana ...

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 north ...

. , the city 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 439,728 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 6300 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Fujisawa is in the central part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It faces

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 ...

of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. The northern part of the city is on the Sagamino plateau while the southern part is on the Shonan Dunes. Fujisawa has three major topographical features: the island of

Enoshima is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to ...

to the south connected to the

Katase Katase is a village in Alutaguse Parish, Ida-Viru County, in northeastern Estonia. It's located on the northern shore of Lake Peipus Lake Peipus ( et, Peipsi-Pihkva järv; russian: Чудско-Псковское озеро, Псковск� ...

shoreline area by a road bridge, and two rivers, the Hikiji and the

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...

, which run north-south. The Hikiji can be traced from an area designated as a nature reserve park in the city of Yamato and flows directly along the boundary of the joint

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and

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 (IJN) ...

Atsugi Naval Air Base and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Camp Zama is a United States Army post located in the cities of Zama and Sagamihara, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about southwest of Tokyo. Camp Zama is home to the U.S. Army Japan (USARJ), I Corps (Forward), U.S. Army Aviation Battalion Japan ...

. The Sakai runs directly from the mountains between Machida and

Hachiōji is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 561,344, and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Hachiōji is located in the ...

, and for quite some distance forms the border between the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Kanagawa Prefecture. From Machida city centre, the river can be directly followed by a foot and cycle path to Fujisawa city centre, a distance of approximately . Another cycle path runs along the Shonan Coastal path, from the Sagami River, in Hiratsuka, to Enoshima Bridge in Fujisawa.

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture *

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 To ...

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 ...

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

* Ebina *

Ayase Ayase may refer to: Places *Ayase, Kanagawa, Japan *Ayase, an area in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan ** Ayase Station, train station in Adachi, Tokyo People *Ayase (music producer) (born 1994), Japanese vocaloid producer *, Japanese actress *, Japanese foot ...

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 Kan ...

Chigasaki is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 242,798 and a population density of 6800 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography The city is located on the eastern bank of the Sagami ...

Climate

Fujisawa has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Fujisawa is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1872 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.4 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hadano has grown steadily over the past 70 years.

History

The area around present-day Fujisawa City has been inhabited for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found stone tools and

shell midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

s from the Japanese Paleolithic period, ceramic shards from 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 ...

, and graves from the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

at numerous locations. The area is mentioned in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

'' Nihon Shoki'' chronicles. By the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

, central

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 Paci ...

was divided into ''

shōen A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, ...

'' controlled by the Muroaoka, Oe, and other local warlords. 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 bet ...

, Fujisawa was the setting for a number of battles to overthrow 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 Y ...

as mentioned in the late 14th century

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Taiheiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 923� ...

. During the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, Fujisawa developed around Yugyo-ji, a Buddhist temple, which was established in 1325. With 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 characteriz ...

, Fujisawa prospered as Fujisawa-shuku, a post station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

built a palace in Fujisawa as a rest stop between Edo and Sunpu. Following 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 ...

, the area was divided into villages in Kōza District and Kamakura District within Kanagawa Prefecture. The Kōza District office was located in Fujisawa from 1878. The area developed rapidly after the opening of Fujisawa Station of

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 ...

in 1887. During the cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, Fujisawa-Ōsaka Town (in Kōza District) and Fujisawa-Ōtomi Town (in Kamakura District) were created through the merger of local hamlets.

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

visited Fujisawa in 1891 to watch military maneuvers. The IJA 49th Infantry Regiment under the

IJA 1st Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garrison h ...

was stationed in Fujisawa from 1907. During the same year, Fujisawa-Ōsaka Town absorbed Fujisawa-Ōtomi Town and expanded further in 1908 by annexing the neighboring villages of Kugenuma and Meiji (both from Kamakura District), renaming itself Fujisawa Town. 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 ...

caused severe damage to Fujisawa, with some 4,000 houses destroyed. An

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

Artillery School was established in Tsujido in 1926. The town of Fujisawa was elevated to city status on October 1, 1940. Fujisawa expanded by annexing the village of Muraoka in 1941, the village of Mutsuai in 1942, the town of Katase in 1947, and the villages of Goshomi, Chogo, Takakura and parts of Koide (hamlet of Endo) in 1955. Fujisawa hosted the yachting events of the

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 ho ...

. These improved transport links, such as the Yokohama Subway line and express train services on the

Odakyu , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company ...

line, have made Fujisawa an increasingly attractive and cost-effective

commuter suburb 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

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 37.468 ...

and

Government

Fujisawa 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 multic ...

city council of 36 members. Fujisawa contributes five members to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Kanagawa 12th district of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Economy

Fujisawa has a mixed economy with a strong industrial base. Isuzu retains a large truck factory at Tsuchidana.

Kobe Steel Kobe Steel, Ltd. (株式会社神戸製鋼所, ''Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho''), is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. KOBELCO is the unified brand name of the Kobe Steel Group. Kobe Steel has the lowe ...

has a factory in the east of the city, as does NSK Microprecision, a maker of bearings and precision parts.

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

operates the Shonan Technology Center in Fujisawa.

Ebara Corporation Ebara Corporation is a publicly traded manufacturing company based in Tokyo, Japan which makes environmental and industrial machinery such as pumps and turbines. It is the owner of the Elliott Company in the United States and Sumoto S.r.l. in It ...

, a major manufacturer of pumps and water treatment equipment has a plant in Fujisawa.
Ebara official home page Fujisawa has extensive commercial shopping facilities and has the largest commercial city centre on the Shonan coast. Fujisawa is also 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 Yokohama and Tokyo.

Education

There are four university campuses in Fujisawa: prestigious

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

Shonan Fujisawa Campus , also known as “Keio SFC” is a research-oriented campus of Keio University located in the city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The campus currently offers three undergraduate courses and two postgraduate courses, ...

(SFC) with three faculties and a graduate school in Endo,

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

's School of Natural Science at Mutsuai, and

Tama University is a private university in Tama, Tokyo, 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, ...

's Global Studies Faculty near Shonandai, all in the northern part of the city, and the

Shonan Institute of Technology is a private university in Fujisawa, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 439,728 and a population density of 6300 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Fujis ...

(SIT) in Tsujido Nishikaigan to the south. Fujisawa has 35 public elementary schools and 19 public middle schools as well as one private elementary school and six private combined middle/high schools, including the Shonan Shirayuri Gakuen Junior High School and High School and

Keio Shonan-Fujisawa Junior and Senior High School is located on the Shonan Fujisawa Campus of Keio University in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Since its founding in 1992, the school has been commonly known as Keio SFC, or simply SFC. It is one of the prestigious private junior high sch ...

. The city has six public high schools operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education, including Shonan High School, one of the leading high schools in Kanagawa with former Tokyo Governor

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Japan Restoration Party, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. An ultra ...

as a graduate. There are three private schools. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Hospitals

* Fujisawa City Hospital

Transportation

Railway

–

, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line * – OdakyuGroup logo2

Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Compa ...

–

Odakyū Enoshima Line The is a branch line operated by the Japanese private railway operator Odakyū Electric Railway in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture. The Enoshima Line branches from the Odawara Line at Sagami-Ōno, extending south to Fujisawa and Katase-Enoshi ...

* – – – – – – – – EnoshimaElectricRailway logo

Enoshima Electric Railway The is a private railway in Japan which connects Kamakura Station in Kamakura with Fujisawa Station in Fujisawa, Kanagawa. Stations en route include , the stop closest to Kōtoku-in, the temple with the colossal outdoor statue of Amida Buddha. T ...

Sagami Railway The , or , is a private railway company operating three lines in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of holding company Sotetsu Holdings, Inc. Sotetsu Holdings is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange; 6.58% of it is owned ...

– Izumino * Yokohama Municipal Subway Logo

Yokohama Municipal Subway is the rapid transit network in the city of Yokohama, Japan, south of Tokyo in Kanagawa pref. It is operated by Yokohama City Transportation Bureau as two lines, though three continuous lines exist. Lines The Yokohama Municipal Subway ...

– Blue Line * 18px

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. Train ...

Highway

* * * * *

Sister city relations

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

, USA (from March 5, 1959) *

Matsumoto, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Matsumoto is designated as a core city since 1 April 2021. , the city had a population of 239,466 in 105,207 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city ...

, Japan (from July 29, 1961) *

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

, Yunnan Province, China (from November 5, 1981) (Friendship city) *

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

, Canada (from December 2, 1987) *

Boryeong Boryeong (), commonly known as Daecheon, is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It is located on the coast of the Yellow Sea. It lies on the Janghang Line railroad, which connects it to Seoul via the Gyeongbu Line. It is also conne ...

, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea (from November 15, 2002) *

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Local attractions

Fujisawa remains at the centre of the 'Shōnan lifestyle' image, and its good rail and adequate road connections make it a very popular destination for day trippers from the Kanto region. Surfing and beach volleyball tournaments in summertime attract visitors, especially younger people, and they are also drawn to the seasonal bars and rest houses that are erected along the beach from Kugenuma Kaigan to

Kaigan. Fujisawa has two major firework displays in the summer, in late July and early August, usually sandwiched in between similar festivals in Chigasaki, Hiratsuka, Kamakura, and Yokohama. Enoshima Island has many attractions, including a botanical gardens and the

Enoshima Sea Candle The Enoshima Sea Candle ( ja, 江の島シーキャンドル), also known as the Shonan Observatory Lighthouse, is an observation tower and lighthouse located in the Samuel Cocking Garden on the small tidal island of Enoshima in Fujisawa, Kanag ...

which is open to visitors. Its height of 119.6 meters above sea level affords an excellent view of the area and, on a clear day,

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 p ...

. There are a number of famous

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

s, some in caves on the south side of the island. One of Fujisawa's most popular seasonal products is ''shirasu'', similar to but much smaller and softer than

whitebait Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine- ...

Tourist sights

* Enoshima Island
Enoshima Aquarium
:ja:新江ノ島水族館 is one of the most famous and popular

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

in Japan. *Shirahata Shrine: :ja:白旗神社 (藤沢市) Shirahata Jinja is a

, dedicated to Samukawahiko-no-Mikoto and

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...

. There are two portable shrines, Yoshitsune and Benkei. Yoshitsune and

Benkei , popularly known as simply Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (''sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185) .html" ;"title="/sup>">/sup>. Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic, ...

were major Japanese historical figures of the late

. * Shōjōkō-ji
Yugyo-ji
) : head temple of the Ji-sect of

Japanese Buddhism Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had ...

*Kugenuma Beach *Tsujido Beach and Tsujido Seaside Park *Site of Oba Castle ruins: good place for

Hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...

( cherry-blossom viewing ), approximately in the late March.

Notable people from Fujisawa

Rika Fujiwara is a retired Japanese tennis player. On 22 August 2005, Fujiwara reached her best singles ranking of world No. 84. On 11 November 2002, she peaked at No. 13 in the WTA doubles rankings. At the 2002 Australian Open, Fujiwara partnered with S ...

, professional tennis player *

Akira Hatano is a male Japanese politician. He served as a Minister of Justice and occupied a seat in the House of Councillors. Akira's personal intimacy with Kakuei Tanaka is well known. Hatano ran for Governor of Tokyo in 1971, but he was defeated by ...

, politician *

Motohisa Ikeda is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Fujisawa, Kanagawa and graduate of Waseda University, he worked at the public broadcaster NHK ...

, politician *

Tsubasa Imai is a Japanese singer, actor and dancer formerly in the Japanese agency Johnny & Associates. He joined Johnny & Associates in 1995 and officially debuted in 2002 in the duo Tackey & Tsubasa with Hideaki Takizawa. They are signed to the record lab ...

, singer, actor *

Masahiko Kageyama is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in the Japanese Grand Touring Car series in the top category between 1993 and 2002. Kageyama won the inaugural Japanese Grand Touring Car championship, in the Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R R ...

, racing driver * Chihiro Kato, professional volleyball player *

Masahiko Kumagai is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Kumagai was born in Fujisawa on November 23, 1975. After graduating from Chuo University, he joined J1 League club Kashiwa Reysol in 1998. Although he debuted as defensive midfielder in 19 ...

, professional soccer player *

Takahiro Mizushima is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He is currently affiliated with Axlone. When voicing adult games, he is known as . Biography Mizushima is a former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force official. He entered the JGSDF Youth Technical School, a b ...

, voice actor *

Masahiro Nakai is a Japanese television host, actor, news presenter, radio personality. He was the leader of the now defunct boy band SMAP, which had been the best-selling boy band in Asia. While working as a member of a boy band, he worked extensively as a t ...

, singer, actor * Tsuneko Nakazato, author *

Hikaru Nishida is a Japanese pop singer and actress. She was born in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and made her singing debut on April 6, 1988 with the release of the single "Fifteen", named after her age at the time. Nishida is affiliated with Manase ...

, singer, actress *

Nagisa Oshima NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...

, film director * Shinnosuke Ogasawara, professional baseball player * Ikuzo Sakurai, politician * Tomoaki Satoh, professional baseball player *

Go Soeda is a former professional Japanese tennis player. He started playing tennis at the age of four and turned professional in April 2003. He has won 18 singles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of w ...

, professional tennis player *

Haruka Suenaga is a Japanese actress. At a young age, she began making TV appearances on ''Oha Suta'' and was part of the Oha-Girls. She has done some commercials for Glico. One of her most notable roles was Sakura Nishihori/Bouken Pink in the Super Sentai ser ...

, gravure model *

Kohei Suwama is a Japanese professional wrestler better known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former record eight-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also ...

, professional wrestler * Shuhei Takahashi, professional baseball player *

Saki Takaoka is a Japanese actress. Her uncle is the jazz pianist Yōsuke Yamashita. She won the award for best actress at the 19th Hochi Film Award for ''Crest of Betrayal''. Filmography Film * ''cf girl'' (''cfガール'', 1989) * ''Swimming Upstream' ...

, actress *

Toshitaka Tsurumi is a Japanese Association football, football player. He plays for FC Maruyasu Okazaki, Maruyasu Okazaki. Tsurumi previously played for Shonan Bellmare in the J2 League. Club statistics References External links

* 1986 births Living p ...

, professional soccer player *

Toko Yasuda Toko Yasuda is a Japanese singer, songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, and bassist, best known as a member of New York indie rock band Enon and as a musician in live St. Vincent performances. Life and career Yasuda grew up in the cities of Fujis ...

, singer, songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, and bassist * Yuki Onishi (chef), ramen chef

References

External links

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