is an area within the
Kamakura, Kanagawa
, officially , is a Cities of Japan, city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per k ...
Pref., in Japan that runs along the sea from Cape Iijima near
Kotsubo 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 enviro ...
of the
Namerigawa. 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, 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 ...
to Zaimokuza's Iijima cape, the name is usually used to indicate just its half west of the
Namerigawa 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'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 the second Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoriie.
His child ...
, 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 i ...
'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, the oldest artificial island in the country and the harbor that served both Zaimokuza and Kamakura.
Historical landmarks
*
Wakae Island or Wakaejima - the remains of a medieval harbor
*
Moto Hachiman, the original location of
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū
*
Kōmyō-ji
Notes
References
* , Kamakura Shunshūsha, 2008 ;
Kamakura: History & Historic Sitesof the Kamakura Citizen Net
External links
(Zaimokuza Beach)
* {{cite news , url=https://www.sankei.com/photo/story/news/201205/sty2012050014-n1.html , title=幸せの“キイロ”い…猫 鎌倉・材木座海岸 , work=Sankei , date=2020-12-06 , language=ja
Kamakura, Kanagawa