Kanagawa

About Kanagawa

Kanagawa spans 2,416.55 km2, 43rd by area but second by population at 9,198,364 in July 2026, density 3,806 per km2, capital Yokohama's Naka Ward at Nihon Odori, the only prefecture with three ordinance cities and 33 municipalities overall. Its geography at Kanto's southwest tip borders Tokyo across the Tama River, Yamanashi via the Tanzawa Mountains, Shizuoka via Hakone Volcano, faces Tokyo Bay east and Sagami Bay south with Miura Peninsula protruding; land use is 38.8% forest, 27.8% residential. Mountain peaks Mt. Hiru 1,673 m, Mt. Hinokiboramaru 1,601 m, longest river Sagami 55.6 km feeding plains, Lake Ashi 7.1 km2 crater. History traces to Sagami Province plus Musashi's three counties, flourished as Kamakura shogunate 1192-1333 under Minamoto no Yoritomo with Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and five Zen monasteries, then Late Hojo clan's Odawara Castle dominating Kanto and building Japan's first urban waterworks, then Edo-period Tokaido post towns, and 1859 opening of Yokohama Port through Harris Treaty transforming it from fishing village to major treaty port handling silk export. Prefecture formalized 1871 from Kanagawa, Ashigara, etc. Climate is humid subtropical Cfa to small mountain variation: Yokohama averages 5.9°C January 26.7°C August 1,713 mm, Miura 6.4°C to 26.3°C, Ebina inland 4.6°C winter, Odawara 5.3°C, frequent September typhoon rain over 270 mm; western Hakone mountains over 2,000 mm and occasional snow though generally snowless coasts. Industry is Keihin Industrial Zone core: Kawasaki's steel, petrochemical complex at Chidori and Ukishima, automobile Nissan Oppama in Yokosuka, Yokohama's heavy industry, tech in Fujisawa, Atsugi electronics, Sagamihara machinery; Yokohama Port handles huge auto export and imported food and serves as cruise base; GDP ¥35.1 trillion fourth nationally. Agriculture suburban supplies Miura daikon radish and Yokohama cabbage, fishery at Misaki Port acclaimed for tuna auctions topping Tokyo. Submarine topography influences dense population and 90% daytime-night ratio indicating commuting to Tokyo, strongest bedtown character nationally with nicknamed Kanagawa tomin. Tourism icons are Minato Mirai 21 with Landmark Tower 296 m, Red Brick Warehouse Meiji brick warehouses converted to shopping, Japan's largest Chinatown 500 restaurants, Kamakura's Great Buddha 13.35 m 1252 bronze at Kotoku-in and Hasedera hydrangea temple, Hakone's Lake Ashi pirate ships with Fuji views, Owakudani sulfur vents and ropeway, Hakone Open-Air Museum, Enoshima Island and Shonan Hiratsuka's beaches and Shonan Bellmare sunset surf, plus Odawara Castle and cherry blossoms, all easily reached by Odakyu Romancecar and Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo in 30 minutes. International schools and US Navy Yokosuka base add multicultural flavor to the prefecture.