Kanagawa Prefecture Specialty Products, Souvenirs, Shrines and Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

Kanagawa’s defining feature is that a port, ancient capital, hot springs, and coastline all fit within a short distance. This density shapes both its food and its crafts.

Specialties

The Miura Peninsula is a production area for daikon radishes and cabbage. Because it is surrounded by the sea and remains mild even in winter, it can ship produce when other production areas are taking a break which is its strength.

Tsumagoi in Gunma uses elevation in summer to ship cabbage. Miura uses its mild climate in winter to ship it. They use completely opposite conditions for the same vegetable.

Shonan whitebait has a limited fishing season, so raw whitebait is seasonal. Ashigara tea is grown in the mountains of western Kanagawa.

Souvenirs

Yokohama’s shumai is made on the assumption that it will still taste good cold in a boxed meal. That is because it was born as station boxed lunch food.

Kamakura’s Hato Sablé, Odawara kamaboko, and small items of Hakone marquetry. If you want to choose a craft as a souvenir, this is a good entry point.

Shrines and Temples

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine (Kamakura City) is the shrine that Minamoto no Yoritomo placed at the center of the Kamakura shogunate in total.

The town of Kamakura was designed around this shrine. Wakamiya Oji Avenue stretches in a straight line from the main shrine building to the sea. The shrine was placed first, and the city was built around it. This is the opposite of Kyoto’s Kamigamo and Shimogamo Shrines, which “existed before the capital.” Through an enshrinement from Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine (Kyoto), Hachiman worship as the guardian deity of the warrior class spread from here into eastern Japan.

Samukawa Shrine (Samukawa Town) is the ichinomiya of Sagami Province, and is said to be the only shrine in Japan dedicated to protection from all directions. Hakone Shrine and Kuzuryu Shrine (Hakone Town) face Lake Ashi, with torii gates standing in the water. Kencho-ji and Engaku-ji temples (Kamakura City) are counted among the Kamakura Five Mountains.

Sightseeing

Kamakura has terrain surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on one side. The shogunate was established there because it was easy to defend. The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a National Treasure.

Hakone has Lake Ashi, Owakudani, and diverse spring qualities known as the Seven Hot Springs. The terrain formed by volcanoes has produced both hot springs and the wide variety of trees used as materials for marquetry.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated items are Kamakura-bori, Odawara lacquerware, Hakone Yosegi-zaiku making three items.

Hakone Yosegi-zaiku uses no dyes at all. Geometric patterns are created by combining only the natural colors of the wood itself. The patterns are not drawn; they are cross sections.

For details, see [VILLAGE Report vol.35] Bringing Wood Together to Make Patterns

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References: Kanagawa Prefecture, Miura City, Hakone Town, Kamakura City, Odawara City, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team