Kasuga Shrine

Kasuga Shrine .... Situated a quiet neighborhood in the Miharu-Cho district of eastern Yokosuka .... It was originally established, many many years ago, on Sarushima (Monkey Island) .... but relocated in the late-19th century to its present site due to the construction of military fortifications on Sarushima...

Because of its location directly south of Edo (Tokyo) and overlooking the mouth of Tokyo Bay, Yokosuka was gradually transformed from a small collection of fishing villages into a major naval port and ship building/repair complex.  

During that process, some homes, shops, and/or shrines were mandatorily relocated by the national government in order to free-up land to build infrastructure related to controlling/defending the entrance into Tokyo Bay...

          

By the way .... The characters for Kasuga are 春日, which can be read as: "spring day" or "sunlight"  

Ruins of Kasuga-sha Shrine - Guidoor

In Sarushima, Kasuga-sha, which is said to have received the divided tutelary deity from Kasuga-taisha shrine in Nara during the Heian period, has been enshrined.

In the old days the southern end of the island was in the precincts.

The open space on the southeastern end of the island is one of the places considered to be the ruins of the Kasuga-sha of the Edo period.

There is a great observation point with a wonderful view towards Kannonzaki.

The island became a military site due to the construction of the battery, and in 1884, the shrine was relocated to Miharu-cho in Yokosuka.

Yokosuka and telecommunications technology development

Yokosuka - Intelligent Community Forum

Yokosuka is the port city on Tokyo Bay where the “black ships” of the United States, commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry, first landed in Japan and forced an end to hundreds of years of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world. 

During Japan’s amazing industrial transformation, this city of 430,000, located 50 kilometers from Tokyo, became a center for steel, shipbuilding, automobiles and other heavy industries as well as a Japanese navy base. 

In 1972, Yokosuka reached a turning point with the establishment of a new Nippon Telephone & Telegraph R&D center in the city. First-class researchers were dispatched from major Japanese telecom equipment manufacturers to the new center in order to work on advanced telecom technology. 

The success in attracting NTT caused the city government to investigate the concept of basing future economic development on “info-communications,” a term coined by the Japanese to describe the merging of information and telecommunications technologies. The city published its Yokosuka Intelligent City Plan in 1986, subsequently gained the support of the powerful Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and in 1998, announced the creation of the Yokosuka Research Park (YRP).

Yokosuka Research Park

Like Stanford University Park in Silicon Valley or Sophia Antipolis in France, the concept of YRP was to create an international research development base for the world’s most advanced ICT technology. 

Today, the Park houses 6,000 research workers, many from overseas, and offers subsidized rental costs to attract new research enterprises such as the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. All workers have access to broadband at speeds of up to 100 Mbps, nearly 400 times faster than typical consumer broadband in most countries. 

But thanks to policies of the national government, the impact of YRP extends far beyond its boundaries. Though until recently a laggard, Japan now ranks third in the world for penetration of broadband, a change driven by average retail prices of about US$25 per month for 12 Mbps of connectivity. 

Responding to a national e-Japan program, Yokosuka has invested about US$26 million over six years in e-government projects, including an electronic procurement system that is saving over US$30 million per year of taxpayer’s money and increased both the transparency and competitiveness of bidding. 

During a long period of economic stagnation in Japan, Yokosuka is leading the way toward a new model of growth for the world’s second-largest economy.

So Many Elderly

Yokosuka City - Age-Friendly World (who.int)

The population of Yokosuka City in 2017 is 409,891, and the proportion of the population aged 65 and over is 30.35%. To deal with this trend of ageing, Yokosuka City implements projects for the elderly toward “Creation of a society where people remain active throughout their lives,” with many residents live a healthy life, being active for a long time.

We emphasis on promoting a community-based integrated care system, dementia strategies, social participation and improvement of living environment. For this purpose, we are providing various services.
For the elderly to age in place, it is important to provide medical, nursing care and welfare services in a comprehensive manner, so we are also building a framework to realize this vision.

Yokosuka City is located in the Miura Peninsula area, southeast of Kanagawa Prefecture, where municipalities have a close relationship. Yokosuka City, with other 4 municipalities in this area together, stated “the declaration of the peninsula that improve ME-BYO” at the Miura Peninsula Summit. In this context, Yokosuka City is implementing various projects to improve ME-BYO.

In order to make Yokosuka City more age-friendly, we accelerate our efforts collaborating with Kanagawa Prefectural Government and other municipalities in this area, aiming at extension of healthy life expectancy and promotion of health. Also, we will listen to the needs of the elderly, the opinions of citizens and experts, and reflect these factors on policies. And by linking with the comprehensive plan of Yokosuka City, we will implement age-friendly projects in various fields.

(ME-BYO 未病: Rather than regarding health and illness as being mutually exclusive, the concept of ME-BYO views a person’s mental and physical condition as continuously changing along a spectrum between health and illness).

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What is ME-BYO?

Kanagawa Prefecture’s Healthcare New Frontier health policy package centers on the concept of “ME-BYO,” which, in traditional Eastern medicine, is defined as neither healthy nor sick. Kanagawa Prefecture builds upon this concept by classifying the body’s condition as being in a state of constant transition that cannot be strictly categorized as being either healthy or sick.

Addressing ME-BYO does not stop at a patient’s symptoms of illness, but rather it strives to address the body’s condition as a whole and encourage people to take a pro-active approach to health. This means that individuals are supported to maintain health and prevent the onset or further progression of disease through lifestyle-based approaches that complement medical approaches. And in Kanagawa Prefecture where there are a variety of natural resources, the prefecture has created a ME-BYO strategic area where ME-BYO strategies are on-going.

Issued in January 2014, the “Kanagawa Manifesto of Curing ME-BYO” explains the ME-BYO strategy to the public and outlines areas of focus. As described in the Manifesto, this strategy is built upon two pillars: cultural integration of the ME-BYO concept and community cooperation toward a common goal. To achieve health through “curing ME-BYO,” the strategy focuses on diet, exercise, and social participation.

Japan Health Policy NOW – Curing ME-BYO (japanhpn.org)