Miura Peninsula Observations

【山さ行がねが】隧道レポート　旧 佐島隧道

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The Miura Peninsula is a hilly peninsula that stretches about 25 km from the southernmost point, Jogashima in Miura City, to the northernmost point, Enkaisan in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama City, and has an average width of about 5 km. 

Of note, because the Boso Peninsula, located on the opposite shore across Tokyo Bay, is so thick and huge, Miura does not stand out much on small-scale maps. 

However, it was Kurihama Port on the peninsula that Perry landed on his black ships at the end of the Edo period, and the neighboring Uraga Port was opened when the isolation policy was lifted. 

Also, Yokosuka Port developed as the largest base port of the Japanese Navy after the Meiji period.

Although it has a history that is more military-oriented, the density of the land in the sense that it is full of history is amazing. It is also probably the most densely populated peninsula in Japan.

Miura lies at the edge of a megalopolis that receives direct sunlight from the capital, Tokyo.

At the same time, the peninsula is the most accessible place for people in the metropolitan area to go to the beach, and all the main roads within the peninsula are congested during high season holidays. 

Zushi City, located on the other side of the peninsula from Yokosuka City, is a tourist city with a tropical atmosphere and is the center of Shonan status (next door is the historic city of Kamakura), while Hayama Town, located to the south, is a quiet town with a famous Imperial Villa.

This may be a misleading statement, but if I may say so, the "back side of Miura" such as Zushi and Hayama is a place of healing that has, to some extent, protected the "countryside" from the scorching heat of Tokyo with the shield of hills.

Uraga no Watashi (Uraga Ferry)

“Uraga no Watashi” (Uraga Ferry)

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== History of Uraga Ferry Boat

The ferry, nicknamed "Pom Pom Sen" and a symbol of Uraga, has a long history dating back to around 1725, soon after the magistrate's office was established in Uraga.

In the Edo period, there were two boatmen for each boat. The employment of these boatmen and the upkeep of the boat were essential to the daily life of the area, with the cooperation of people from the Kamoi and Kurihama districts, which are a little further away, in addition to people from the East and West Uraga areas.

From August 1878, a community of 17 neighborhood associations in East and West Uraga began to maintain and manage it. The fare at that time was 3 rin per person. (3 rin = 3/1000th of a yen） The hours of operation were set from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with double fare at night. This marked the birth of the ferry as a form of transportation operated by the community.

The town of Uraga did not become involved with the ferry until 40 years later, in 1917. At that time, the town received a transfer of business rights from the community for 5,000 yen. This was the heyday of the ferry and the average number of passengers per day reached 1,000. Therefore, another route was in operation in an area about 300 meters from the current location in the direction of Uraga Station.

In April 1943, the town of Uraga merged with Yokosuka City, and the ferry became operated by Yokosuka City, but later, in October 1949, the city changed to a system of leasing city facilities to private operators for operation.

The 9.5-meter-long, vermilion-toned vessel makes daily round-trips along the "Uraga Kaido" (Uraga sea route). The name "Atagomaru" comes from Mt. Atago in Nishi-uraga Town. The boat was replaced by a mechanical boat in 1962, and was previously an oar-powered boat called a "Tenma-Sen". The current Atago Maru is the second generation, and was put into service in 1998 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the Uraga ferry.

The boat's design was inspired by the boats that once carried the portable shrines during the Higashikano Shrine festival, called "gozabune" (literally, "goza boat").

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Uraga Ferry “Uraga no Watashi” ｜ YOKOSUKA ROUTE MUSEUM

The Uraga Ferry dates back to the Edo period (1600s-1868), and it was said that the shishi samurai during the Late Edo Shogunate (mid-19th century), Sakuma Shozan and Yoshida Shoin, visited the Japanese inn, Tadoya, that existed on the east side of Uraga. The ferry route is named Uraga Kaido, or “Uraga Sea Route,” and it is unique within Japan as a municipal road on the sea. Passengers being transported across this road will have the opportunity to see a special view of Uraga from the waters.

Tsukuihama --- The Lost Resort

 

In the 1960s, the Keihin Kyuko railway company extended its rail lines south from Yokosuka down into the Miura Peninsula area .... Keikyu also built resort facilities to attract customers to ride the new rail lines .... In the small beach community of Tsukuihama, a luxury hotel called "Miura Cape Chateau" was opened in 1965, and it stayed in business until 2000 .... All gone now...

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(Article written in June 2008)

1. Beach resort led by Keihin Kyuko Railway

In the past, entry restrictions were put into place at Miura Kaigan Station due to the large number of tourists.  At the time, cars traveling between the Keihin area and the Miura Peninsula were concentrated on National Route 16, and traffic jams ran from Isogo Ward through Yokosuka City.  Beach huts were lined up close and close to each other, and the sand was filled with beachgoers.  Beach seine fishing was also popular, mainly with families.  At the time, the sandy beaches along the coast of Tokyo had almost disappeared due to reclamation, and this area became the largest beach in the Tokyo and Yokohama suburbs.

The so-called Iwato boom that began in 1958 (Showa 33) led Japan into high economic growth, and at the same time, a leisure boom arrived.  Around that time, on the Miura Peninsula, Keihin Kyuko began extending its railway line south of Kurihama, and in 1963 it opened from Keihin Kurihama (now Keikyu Kurihama) to Nobi (now YRP Nobi), and in 1966 it opened to Miura Kaigan, marking the first time that a railway line had entered Miura City.

In conjunction with this, Keihin Kyuko called the area from Nobi to Miura Beach "Blue Daytona Beach" and launched a major campaign.  Incidentally, Daytona Beach is a tourist destination in Florida, USA, known for its vast sandy beaches.  Keihin Kyuko held the Miura Beach Festival, and in conjunction with the festival, they operated tourist trains such as the "Miura Beach Train" that ran directly from Shinagawa to Miura Beach and carried entertainers.

In terms of facilities, they also created many directly managed tourist facilities and began to develop tourism along the line.  In 1965, they opened Hotel Cape Chateau on the hill behind Tsukuihama Station, in 1969 they opened a beach center facing the beach, and in 1973 they opened a field archery facility at the foot of Takeyama.  In addition, in 1968 Keihin Kyuko began to tie up with Tsukuihama's tourist farm, which was developed in the 1960s, and in addition to the original mandarin orange picking, they expanded the scale of the event to include strawberry picking and potato digging.  In this way, one of the prefecture's leading tourist destinations was formed from Tsukuihama to Miura Coast.

2. Changes in leisure activities and the decline of tourist destinations

After the first oil crisis in 1973, the leisure boom went into a sudden downturn.  Even after the bubble economy began, leisure activities became larger and more diverse, and tourists began to easily travel to Hokkaido, Okinawa, and overseas, so the tourists who once flooded the station never returned to this area.  The number of beach huts lining the coast continued to decrease year by year, and now there are less than half of them around Miura Kaigan Station.  Around 2000, all the tourist facilities built by Keihin Kyuko in this area were forced to close, and the beach center has been turned into a parking lot, but nothing else is being used there.

The only "bubble-like leisure facility" that appeared in this area during the bubble period was "Maholova Minds Miura," built on a plateau overlooking Miura Kaigan.  It was originally built as a luxury resort condominium, but sales were poor after the bubble collapsed, so it was restarted as a resort hotel.  It offers services at a low price considering the quality of the facilities, and it seems to attract a fair number of customers due to its reasonable price.  It is a conspicuous building on the flat Miura Plateau, which is mainly farmland.  Recently, the area has become a commuter area using the Keihin Kyuko Line, and residential development is progressing near Miura Kaigan Station.

http://www.kana-chiri.org/chiiki/kawariyuku/Miura1.html