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23-698: Hiratsuka is located in the Shōnan area on the right bank (west side) of the Sagami River , almost in the center of Kanagawa Prefecture, and faces Sagami Bay to the south. The area from the Sagami River to the Kaname River is a plain to the northern end of the city area, and the urban area extends to the south. The west side of the Kaname River is a hilly area that is part of the Oiso Hills, and there

46-602: A Nissan group military aircraft factory. Hiratsuka was largely destroyed on July 16, 1945, during the Bombing of Hiratsuka in World War II . Due to its strategic location and wide beaches, it was also one of the targets for the planned invasion of Japan during the final stages of World War II. The city quickly rebuilt after the war, annexing several neighboring villages in the mid-1950s to attain its current area. The population exceeded 200,000 by 2001 and Hiratsuka became

69-688: A mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 26 members. Hiratsuka contributes three members to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Kanagawa 15th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan . Hiratsuka has a mixed economy, with tax revenue coming from bets made at the Shonan Bank Cycling Velodrome and, several industries located in industrial parks in

92-489: A special city with increased autonomy from the central government. The current mayor is the independent Katsuhiro Ochai (落合克宏) who was elected April 24, 2011, and assumed office on April 30. Previously he had served two terms on the Hiratsuka city council and as council chairperson for the majority of the second term. Ochai succeeded Ritsuko Okura, the city's first female mayor, who served from 2003 to 2011. Hiratsuka has

115-527: A strong presence in this city. Hiratsuka is also a bedroom community for Yokohama and Tokyo , with residents attracted by the " Shōnan lifestyle". Hiratsuka has 28 public elementary schools and 15 public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has five public high schools operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education and one private high school. The prefecture also operates four special education schools for

138-579: A stylized and popular subject of paintings in both medieval China and Japan , particularly as to the graphic and poetic series known as the " Eight Views of Xiaoxiang ". In Japan, the scenery of the Shōnan area was thought to be similar to the scenery around the Xiao and Xiang rivers in Hunan, China; hence the term "Shōnan" (Chinese pinyin : "xiāng nán", another name for the southern Hunan region) came to be applied to

161-402: A system, the mayor's administrative staff often prepares the city budget, although that budget must be approved by the council. The mayor may also have veto rights over council votes, with the council able to override such a veto. Conversely, in a weak-mayor system, the mayor has no formal authority outside the council, serving a largely ceremonial role as council chairperson and is elected by

184-640: Is a lot of greenery. It is approximately midway between Tokyo and Mount Fuji . Kanagawa Prefecture Hiratsuka has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa ) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hiratsuka is 14.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2144 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.2 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.4 °C. Per Japanese census data,

207-789: The Sengoku period was the site of several battles between the later Hōjō clan of Odawara and the Miura clan . After the defeat of the Odawara at the Battle of Odawara by Hideyoshi Toyotomi , the area came under the control of Ieyasu Tokugawa , who built a summer palace (the Nakahara Goten ) in 1596 at the site now occupied by the Hiratsuka City Nakahara Elementary/Primary School. Hiratsuka

230-480: The "sun-tribe"), who hung out on Shōnan beaches. Lying as it does on the edge of the Tokyo- Yokohama metropolitan area , the Shōnan region is nowadays a leading resort area, oriented to surfing , sailboating , and other water sports . There are two theories about the etymology of Shōnan ( Japanese : 湘南 ). One is that Kanagawa Prefecture where the Shōnan region is located was, until the first half of

253-522: The 19th century, called Sagami-no-kuni ( 相模国 ) or Sōshū (相州) (as that phrase remains in Sagami River and Sagami Bay ) and, that Shōnan was in the south ( 南 ) of Sōshū (the water sign 氵 of the Kanji radicals having been added to "相" to make it more poetic ). The other theory is that Shōnan comes from Xiangnan County (湘南県) of the old Province/Country of Changsha ( 長沙国 ) in southern China . In

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276-402: The Shōnan region stretches from Ninomiya in the west to Fujisawa in the east, including Ōiso , Hiratsuka , and Chigasaki . Because of the bay, the region benefits from a mild climate and long beaches covered with dark volcanic sand. The name "Shonan" of this Japanese region already existed in the 17th century, relative to Shigitatsu-an , according to Ōiso Town . During the 1880s, when

299-680: The area around Enoshima in Japan. Besides the similarity in scenery, the two areas both had flood-basin lakes. The lake in China, which still exists, is Lake Dongting . Among others, the lake is fed by the Xiang and Xiao rivers (the Xiao is a tributary of the Xiang). In Japan, the corresponding flood-basin lake (which no longer exists but was mentioned in the Enoshima Engi ) was probably located along

322-469: The council from among themselves A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States , and is the form most frequently adopted in large cities, although

345-558: The course of the Kashio River , which flows into Sagami Bay (via the Katase River ) at Enoshima. Mayor-council Executive mayor elected by the people, elected legislative City council Council - Manager Executive leader elected by the council from among themselves Elected mayor and cabinet Executive mayor elected by the people Committee system Executive leader and executive committees elected by

368-568: The custom of swimming in the ocean was introduced into Japan, the "Shonan" region became a resort area for the politicians and rich people from Tokyo. In postwar times, the Shōnan region gained prominence in Ishihara Shintaro 's prize-winning 1955 novel, Taiyō no Kisetsu ( Season of the Sun ). The novel, which was also made into a popular movie, portrayed the hedonistic lifestyle of young sun-worshippers from elite families ( taiyo-zoku ,

391-789: The handicapped. A private junior college, the Tokai University Junior College of Nursing and Technology is located within Hiratsuka, which also has branch campuses of Kanagawa University , Shoin University and Tokai University . [REDACTED] JR East – Tōkaidō Main Line , Shōnan Shinjuku Line Sh%C5%8Dnan Shōnan ( 湘南 ) is the name of a region along the coast of Sagami Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture , central Japan . Centered on Sagami River , about 60 kilometers southwest of Tokyo ,

414-769: The latter theory, the region's name, Shōnan, derives from a supposedly scenic region in Hunan , China , encapsulated in the phrase 瀟湘湖南 (Chinese pinyin : "xiāo xiāng hú nán"; Japanese: " shōshō konan "). This phrase refers to a beautiful area on the Xiao River (瀟江) and the Xiang River (湘江) south of the Yangtze River in Hunan. Often praised in Chinese poetry of the Xiaoxiang genre, the scenery of this area became

437-543: The other common form, council–manager government , is the local government form of more municipalities. The form may be categorized into two main variations depending on the relative power of the mayor compared to the council, the strong-mayor variant and the weak-mayor variant. In a typical strong-mayor system, the elected mayor is granted almost total administrative authority with the power to appoint and dismiss department heads, although some city charters or prevailing state law may require council ratification. In such

460-403: The outskirts of town. Major plants are operated by Nissan Shatai , Yokohama Rubber Company , Canon , Furukawa Electric , Pilot – the famous Namiki pens are produced at Hiratsuka, Kansai Paint , and Mitsubishi Plastics . Nissan Shatai is the largest employer in the city, but announced plans to move a factory to Kanda . Western firms such as Moog and MacDermid Performance Solutions also have

483-517: The population of Hiratsuka grew rapidly during the late 20th century but has plateaued in the 21st. The area around Hiratsuka has been settled since prehistoric times, and mention of the area as part of ancient Ōsumi District , Sagami Province is found in Nara period records. From the Heian period through Kamakura period , the area was divided into shōen controlled by various samurai clans and in

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506-687: Was founded on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the municipalities system, as part of the new Naka District within Kanagawa Prefecture. It merged with neighboring Suma Town on April 1, 1929, and was proclaimed Hiratsuka City on April 1, 1932. Prior to World War II , Hiratsuka was the location of the Hiratsuka Navy Ammunitions Arsenal ( 平塚海軍火薬廠 ) of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Japan International Aircraft Industries ( 日本国際航空工業 ) ,

529-622: Was retained as tenryō territory after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate , and flourished as Hiratsuka-juku , a post town on the Tōkaidō connecting Edo with Kyoto . As the 7th station, it is often depicted in the series of ukiyo-e about the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō made among others by artists such Hokusai and Hiroshige . After the Meiji Restoration , Hiratsuka town

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