In Japanese mythology

Japanese mythology

Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami...

, Ryūgū-jō (竜宮城/龍宮城) is the undersea palace of Ryūjin

Ryujin

, also known as Ōwatatsumi, was the tutelary deity of the sea in Japanese mythology. This Japanese dragon symbolized the power of the ocean, had a large mouth, and was able to transform into a human shape. Ryūjin lived in Ryūgū-jō, his palace under the sea built out of red and white coral, from...

, the dragon god of the sea. Depending on the version of the legend, it is built from red and white coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

, or from solid crystal

Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...

. The inhabitants of the palace were Ryūjin's servants, which were various denizens of the sea. On each of the four sides of the palace is a different season

Season

A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...

, and one day within the palace is equal to a century outside its boundaries. In legend, Urashima Tarō

Urashima Taro

is a Japanese legend about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and is rewarded for this with a visit to Ryūgū-jō, the palace of Ryūjin, the Dragon God, under the sea...

 visited Ryūgū-jō for three days.

Katase-Enoshima Station

Katase-Enoshima Station

is the southern terminal station of the Odakyu Enoshima Line, located in the city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan. It is 59.9 rail kilometers from the northern terminus of the Odakyu Railway at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo...

 in Fujisawa

Fujisawa, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 407,731 and a population density of 5,870 people per km². The total area is 69.51 km²-Geography:...

, Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, is designed to evoke the feeling of Ryūgū-jō.