Seya-ku, Yokohama
Encyclopedia
is one of the 18 wards
of the city of Yokohama
in Kanagawa Prefecture
, Japan
. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population
of 126,839 and a density
of 7,390 persons per km². The total area was 17.16 km².
period and ceramic shards from the Jomon period
, house ruins from the Yayoi period
and tombs from the Kofun period
at numerous locations in the area. Under the Nara period
Ritsuryō
system, it became part of Kamakura District in Sagami Province
. By the Kamakura period
, parts of Seya were part of a shōen
which supported the Shinto shrine of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. The Kamakura-kaidō, a highway linking Kamakura with the provinces in northern Japan also passed through the area. During the Muromachi period
, Seya was a contested territory between the competing Uesugi clan
and Ashikaga clan
until the area was seized by the Late Hōjō clan
from Odawara
in the late Sengoku period
. After the defeat of the Hōjō at the Battle of Odawara, the territory came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu
. It was administered as tenryō territory controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate
, but administered through various hatamoto
. The area prospered in the Edo period
as a post station
on the Kamakura-kaidō and Nakahara-kaidō highways connecting Edo
with Kamakura and with the provinces of central Honshu. At times, Seya was administered by Totsuka-juku
, Fujisawa-shuku
, and towards the Bakumatsu period came under the control of the Nirayama
daikansho
.
After the Meiji Restoration
, Seya was transferred to the short-lived Nirayama Prefecture, before becoming part of the new Kanagawa Prefecture
in 1868. In the cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, the area was divided into several villages under Kamakura District. During the Meiji period
, the area was a center for sericulture
. Seya suffered relatively little damage from the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
, with one fatality and 53 houses destroyed. The Sagami Railway Main Line connected the area with Yokohama in 1926.
On April 1, 1939, Seya was annexed by the neighboring city of Yokohama, becoming part of Totsuka Ward. During World War II
, Seya hosted numerous military facilities, including munitions plants and training grounds. Seya Station
was destroyed in an air strike in January 1945 and the populated areas were destroyed in a fire-bombing air raid
by USAAF B-29 Superfortress
bombers on April 3, 1945.
In the post-war period, a USAF B-57 Canberra
bomber based at nearby Atsugi Naval Air Facility crashed on October 27, 1957 with the loss of one civilian on the ground, and on November 27, 1961, an F8U Crusader
crashed in a residential area. In a major administrative reorganization of October 1, 1969, Totsuka-ku was divided, and Seya emerged as an independent ward within Yokohama.
Wards of Japan
A is a subdivision of one of the cities of Japan that is large enough to have been designated by government ordinance. Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance...
of the city of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
in 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...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 126,839 and a density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 7,390 persons per km². The total area was 17.16 km².
Geography
Seya Ward is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, and on the northwestern borders of the city of Yokohama. The area is largely flatland, with scattered small hills.Surrounding municipalities
- Asahi WardAsahi-ku, Yokohamais one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 249,045 and a density of 7,600 persons per km²...
- Midori WardMidori-ku, Yokohamais one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 176,038 and a density of 6,900 persons per km². The total area was 25.42 km².-Geography:...
- Izumi WardIzumi-ku, Yokohamais one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 155,674 and a density of 6,620 persons per km². The total area was 23.51 km².-Geography:...
- Yamato, KanagawaYamato, Kanagawais a city located in central Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 225,866 and a density of 8,320 persons per km². The total area was 27.06 km².-Surrounding municipalities:*Zama*Fujisawa*Ebina*Sagamihara*Ayase...
- Machida, TokyoMachida, Tokyois a city located in the western part of the greater metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. The city was founded on February 1, 1958.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 424,669 and a population density of 5,928.65 persons per km². The total area is 71.63 km²...
History
The area around present-day Seya Ward has been inhabited continuously for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found stone tools from the Japanese PaleolithicJapanese Paleolithic
The began around 50,000 to 30,000 BC, when the earliest stone tool implements have been found, and continued to around 14,000 BC, at the end of the last ice age, which corresponds to the beginning of the Mesolithic Jōmon period...
period and ceramic shards from the Jomon period
Jomon period
The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...
, house ruins from the Yayoi period
Yayoi period
The is an Iron Age era in the history of Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to 300 AD. It is named after the neighbourhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new...
and tombs from the Kofun period
Kofun period
The is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. It follows the Yayoi period. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato period...
at numerous locations in the area. Under the Nara period
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...
Ritsuryō
Ritsuryo
is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei"...
system, it became part of Kamakura District in Sagami Province
Sagami Province
was an old province in the area that is today the central and western Kanagawa prefecture. It was sometimes called . Sagami bordered on Izu, Musashi, Suruga provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Sagami Bay...
. By the Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
, parts of Seya were part of a shōen
Shoen
A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...
which supported the Shinto shrine of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. The Kamakura-kaidō, a highway linking Kamakura with the provinces in northern Japan also passed through the area. During the Muromachi period
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
, Seya was a contested territory between the competing Uesugi clan
Uesugi clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....
and Ashikaga clan
Ashikaga clan
The ' was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573.The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in Shimotsuke province .For about a century the clan was...
until the area was seized by the Late Hōjō clan
Late Hojo clan
The ' was one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region.The clan is traditionally reckoned to be started by Ise Shinkurō, who came from a branch of the prestigious Ise clan, a family in the direct employment of the Ashikaga...
from Odawara
Odawara, Kanagawa
is a city located in western Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 198,466 with a population density of 1,740 persons per km² . The total area was .-Geography:...
in the late Sengoku period
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
. After the defeat of the Hōjō at the Battle of Odawara, the territory came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
. It was administered as tenryō territory controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
, but administered through various hatamoto
Hatamoto
A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...
. The area prospered in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
as a post station
Shukuba
were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called shukueki . These post stations were places where travelers could rest on their journey around the nation...
on the Kamakura-kaidō and Nakahara-kaidō highways connecting Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
with Kamakura and with the provinces of central Honshu. At times, Seya was administered by Totsuka-juku
Totsuka-juku
was the fifth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It was the eastern-most post station in Sagami Province. It is now located in Totsuka-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.-History:...
, Fujisawa-shuku
Fujisawa-shuku
was the sixth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.-History:Fujisawa-shuku was established as a post station on the Tōkaidō in 1601, but did not become the sixth post station until Totsuka-juku was later established...
, and towards the Bakumatsu period came under the control of the Nirayama
Nirayama, Shizuoka
was a town located in Tagata District, Shizuoka, Japan.On April 1, 2005 Nirayama was merged with the towns of Ōhito and Izunagaoka, both from Tagata District, to form the new city of Izunokuni....
daikansho
Daikansho
A was the office of a magistrate during the Edo period of Japanese history.-External links:* *...
.
After the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
, Seya was transferred to the short-lived Nirayama Prefecture, before becoming part of the new 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...
in 1868. In the cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, the area was divided into several villages under Kamakura District. During the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
, the area was a center for sericulture
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
. Seya suffered relatively little damage from the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
, with one fatality and 53 houses destroyed. The Sagami Railway Main Line connected the area with Yokohama in 1926.
On April 1, 1939, Seya was annexed by the neighboring city of Yokohama, becoming part of Totsuka Ward. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Seya hosted numerous military facilities, including munitions plants and training grounds. Seya Station
Seya Station
is a railway station on the Sagami Railway Main Line located in the Seya Ward of the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is 15.5 kilometers from the northern terminus of the line at Yokohama Station.-History:...
was destroyed in an air strike in January 1945 and the populated areas were destroyed in a fire-bombing air raid
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
by USAAF B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
bombers on April 3, 1945.
In the post-war period, a USAF B-57 Canberra
B-57 Canberra
The Martin B-57 Canberra was a United States-built, twin jet engine light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, which entered service with the United States Air Force in 1953. The B-57 was initially a version of the English Electric Canberra built under license. However, the Glenn L...
bomber based at nearby Atsugi Naval Air Facility crashed on October 27, 1957 with the loss of one civilian on the ground, and on November 27, 1961, an F8U Crusader
F-8 Crusader
The Vought F-8 Crusader was a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass...
crashed in a residential area. In a major administrative reorganization of October 1, 1969, Totsuka-ku was divided, and Seya emerged as an independent ward within Yokohama.
Economy
Seya Ward is largely a regional commercial center and bedroom community for central Yokohama and Tokyo. The industrial part has access to the Tōmei Highway, and there are a number of newspaper printing plants, chemical plants, and warehouse/transshipment centers. There is some residual agriculture in Seya, primarily livestock.Railroads
- Sagami Railway Main Line
- -
- The Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Tōkaidō Main LineTokaido Main LineThe is the busiest trunk line of the Japan Railways Group , connecting Tōkyō and Kōbe stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities...
pass through Seya Ward, but without any stations.
Noted people from Seya
- Kazue ItohKazue Itohis a Japanese actress from Seya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. She attended Kibogaoka Senior High School and made her acting debut in 1978 as a Horipro talent and has also voiced Shura in the anime Rurouni Kenshin. She also performs as a singer, including the opening and ending theme songs for...
, actress - Masahiko KondōMasahiko Kondoor Matchy is a Japanese singer, lyricist and actor represented by Johnny & Associates.Kondō is also a semi-professional racing driver and a racing team owner. He founded the racing team Kondo Racing in 2000 which competes in Formula Nippon and the Super GT.- 1980–1987: Early recording career :As a...
, singer, actor - Yuzo KuriharaYuzo Kuriharais a Japanese football player who currently plays for the J. League Division 1 team Yokohama F. Marinos.-Career:He made his international debut for Japan on August 9, 2006 in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago at the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo when he replaced Keisuke Tsuboi in the 60th...
, professional soccer player - Atsushi Mio, professional soccer player