Portal:Japan/Featured prefecture/20
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Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県 Kanagawa-ken?) is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Honshū, Japan. It is considered part of the Greater Tokyo Area and its capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is a relatively small prefecture wedged between Tokyo on the north, the foothills of Mount Fuji on the northwest, and the Pacific Ocean and Tokyo Bay on the south and east. The eastern side of the prefecture is relatively flat and heavily urbanized, including the large port cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki, but becomes more relaxed to the southeast, near the Miura Peninsula, where the ancient city of Kamakura draws tourists to its temples and shrines. The western part is more mountainous and includes resort areas like Odawara and Hakone. The Tama River forms much of the boundary between Kanagawa and Tokyo. The Sagami River flows through the middle of the prefecture. Nineteen cities are located in Kanagawa Prefecture. During the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the city of Kamakura in central Sagami was the capital of Japan. In 1853 and 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Kanagawa and signed the Convention of Kanagawa to force open Japanese ports to the United States. Yokohama, the largest deep-water port in Tokyo Bay, was opened to foreign traders in 1859 after several more years of foreign pressure, and eventually developed into the largest trading port in Japan. Nearby Yokosuka, closer to the mouth of Tokyo Bay, developed as a naval port and now serves as headquarters for the U.S. 7th Fleet and the fleet operations of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
