Ōiso, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kantō Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Ōiso is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Ōiso is located on the coastline of central Kanagawa Prefecture, facing Sagami Bay of the Pacific Ocean. The area is generally hilly, rising to Mount Koma (168 metres) in the north-west of the centre of town. The coastline of Ōiso is sandy and is regarded as the western end of the Shōnan area. Ōiso remains a popular beach resort and holiday spot for residents of Tokyo.

History Ōiso is the ancient centre of Sagami Province. The exact location of the Nara period provincial government of Sagami Province is unknown, but tradition and the place name "Kōzu" place its probable location within the boundaries of present-day Ōiso.

As a minor coastal settlement, Ōiso was under the control of the later Hōjō clan of Odawara during the Sengoku period. In the Edo period, it was nominally part of Odawara Domain, and developed as Ōiso-juku, a post town on the Tōkaidō connecting Edo with Kyoto. After the Meiji Restoration and with the establishment of the district system in 1878, it came under the control of Yurugi District (淘綾郡, Yurugi-gun). Ōiso became a town on 1 April 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. Blessed with a temperate climate, and with convenient access to Tokyo due to the Tōkaidō Main Line railway, it was favoured as a seaside health resort by politicians and literary figures during the Meiji period after a glowing report on its location was written by noted physician Matsumoto Jun. Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi, Yamagata Aritomo, Saionji Kinmochi and Ōkuma Shigenobu, Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, writer Shimazaki Toson and zaibatsu founder Yasuda Zenjirō had summer residences in Ōiso. This popularity continued into the postwar era, and Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida also had a residence in Ōiso to which he retired after leaving politics. The former Itō, Yoshida and Shimazaki residences have been preserved as memorial museums.

Ōiso merged with neighbouring town Kōzu on 1 December 1954.

Geography Ōiso is located on the coastline of central Kanagawa Prefecture, facing Sagami Bay of the Pacific Ocean. The area is generally hilly, rising to Mount Koma (168 metres) in the north-west of the centre of town. The coastline of Ōiso is sandy and is regarded as the western end of the Shōnan area. Ōiso remains a popular beach resort and holiday spot for residents of Tokyo.

Surrounding municipalities Kanagawa Prefecture • Hiratsuka • Ninomiya.

Economy The local economy of Ōiso is based primarily on seasonal tourism, agriculture and commercial fishing. The town is also a bedroom community for both Tokyo/Yokohama and Odawara.

Transport: Rail JR East - Tōkaidō Main Line • Ōiso.

Transport: Road • Odawara-Atsugi Road • National Route 1 (from Tokyo to Osaka, Osaka) • National Route 134 • Seishō Bypass.

Local Attractions There are several tourist attractions. • Shigitatsu-an • Sagichō Fire Festival.