Yamato 大和
—  Special city  —
大和市 · Yamato
Flag
Location of Yamato in Kanagawa
Yamato
Coordinates: 35°29′N 139°27′E / 35.483°N 139.45°E / 35.483; 139.45Coordinates: 35°29′N 139°27′E / 35.483°N 139.45°E / 35.483; 139.45
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa
Government
• Mayor	Satoru Ōki
Area
• Total	27.06 km2 (10.45 sq mi)
Population (February 1, 2010)
• Total	225,866
• Density	8,320/km2 (21,500/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
- Tree	Yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura)
- Flower	Nogiku (a group of Asteraceae)
- Bird	Azure-winged Magpie
Phone number	046-263-1111
Address	1-1-1 Shimotsuruma, Yamato-shi, Kanagawa-ken 242-8601
Website	City of Yamato

Yamato (大和市, Yamato-shi^?) is 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.

  Geography

Yamato is located in the plains of north-central Kanagawa Prefecture.

  Surrounding municipalities

• Zama
• Fujisawa
• Ebina
• Sagamihara
• Ayase
• Yokohama
• Machida, Tokyo

  History

The area around present-day Yamato city has been inhabited for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found stone tools from the Japanese Paleolithic period and ceramic shards from the Jomon period at numerous locations in the area. It is mentioned in the Engishiki records from the Heian period. By the Kamakura period, this area part of the Shibuya shōen. It came under control of the Ashikaga clan in the early Muromachi period and was later part of the territories of the Late Hōjō clan from Odawara. With the start of the Edo period, the area was part of the tenryō territory in Sagami Province controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, but administered through various hatamoto . Under the rule of the 5th Shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, one of these hatamoto, Sakamoto Shigeharu (1630-1693) by virtue of his position as Ōmetsuke and Jisha-bugyō, exceeded 10,000 koku in income, and thus became daimyo of the newly-proclaimed Fukami Domain in October 1682. However, his revenues decreased below 10,000 koku in May 1687 and the domain was suppressed.

During the cadastal reforms after the Meiji restoration, the area of present-day Yamato became part of Kōza District, Kanagawa Prefecture. On April 1, 1889, it was administratively divided into Shibuya village and Tsurumi village, which later changed its name on September 25, 1891 to Yamato village. The area was connected by rail in 1926 via the Sagami Railway and in 1929 by the Odakyu Electric Railway, leading to an increase in population. The Imperial Japanese Navy Sagamino Air Base was established in 1940. Yamato village became Yamato town in 1943, and Shibuya village became Shibuya town in 1944. However, Shibuya was dissolved in 1955, with a portion merging with nearby Fujisawa, and the remaining portion reverting to village status. This portion merged with Yamato in 1957, which became Yamato city in 1959. In April 2000, Yamato exceeded 200,000 in population and was proclaimed a special ordinance city with increased autonomy from the central government.

  Transportation

  Railway

• Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line
  • Chūō-Rinkan Station - Tsukimino Station
• Odakyu Enoshima Line
  • Chūō-Rinkan Station - Minami-Rinkan Station - Tsuruma Station - Yamato Station - Sakuragaoka Station - Kōza-Shibuya Station
• Sotetsu Main Line
  • Sagami-Otsuka Station - Sagamino Station

  Highway

• Tōmei Expressway
• Japan National Route 16
• Japan National Route 246
• Japan National Route 467

  Noted people from Yamato

• Jungo Fujimoto - professional football player
• Mitsuko Horie - singer, seiyu
• Ryuichi Kawamura - singer-songwriter
• Takeo Kawamura - professional baseball player
• Eiko Kawashima - singer-songwriter
• Nahomi Kawasumi - professional football player
• Masahiko Kondō - singer
• Hiroshi Nagano - singer, actor
• Noriko Narazaki - judoka
• Shinobu Ohno - professional football player

  External links

Media related to Yamato, Kanagawa at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website in Japanese, English and Spanish

Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama (capital city) Wards Aoba Asahi Hodogaya Isogo Izumi Kanagawa Kanazawa Kōhoku Kōnan Midori Minami Naka Nishi Sakae Seya Totsuka Tsurumi Tsuzuki Kawasaki Wards Asao Kawasaki Miyamae Nakahara Saiwai Takatsu Tama Sagamihara Wards Chūō Midori Minami Other cities Atsugi Ayase Chigasaki Ebina Fujisawa Hadano Hiratsuka Isehara Kamakura Minamiashigara Miura Odawara Yamato Yokosuka Zama Zushi Aikō District Aikawa Kiyokawa Ashigarakami District Kaisei Matsuda Nakai Ōi Yamakita Ashigarashimo District Hakone Manazuru Yugawara Kōza District Samukawa Miura District Hayama Naka District Ninomiya Ōiso Other areas Shōnan