Tsurumi-ku is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, in the northeast corner of the city of Yokohama.
Surrounding municipalities
Kanagawa Ward
Kōhoku Ward
Kawasaki
History
The area around present-day Tsurumi Ward has been inhabited continuously for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found stone tools from the Japanese Paleolithic period and ceramic shards from the Jōmon period, and tombs from the Kofun period at numerous locations in the area. Under the Nara periodRitsuryō system, it became part of Musashi Province. During the Edo period, 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. During the Bakumatsu period, nearby Kanagawa-juku was the location of the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa, which ended Japan’s national isolation policy and led to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan. The subsequent Treaty of Amity and Commerce led to the establishment of a treaty port for foreign commerce and settlement, which was initially stipulated to be Kanagawa. However, for security reasons, the actual settlement was established at neighboring Yokohama. The Namamugi Incident, which led to the 1863 Anglo-Satsuma War, occurred in what is now part of Tsurumi Ward. After the Meiji Restoration, the area was transferred to the new Tachibana District of Kanagawa Prefecture in 1868. Tsurumi was connected to Yokohama and Tokyo by train in 1872, and the area rapidly urbanized. Sōji-ji, the head temple of the Sōtō sect of ZenBuddhism relocated to Tsurumi from Ishikawa Prefecture in 1911. Tsurumi suffered severe damage from the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. In April 1924, Tsurumi became a town within Tachibana District. On October 1, 1927 Tsurumi became a ward within the city of Yokohama. The area suffered greatly again during World War II, and was completely devastated during the massive Yokohama air raid of May 29, 1945. The area soon rebuilt after the end of the war, assisted by an influx of educational facilities in the 1950s and rapid re-industrialization of the area in the 1950s and 1960s. The Tsurumi railway accident occurred near Tsurumi Station on November 9, 1963, killing 161 people. The population of Tsurumi Ward surpassed 260,000 people in 2007, and celebrated the 80th anniversary of its foundation in 2009.
Economy
Tsurumi Ward is a regional commercial center and bedroom community for central Yokohama and Tokyo. The coastal area is part of the Keihin Industrial Zone, and is the most industrialized region within Yokohama. Major factories are operated by:
