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Hiratsuka

Hiratsuka
平塚市
Special city
Hiratsuka City Hall
Hiratsuka City Hall
Flag of Hiratsuka
Flag
Official seal of Hiratsuka
Seal
Location of Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture
Location of Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture
Hiratsuka is located in Japan
Hiratsuka
Hiratsuka
 
Coordinates: 35°19′N 139°21′E / 35.317°N 139.350°E / 35.317; 139.350Coordinates: 35°19′N 139°21′E / 35.317°N 139.350°E / 35.317; 139.350
Country Japan
Region Kantō
Prefecture Kanagawa Prefecture
Government
 • - Mayor Katsuhiro Ochiai (since May 2011)
Area
 • Total 67.88 km2 (26.21 sq mi)
Population (June 1, 2012)
 • Total 259,698
 • Density 3,830/km2 (9,900/sq mi)
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree Camphor Laurel
- Flower Dianthus
- Bird Egret
Phone number 0463-23-1111
Address 9-1 Sengenchō, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa-ken 254-8686
Website www.city.hiratsuka.kanagawa.jp

Hiratsuka (平塚市 Hiratsuka-shi?) is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 259,698 and a population density of 3,830 persons per km². The total area is 67.88 km².

Hiratsuka is located on the western Kantō Plain midway between Tokyo and Mount Fuji, and has a 5-kilometer coastline in the Shōnan area on the Pacific Ocean in Sagami Bay.

The area around Hiratsuka has been settled since prehistoric times, and mention of the area as part of ancient Ōsumi District, Sagami Province is found in Nara period records. From the Heian period through Kamakura period, the area was divided into shōen controlled by various samurai clans and in the Sengoku period was the site of several battles between the late Hōjō clan of Odawara and the Miura clan. After the defeat of the Hōjō at the Battle of Odawara by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the area came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who built a summer palace (the Nakahara Goten) in 1596 at the site now occupied by the Hiratsuka City Nakahara Elementary/Primary School. Hiratsuka was retained as tenryō territory after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, and flourished as Hiratsuka-juku, a post town on the Tōkaidō connecting Edo with Kyoto. As the 7th station, it is often depicted in the series of ukiyoe about the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō made among others by artists such Hokusai and Hiroshige.


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Wikipedia

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