Clear the Shonan Local Quiz and earn the Shonan Local title. Want to know Shonan even better, or already confident? The tougher courses are next.
Ask five people where Shonan begins and ends, and you may get five different answers. This quiz takes the coast on its own terms, spanning Fujisawa, Chigasaki, Hiratsuka, Oiso, and Samukawa, with Enoshima at the center: a tethered island reached by bridge, home to Enoshima Shrine, and served by Katase-Enoshima Station with its facade styled after the mythical Dragon Palace. Inland, the old Tokaido post towns and the Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival carry other threads of the region's story, and a stone at Shigitatsu-an in Oiso preserves a clue to where the word Shonan itself came from. The daily challenge offers a first look at what this stretch of coast can ask of you.
Q1.Enoshima is connected to the mainland (Katase Beach) in Fujisawa thanks to a landform built up from deposited sand. What is it called?
A tombolo (a sand spit)
A ria coastline
A river terrace
An oxbow lake
Reveal the correct answer
Correct answerA tombolo (a sand spit)
Enoshima is a tied island connected to Katase Beach by a sandbar (tombolo) built up from deposited sand, letting visitors walk across even at high tide. This kind of landform, where a sandbar links an island to the mainland, appears at several other spots along Japan's coastline as well. Today a vehicle bridge also spans the gap, so cars can reach the island too.
Q2.Which of the following is one of the five cities in Kanagawa Prefecture's official “Shonan region” (5 cities and 3 towns)?
Odawara City
Chigasaki City
Hadano City
Isehara City
Reveal the correct answer
Correct answerChigasaki City
Kanagawa Prefecture's official page defines the “Shonan region” as five cities — Hiratsuka, Kamakura, Fujisawa, Chigasaki, and Zushi — plus three towns. Of the choices, only Chigasaki is among these five cities; Odawara, Hadano, and Isehara are classified under western or central Kanagawa instead. This administrative line often draws a narrower boundary than the "Shonan" people picture in tourism or pop culture.
Q3.Samukawa is the only municipality in Kanagawa Prefecture that does not border the sea.
True
False
Reveal the correct answer
Correct answerTrue
Samukawa sits inland on the left bank of the lower Sagami River and is the only municipality in Kanagawa Prefecture without any coastline. Bordered by Chigasaki, Hiratsuka, and Atsugi, it is known as the town that grew up around Samukawa Shrine, but unlike its Shonan neighbors it has no beach or fishing port of its own.
Q4.What is the name of the gate at the former Yoshida Shigeru residence, built to commemorate the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty?
Kabuto Gate
A torii gate
Otemon (main castle gate)
A karamon (Chinese-style gate)
Reveal the correct answer
Correct answerKabuto Gate
The Kabuto Gate was built in 1954 to commemorate the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and is also called the "Peace Treaty Gate." It stands on the grounds of the former Yoshida Shigeru residence, and because Yoshida oversaw the treaty's signing while serving as prime minister, the gate is treated as one of the estate's most symbolic structures.
Q5.Of the three Munakata goddesses enshrined at Enoshima Shrine's three sub-shrines, which one is enshrined at Hetsu-no-miya?
Tagitsu-hime-no-mikoto
Ichikishima-hime-no-mikoto
Tagiri-hime-no-mikoto
Toyotama-hime-no-mikoto
Reveal the correct answer
Correct answerTagitsu-hime-no-mikoto
Hetsu-no-miya enshrines Tagitsu-hime-no-mikoto, one of the three Munakata goddesses. The other two sub-shrines each enshrine a different goddess among the three, and because Hetsu-no-miya sits closest to Enoshima's entrance, it is typically the first of the three that visitors reach.
