Shonan (湘南) is the name of a holiday region along the Sagami Bay shore in midland Japan. Centered about Enoshima, an island roughyl 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, the Shonan region stretches from Oiso (大磯) in the west to Hayama (葉山) in the east, including Kamakura (鎌倉) and Hiratsuka (平塚). Because of the bay, the region benefits from a mild climate and long beaches of dark volcanic sand. Sagami Bay (相模湾, Sagami-wan), also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, with the Miura Peninsula to its east and the Izu Peninsula to its west. ... Enoshima (江の島) is a small island, about 4 km in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River, which flows into Sagami Bay in Japan. ... The modern skyline of Tokyo is highly decentralized. ... Crowds of visitors in Kamakura (Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine) Kamakura (Japanese: 鎌倉市; -shi) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. ...

In postwar times, the Shonan region gained prominence in Ishihara Shintaro's prize-winning 1955 book, Taiyo no Kisetsu (Season of the Sun). The book portrayed the hedonistic lives of young sun-worshippers from elite households (the "sun-tribe"), who hung out on Shonan beaches. Lying as it does on the edge of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, the Shonan region is nowadays a leading holiday area, oriented to surfing, sailboating, and other water sports. Shintaro Ishihara (石原 慎太郎 Ishihara Shintarō; born 1932), author, outspoken Japanese nationalist, populist, and current governor of Tokyo, was born in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. ... For the town of Yokohama in Aomori Prefecture, see Yokohama, Aomori. ...

The region's name, Shonan, comes from a scenic region in Hunan, China, encapsulated in the phrase 瀟湘湖南 (Chinese: xiao1 xiang1 hu2 nan2; Japanese: shosho konan). This phrase refers to a beautiful area centered around the Xiao River (瀟江) and the Xiang River (湘江) south of the Yangtze River in Hunan. Often praised in Chinese poetry, its scenery became a much-loved subject of paintings in both medieval China and Japan. In Japan, the scenery of the Shonan area was thought to be like the scenery about the Xiao and Xiang rivers in Hunan, China; hence the name "Shonan" (Chinese: "xiang1 nan2," another name for the Hunan region) came to be given to the area about Enoshima in Japan. Hunan (Chinese: 湖南; pinyin: ) is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning south of the lake). Hunan is sometimes called 湘 (pinyin: Xiāng) for short, after the Xiang River which runs through the province. ... The Xiang River (also as Xiangjiang River, Chinese:湘江 or 湘水, pinyin: Xiāng Jiāng, Xiāng Shǔi; Wade-Giles: hsiāng chiāng or hsiāng shuǐ), in older transliterations as the Siang River or Hsiang River, is a river in southern China. ... Length 6,380 km Elevation of the source  ? m Average discharge 31,900 m³/s Area watershed 1,800,000 km² Origin Qinghai Province and Tibet Mouth East China Sea Basin countries China The Yangtze River (Chinese: 扬子江; pinyin: ) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the...

Besides the likeness in scenery, the two areas both had flood-basin lakes. The lake in China, which still exists, is Lake Dongting (洞庭湖). Among others, the lake is fed by the Xiang and Xiao rivers (the Xiao is a feedwater of the Xiang). In Japan, the corresponding flood-basin lake (which no longer exists but was mentioned in the Enoshima Engi), likely sat along the stream of the Kashio River, which flows into Sagami Bay (via the Katase River) at Enoshima. Lake Dongting (Also the Dong Lake, 洞庭湖; Pinyin: dòng tíng hú; Wade-Giles: Tung-ting Hu) is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province of China. ... The Enoshima Engi (江嶋縁起) is a history of the temples and shrines on Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay. ... kashio river（from asahi-basi） The Kashio River (柏尾川) is a Class II river in central Japan, about 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. ... The Katase River (片瀬川) is the name of a segment of a river in Shonan, which is in central Japan, about 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. ...