'Sagami Bay' (相模湾, ''Sagami-wan''), also known as the 'Sagami Gulf' or 'Sagami Sea', lies south of
Kanagawa Prefecture in
Honshū, central
Japan, with the
Miura Peninsula to its east and the
Izu Peninsula to its west. It lies approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of the capital,
Tokyo.
A branch of the warm ''
Kuroshio'' (Black Current) warms the bay, allowing it to host marine organisms typical of more southerly regions and giving a mild climate to the land bordering the bay. The maximum depth of the bay is about 700 meters.
Major cities on the bay include
Chigasaki,
Fujisawa,
Hiratsuka,
Ito and
Kamakura, including the fictional city of
Hinata.
In
2004 soil samples from the bay were found to contain
radioactive contamination from the
Bikini Atoll nuclear tests that took place from
1946 to
1958 [1].