Ebina

Sister cities

• Shiroishi
• Noboribetsu

History

The area of modern Ebina has been settled since prehistoric times, and has a number of remains from the Kofun period. Ebina became the provincial capital of Sagami Province in the Nara period, and was the location of the kokubunji, or provincial temple. It was home to the Yokoyama clan, one of the seven warrior clans of the Musashi region during the early Kamakura period. During the Edo period, the lands around Ebina were tenryō territory theoretically administered directly by the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo; however, in reality, the area was a patchwork of small fiefs held by various hatamoto, as well as exclaves under the control of Sakura Domain and Karasuyama Domain. After the Meiji Restoration, the area became part of Kōza District, Kanagawa Prefecture and was administratively divided into Ebina Village and Arima Village on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The area was connected by rail in 1926 via the Sagami Railway and in 1927 by the Odakyu Electric Railway, leading to an increase in population and a change in status of Ebina from village to town in 1940. In 1955, Arima Village merged into Ebina Town. Ebina was elevated to city status on November 1, 1971. Urban development projects in the 1980s and 1990s have modernized the city center.

Geography

Ebina is located approximately 50 kilometers from central Tokyo and 20 kilometers from Yokohama. The city is roughly rectangular, 8.7 kilometers north-to-south by 6.15 kilometers east-to-west, with an elevation of 11 to 84 meters above sea level. It is in the middle of the Sagami Plain, part of western Kantō Plain. The city sits on the eastern bank of the Sagami River, and the Hikiji River flows through part of the city. The Tōmei Expressway cuts across the southern end of the city.

Most-observed species

• Brown-eared Bulbul

  Hypsipetes amaurotis (Temminck, 1830) · Aves
  8,048
• Cinereous Tit

  Parus cinereus Vieillot, 1818 · Aves
  6,145
• White Wagtail

  Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,118
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,094
• Large-billed Crow

  Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 · Aves
  5,853
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,736
• Oriental Turtle-Dove

  Streptopelia orientalis (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  5,619
• White-cheeked Starling

  Spodiopsar cineraceus (Temminck, 1835) · Aves
  5,143

Most recent

• M 5.7 — 2026-06-26
  7 km N of Oshino, Japan
• M 5.5 — 2026-06-16
  4 km NW of Noda, Japan
• M 4.2 — 2026-05-29
  3 km ESE of Mobara, Japan
• M 4 — 2026-05-24
  3 km W of Fussa, Japan
• M 4.3 — 2026-05-12
  6 km SW of Oyama, Japan
• M 4.4 — 2026-05-06
  4 km NW of Hachiōji, Japan