Shichirigahama - Etymology of The Name

Etymology of The Name

The beach's name means "Seven Ri Beach", where a ri is an old Japanese unit of measurement equivalent to 3.9 km, and therefore Shichirigahama should be about 27 km long. In fact, it is just over one tenth of that length. The origin of the name is unknown, and many hypothetical etymologies exist. According to a passage of the Shinpen Kamakurashi, it comes from the Shichiri Bikyaku (七里飛脚?) (a term usually shortened into just Shichiri), which was an Edo period messenger service on the Kantōdō highway with a horseman change every seven "ri". However, since the expression shichiri also meant "a long ride", the name could also just mean that the beach is very long. Shichirigahama has also been called Shichirinada (七里灘?), Shichibama (七里浜?) and Shichiriura (七里浦?).