Tsurumi Station
After the Meiji Restoration, the area was transferred to the new Tachibana District of Kanagawa Prefecture in 1868. Tsurumi was connected to Yokohama and Tokyo by train in 1872, and the area rapidly urbanized. Sōji-ji, the head temple of the Sōtō sect of Zen Buddhism relocated to Tsurumi from Ishikawa Prefecture in 1911. Tsurumi suffered severe damage from the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. In April 1924, Tsurumi became a town within Tachibana District. On October 1, 1927 Tsurumi became a ward within the city of Yokohama. The area suffered greatly again during World War II, and was completely devastated during the massive Yokohama air raid of May 29, 1945. The area soon rebuilt after the end of the war, assisted by an influx of educational facilities in the 1950s and rapid re-industrialization of the area in the 1950s and 1960s. The Tsurumi railway accident occurred near Tsurumi Station on November 9, 1963, killing 161 people. The population of Tsurumi Ward surpassed 260,000 people in 2007, and celebrated the 80th anniversary of its foundation in 2009.