Shichirigahama  Unlike its easterly neighbor Yuigahama, its floor drops too quickly, so it is not very popular as a sea resort, but surfers are present in every season. Since 1939 it is administratively part of the City of Kamakura. The area is served by the Enoshima Electric Railway, or Enoden, which connects Kamakura Station in Kamakura with Fujisawa Station. 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 (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 , and . Although not part of Kamakura proper since it lies outside the city's Seven Entrances, the entire area from Katase to Inamuragasaki represents a historically important area just outside the former military capital. According to the "Azuma Kagami" and the "Shinpen Kamakurashi", Shichirigahama was the Kamakura shogunate's execution ground. It was also the scene of many battles, and records show that in the Edo period bones and rusty weapons were still being recovered from its sand. Minamoto no Yoritomo's famous younger half-brother Yoshitsune, celebrated in Japan in Noh and Kabuki plays for both his bravery and his death, served the "shōgun" faithfully for years, leading the Minamoto clan in defeating the Taira clan, but for several reasons couldn't avoid a confrontation with him. After some victories, he tried to enter Kamakura, but was stopped at Koshigoe by a letter from Hōjō Tokimasa. He waited fruitlessly about 20 days at Koshigoe's Manpuku-ji, near Shichirigahama, then dictated to his attendant Benkei a letter for Yoritomo destined to become famous, the "", in which he complained that he had never betrayed his brother, but to the contrary had always faithfully served him.