Shonan Bellmare are a Japanese professional football (soccer) club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture; their home stadium is Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka in Hiratsuka. The name Bellmare is derived from the Italian "bello" for "beauty" and "mare" for "sea", it's a contract form – ex. Castellamare di Stabia (Castello-castle, al-on, mare- sea),. Shonan refers to a coastal area that includes Hiratsuka.