Hello! So I’m set on going to Kamakura for 1 day from Shinjuku.
I plan to leave Shinjuku at 7:30AM, and am expecting to arrive in Kamakura Station at 9AM? I also saw there are hiking trails, but maybe I prefer just the ones you can easily walk nearby so the day won’t be too tiring.
​
**Here are the temples I saw from research:**
* Kita-Kamakura – Engakuji, Tokeiji, Jochiji, Meigetsuin!, Kenchoji
* Kamakura – Tsurugaoka!, Hokokuji!, Jufukuji\*, Myohonji, Ankokuronji\*, Zeniarai!, Sasuke Inari\*
* Hase – Kotokuin\*, Hase!
​
The ones with “!” are the ones I hear are must sees, while the “\*” are those I often see suggested. I understand I can’t visit all in 1 day if I want to take time with each one. Need help narrowing down the highlights and also the most convenient (next to each other).
I’m leaning towards most of Kita-Kamakura and Tsurugaoka in the morning, Komachi for lunch, then Hase from 1-4PM. Would I still have time for Enoshima after too?
Thanks!
10 comments
I haven’t been to Kita Kamakura, so can’t comment on those. But for Kamakura among those I’ve been to:
Tsurugaoka – cool, biggish compound and a small park. Maybe not extremely impressive, but many ceremonies happen there, big chance to see a traditional wedding (on weekends)
Zeniarai – small, but has this fascinating tradition of washing money. Not very convenient location, but rather special.
Sasuke Inari – worth to visit if you go to Zeniarai as it’s very close. Sort of mini Fushimi Inari.
Kotoku – it’s mostly about the bronze Buddha rather than the shrine itself. If you’re not interested in massive ancient sculptures, OK to skip (but the Buddha surely is impressive given the age of it).
Haven’t been to others you mentioned.
Kamakura has some cool cafes, workshops, galleries and the beach is pretty nice too. Surfers around sunset look great.
Personally, I think that most of central Kamakura temples can be skipped. For me – Hasedera and Kenchoji are the defining places to visit in Kamakura, Meiegtsuin is definitely a must in hydrangea blooming season.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is a very big temple, but otherwise very generic and Hokokuji is too far out to be realistically done during one day trip.
Whenever I have been to Kamakura, I have always got off at Kita-Kamakura, looked at 1 or 2 places, then walked down through the woods, past Zeni-arai Benten, and come out just near the Daibutsu (Big Buddha).
Then you can check out central Kamakura after that, get some lunch, and then look at the places on the other side of town.
Temples are cool but my favorite thing is walking to Inamuragasaki park and watching the sun set on Mt Fuji. Must see. Also go to Betsubara Donut if you like donuts they’re really good
yuigahama beach
First time I went I did Hase-dera and Kotokuin, then used the Daibutsu hiking trail to reach Sasuke Inari (note, I went in may and the path betweeen the shrine and trail was close for reopair. Then Zeniarai and finally walked my way to Tsurugaoka. From there, I would actually say walk back to Kamakura. You want to use a specific street, when you exit Tsurugaoka, there is the main big street, this one is ok, but the best is to cross the street, turn right and continue to the next street on the left (the main street in front of the shrine will turn right). That street is full of stores and restaurant where you can buy food and eat it outside (you usually want to eat standing next to the place where you buy the food as many places have sign asking to not eat in from of their store, plus you usually have trashcan at the restaurant or return trash to them). You might not have time for either Kita-Kamakura or Enoshima. If you want to do those, plan 2 days for Kamakura.
I think you’ll be templed out! I’d try to narrow down to 2-3 temples and then head to Enoshima for the second half of the day.
Also I found the bronze Buddha underwhelming. If you’re going to Nara then skip this, it’s nowhere near aa large and is a photo spot really
I took a day trip to Kamakura last week while I was in Japan. Definitely leave early in the morning. I’m not sure how many temples you want you to see but after two (Engakuji and another one I can’t remember which was much smaller), I no longer wanted to see any other temples as temples aren’t really my thing.
What I did was get off at Kita-Kamakura, go to Engakuji which was right next to the station, walk to Kamakura station and went to another temple on the way. Near Kamakura station is Komachi street which I thought was a nice street with a lot food/shopping vendors. From there I walked to Yuigahama beach which was good.
i think the most important thing you should do is take the enoden out to enoshima eki and walk to the island and the temple up there. if you can catch the sunset, it’s one of the most beautiful things i’ve ever seen
I just got back from Japan yesterday and we did a day and one night in Kamakura on Wednesday. I’d try to check out Enoshima. It was really cool and not really on my radar before we got there. . We stayed about a 10 minute walk from the bridge over and spent a couple hours making our way to the top.
In Kamakura we ended up only going to Hasedera and Kotoku-in. Kotoku-in was really cool just with the age and size of it. We had just come from several days in Kyoto and Nara so we were a bit Templed out at that point but really enjoyed just walking around Kamkura and checking out some of the cafes, shops etc. It was really cool as it has such a different vibe than anywhere else we had been with the beach and surfers.