Pics of/guide through my day trip to Kamakura & Enoshima! Turn back now if you’re looking for akiba-kei shenanigans, those will resume later :P
From the Shinagawa station it was about 1000 yen and 1 hour to get to Kamakura. Really easy to trip to make with no transfers. Also, supposedly a lot cheaper if you get the special kamakura day pass which includes a round trip to Kamakura and unlimited use of local rail in the kamakura area (enoden & odakyu). I say supposedly because I got a late start that day and dashed off to the train station as fast as I could… didn’t stop to try and figure out how to buy one ^^;; Alas it woulda been worth it. The local enoden line was expensive!
At first I was only going to look around Kamakura and head over to hase for the daibutsu, but when I arrived and saw the map with enoshima island I remember my aunt saying it was worth a trip, so a trip I made! Once you arrive at the JR kamakura, the enoden line is connected so just transfer and you’re on your way to hase or enoshima or wherever.
About 20 minutes more on local rail and I arrived at enoshima station!
Was neat to hear the rail crossing sounds from anime in real life… Aaaah, the simple pleasures of an otaku ^^;
Once I got to the enoshima station, I think there might’ve been a sign pointing towards enoshima island, but at any rate, everyone else was walking int he same direction down the street (the opposite direction of the pic I took above), so I just followed (hint: head towards the water :P)
Once you’re at the wafer, there’ll be a long bridge to take you to the island. Make sure to go when the weather’s nice and you’ll have a great walk ^^
Was a bit cold when I went but the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful day.
Fuji-san was beautiful, visible from the bridge. First time I was able to see Fuji-san with my own eyes.
As you get to the island, there’s a nice small street filled with little shops.
Keep walking to head up to the top.
A buncha shrines to see… I never really know what I’m looking at or if it’s something famous, but always like visiting these sorts of places regardless ^^;
Be sure to cleanse yourself~ (well, actually I didn’t see very many people doing so ^^;;)
Ton ‘o omikuji
As I climbed higher and higher I decided it was my goal to get to the observation tower I had seen in the distance, at the top of the island. Climbing higher the view became better and better ^^
Eventually after kinda getting lost near the top, figured out that you have to buy admission into the park to get to the observation tower ^^; Buy the combo ticket and you’re all set.
The garden wasn’t terribly interseting, though I’m not one for plants… colorful flowers and such, sure I’ll take some pics, but…
…mmm just looked like a buncha foliage to me ^^;;; Mebbe it’s more interesting in the spring or summer? Or to a botanist? ^^; Anyhow I was distracted by my goal…
Finally found the entrance, gave my ticket over, and headed up!
Man, it was a gorgeous view! You could peer out over the city…
Or out to sea…
Or just down at the island itself…
After you take the elevator to the top of the tower, remember to take the stairs up to the actual observation deck, where you have a view unhindered by glass walls. If you’re afraid of heights it might be a little unnerving though ^^;
But the view!
It was a great view. ^^
Heading down, since I had forgotten my watch, was lucky to find a sun dial to tell the time ^^;;;
Stopped for some lunch… “island ramen” I think they called it. mmm oishikatta~
Then made the trek back to the station to head to hase!
At hase you just follow the signs for the daibutsu.
Was happy that most of the attractions I went to were really easy to find. Just exited the station in the direction I was pointed and it was a straight walk down the street.
Wasn’t much to see except for the daibutsu itself but was definitely a sight to see. Over 13m tall!
And once again, thank goodness for the weather. Everything looked spectacular.
Are these… giant sandals?
I’m such a bad tourist. I didn’t read any of the signs or anything… was just busy snapping up pics, then moving on to the next location ^^;;;
After the daibutsu… i *forgot* to go to hase-dera orz. Guess that’ll have to wait for another trip ^^;;; So it was back to kamkura station for me. About a block from the station I found wakamiya ooji, a long street lined with sakura and torii gates.
Unfortunately most of the trees weren’t in bloom (that’s why March/April is so great!) but found a few here and there…
mmmm i love sakura
Finally got down the road (had to hurry, sun was goin down ^^;)
Arrived at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.
Again, make sure to cleanse yourself ^^
Evidently this is the main shrine in the city, looks like they also have a ton of huge events here.
Always so many steps ^^;
I think this tree is famous… gah, I’m sure wikipedia has something to say about it ^^;
These blossoms were slightly different colors, not sure if they’re also sakura or what.
Was really starting to lose daylight…
Little girl was feeding the pidgeons and getting swarmed every once in a while ^^;
Alas, no pic of that, just a bird ^^;
And with daylight failing, decided it was time for some grub.
Was delighted to see the sign on the right (unagi ^^)
Nice and warm inside, which was good because outside my camera got so cold it was erroring out when I tried to put it in macro mode ^^;; Luckily it started working again in the warmth.
The menu had 2 sizes of unadon, 3 sizes of unajyuu and maybe a handful of other things. I love it when places can just stick to what they’re good at ^^
Finally a look at komachi doori just to see the shops they had.
You can enter right near the station and there’s a long street full of shops.
Alas I’m not one for shopping and was dead tired, so after a walk up and back, I got on a train back for Tokyo (well, akihabara actually :P).
Many thanks to danny for his article. Don’t think I woulda known to stop by otherwise. Definitely recommended for a relaxing day of sightseeing away from Tokyo, if that’s your kind of thing. Danny said he got around by bike, which definitely woulda saved some time, but on foot I think I was still able to cover a lot of ground.
以上!
Posted in japan Tagged: daibutsu, enoshima, japan, kamakura