A Day Trip To Kamakura From Tokyo - The Travelling Hiker

Kamakura is another fantastic idea for a day trip from Tokyo since it is only located 1 hour away by train from Japan’s capital. By visiting Kamakura you will be able to escape for a day from the hectic life of Tokyo and experience a much more relaxed and coastal atmosphere in Japan. To help you prepare for your day trip, I have compiled this blog in which I will share everything you need to know to have a fantastic day trip to Kamakura from Tokyo. Are you ready? Let’s get right into it!

KAMAKURA

Kamakura is a coastal city in Kanagawa Prefecture, located only 50 km south of Tokyo, which makes it the perfect destination for a day trip.

The main reason I decided to include Kamakura in our Japan itinerary was to see the famous big Buddha statue located in one of its temples. However, there is much more to Kamakura than its big Daibutsu. Here are some interesting facts that you might not know about.

Did you know that Kamakura was once the political capital of Japan? This happened during the Kamakura period in which the Shogunate government resided in the area.
As mentioned before, the city is mostly famous for its big Buddha, the second largest in Japan. However, the city also has many temples and shrines. There is a total of 63 Buddhist Temples and 19 Shinto Shrines.
Speaking of Buddhist Temples, did you know that the five great Rinzai (Zen) Buddhist Temples are located in Kamakura? These are: Kencho-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jochi-ji and Jomyo-ji Temple.
Did you know there is a “bamboo forest” in Kamakura too? Everybody has heard about the bamboo forest in Kyoto but not so many people know about this one.

5. And finally, did you know you can see Mt. Fuji from Kamakura too? We didn’t know about this and we were pleasantly surprised when it appeared in front of our eyes.

HOW TO REACH KAMAKURA FROM TOKYO

Reaching Kamakura from Tokyo is quite easy by train. Two direct train lines will get you to Kamakura in less than 1 hour. Both lines are included in the JR Pass if you have it.

JR Yokosuka Line: This line departs from Tokyo Station and will get you to Kamkura in 57 minutes.
JR Shonan Line: This line departs from Shinjuku Station and will get you to Kamakura in 58 minutes.

Since we had an active JR Pass and our first hotel in Tokyo was very close to Tokyo Station, we used the first option and I can confirm that it was quite comfortable.

Enoshima - Kamakura Pass

If you don’t have a JR Pass, you might want to consider getting an Enoshima-Kamakura Pass offered by Odakyu Rail Company. This pass will grant you a return ticket from Shinjuku Station to Fujisawa Station and unlimited train rides in the Enoden and Odaikyu lines that operate in the area. In addition, several sites in Enoshima and Kamakura offer discounts for those having this pass.

The pass can be bought online here or at Odakyu Service Centers.

Map provided by the Odakyu Site (Enoshima-Kamakura Free Pass).

Moving around Kamakura

Kamakura is quite big so you will have to make use of its public transportation to get from one place to another. When visiting Kamakura, we used the following transportation methods.

Train: We used it to get from Kita Kamakura to Kamakura Station.
Enoden Train Line: To get from and to Kotoku-in and Hasedera Temples
Walking.

Personally, unless you have the Enoshimak-Kamakura Pass that I mentioned before, I recommend that you charge your IC Card and use it to pay as you go on the different transport services.

DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA FROM TOKYO: BEST THINGS TO DO

Here is everything we did during our visit to Kamakura. Just keep in mind that, like in all of my blog posts, these are what we did but they are not the only things you can do here. At the end of this blog, I will list some other options, in case you want to modify this itinerary or if you have some extra time in the area. In addition, the day we visited Kamakura we were a bit tired, so we decided to just take it slow and visit less places today.

Kotoku-In Temple

Our first stop in Kamakura was, of course, Kotoku-In Temple. We wanted to see the famous Daibutsu (Great Buddha of Kamakura). This is a massive copper statue of Buddha that is 11.3 meters tall and weighs 121 tons which makes it the second largest in Japan. Another important characteristic of this Buddha statue is that it is in the open air which is not very common in Japan.

As soon as you enter the temple you will immediately see the Great Buddha and it is impressive. We spent a lot of time admiring it and taking photos of it. There were some people in the temple but it was not excessively overcrowded so it was quite a pleasant experience. Next to the Buddha, on the right-hand side wall, you can also see the Buddha’s traditional straw sandals which are huge.

I also went inside the Buddha statue for 50 Yen. However, this is something that you can skip. There is absolutely nothing in there.

Practical Information: Updated information about opening hours and entrance fees is available on the Kotoku-in Temple official site.

Enoden Train Line

From Kotoku-in Temple, we got on the Enoden Train Line, a cute little coastal train to go back to Kamakura Station. This train rides along the coast from Enoshima to Kamakura and it feels like you are in a Japanese cartoon next to the small houses.

Photo from Adrien Bruneau in Unsplash

Komachi Street

Back at Kamakura Station, we walked along Komachi Street, a commercial street full of shops, and did some shopping for souvenirs and gifts for us and our family and friends.

We also got some delicious snacks and match ice cream!

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

At the end of Komachi Dori, you will find Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura’s most important Shinto Shrine. This shrine is dedicated to Hachiman, the patron god of the samurais.

As soon as you enter the shrine, you will find two small ponds on each side and then a long way that will bring you to the Maiden, a small stage for dance and performances. Behind it, there is a staircase that will bring you to the main building.

The ambiance at this shrine was very lively. There were several Japanese women dressed in kimonos and several school groups that were asking tourists questions in English to practice the language.

Practical information: This shrine is free to visit. You can get updated opening hours in the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu official website.

Engaku-ji Temple

Once we had visited the shrine, we returned to Kamakura Station and took a train to Kita-Kamakura. Here, we visited Engaku-ji Temple, the second of the five great Zen Temples in Kamakura. This temple lies on the forested hills of Kita-Kamakura, making it an oasis of peach and nature.

This was without a doubt my favorite part of the day! The temple was so peaceful and beautiful. There was barely anyone there and it blended so well with nature.

We spent almost an hour here, exploring the temple grounds and getting some tea and Japanese traditional sweets at the temple’s tea house. To make this moment even more special, from the tea house we got rewarded with beautiful views of Mt. Fuji again.

Practical Information: Updated information about opening hours and entrance fees is available on the Engaku-ji Temple official website.

OTHER THINGS TO DO IN KAMAKURA

Unfortunately, by the time we were done visiting Engaku-Ji Temple, it was already late and it was not possible to visit anything else as it was closing time. There are so many more things to do in Kamakura that I wish we would have seen. Here is the list of places I had pinned but had to skip. I have pinned them all down on the map at the end of this blog.

Also, it is possible to visit more places than we did if you go to Kamakura for a day. We just decided to take it slow this day because we were feeling a bit tired.

Hasedera Temple. This temple is very close to Kotoku-In and is famous for having many Jizo statues and nice views over Kamakura.
Hokoku-ji Temple. Another cute temple in Kamakura with a bamboo groove very similar to the one in Kyoto.
Enoshima Island. Just a short train ride away, you can reach Enoshima island, where on a clear day, you can get beautiful views of Mount Fuji.
The remaining Great Zen Temples of Kamakura: Kencho-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jochi-ji, and Jomyo-ji Temple. If they are as pretty as the one we saw, they are an absolute must!
Go hiking in one of the many hiking trails around Kamakura. The most famous one is the Daibutsu trail.
Relax at one of the beaches in Kamakura.

ACCOMMODATION IN KAMAKURA

Kamakura is usually visited as a day trip from Tokyo so it is not so common to spend the night here. However, if you want to be able to see most of the things I listed above, you will have to at least spend a night in the area.

Here are some recommendations I would make for myself.

MAP WITH ALL LOCATIONS

And that’s it for this week’s blog. I hope you liked it and found it useful. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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A Day Trip To Kamakura From Tokyo – Best Places To See And Things To Do

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