Kamakura Japan

Suggested day-trips from Tokyo include Nikko, Hakone and Kamakura.

Kamakura is a small town next to the sea, circled by forested hills, ancient temples and shrines. It's a great day-trip out of the city.

The three main areas are: Daibutsu near Hase station in South Kamakura; Hachiman-gu Shrine area close-by the Kamakura JR station; a cluster of temples around Kita-Kamakura station.

Hase

The main attractions are the Daibutsu, a 750 year old bronze statue of Buddha, and the Hase-dera temple complex which holds the 8th century wood-carved Kannon statue.

The Daibutsu

This ancient bronze statue was built around 1250. It's in the open air nestled amongst the trees which is part of the attraction. You have probably seen pictures of this statue in various tourist brochures for Japan.

Hase-dera Hall

Hase-dera is a few minutes walk away from the Daibutsu. The main attraction in Hase is an 8th century wooden statue of Kannon the God (Goddess?) of Mercy. There are a number of other attractions in this temple complex including a cave with an incredibly low ceiling. The children visiting at the time seemed to think this was a pretty cool place.

Hachiman-gu Shrine and the Dankazura

I visited the the Hachiman-gu Shrine a 500meter walk away from Kamakura station. One of it's features is a 1000-year old ginko tree on the left of the steps leading up to the shrine.

Going to and from the station, one route is down the dankazura on Wakamiya-dori - the cherry-tree lined avenue leading straight down from the shrine to the sea. I was too late in the season to see the dankazura in cherry bloom. If you are in Tokyo at cherry blossom time, this would be a good time to visit Hachiman-gu.

The other route is to the west of Wakamiya-dori along a narrow shopping lane with it's souvenir and food shops.

Kita (North) Kamakura

I haven't uploaded my photos for this area yet.

Transport

Tokyo to Kamakura

The easiest way to get to Kamakura is to take one of the following trains (From simplest to more complex):

Tokyo, Shimbashi or Shinagawa stations (Yokosuka line). It doesn't matter which of these stations you use - all three stations allow you to transfer from/to the Yamanote line. (Tokyo station is quite complex so it might be easier to transfer from the JR Yamanote line at Shimbashi or Shinagawa stations.)
Shibuya station (Tokyu Toyoko line - change at Yokohama).
Shinjuku station (Odakyu line) to Endoshima then change to the Endoden line for Hase and Kamakura. (I haven't tried the Endoshima/Endoden line and it will take longer - however the Endoden line is supposed to be very scenic.)

If you take the JR Yokosuka line, then Kita-Kamakura station is the next station immediately after Ofuna for the northern temples. The next stop is Kamakura station for Hachiman-gu and transfer to another train for Hase.

Transport in Kamakura: Kamakura - Hase

It's about a 2 km walk between Kamakura station and the Daibutsu in Hase. As the main attraction is walking through temples and not a busy town, it's better to get around using the Endodan line which runs between Kamakura station to Hase and beyond.