Kamakura

Kanto, Japan · Town / small city

Mountains sealed Kamakura in, and the only way through was seven passes hacked straight down into the rock: walking the Asaina kiritoshi explains the old samurai capital better than any temple does. Then there is the open-air bronze Daibutsu, over eleven metres tall, Japan's oldest Zen temple, and a cave where people wash money to multiply it. June brings the hydrangeas of Hase-dera; winter, Fuji behind the Inamuragasaki headland.

The essentials

Getting there

Train — A common day trip from Tokyo or Yokohama by train

Frequently asked questions about Kamakura

What to do in Kamakura: 67 activities

• Great Buddha of Kamakura (Daibutsu) 1.5 h must-see

  An outdoor bronze statue over 11 metres tall, the symbol of the city.

• Engaku-ji Temple 1.5 h

  One of Kamakura's two great Rinzai Zen temples alongside Kencho-ji, founded in 1282 next to Kita-Kamakura station, with a huge bell designated a National Treasure.

• Hase-dera Temple with Sea Views 1.5 h

  Terraced gardens overlooking Sagami Bay. Key point for the hydrangea season: on top of the four hundred yen admission you also need a five hundred yen ajisai-ken for the Mount Kannon path. Since 2026 it can be booked online with a one-hour time slot, sales opening every Tuesday at ten for the following seven days, although same-day tickets are still sold, with the usual queues. The path has around two hundred and ten steps.

• Kencho-ji Temple 1.5 h

  Japan's oldest Zen temple and head temple of the Rinzai school, with main halls and a rear garden set against the hillside.

• Sunset over Mount Fuji from Inamuragasaki 1 h

  Inamuragasaki cape is the classic viewpoint of the Shonan coast, with Enoshima in silhouette and Mount Fuji behind when the air is clear. On some winter days the sun sets directly behind the volcano.

• Bamboo grove at Hokoku-ji Temple 1 h

  A dense grove of some 2,000 bamboo stalks crossed on foot, with a tea house where matcha is served surrounded by the canes.

• Bonbori Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu 2 h only roughly 6-7 to 9 August

  For three or four days in August, hundreds of paper lanterns painted by artists and residents are lit along the shrine avenue. It is the best night-time image of the year in Kamakura and costs nothing.

• Bowl of fresh shirasu (whitebait) 1 h

  A local speciality of the Shonan coast: rice with raw or boiled shirasu, a dish served fresh only near this coast and dependent on the day's catch. Essential seasonal warning: shirasu fishing is closed from 1 January to 10 March, so in winter raw nama-shirasu does not exist and what is served is frozen or boiled. It is one of the most frequent disappointments for travellers in Kamakura.

• English-Guided Zazen at Kencho-ji Temple 2 h booking

  Kamakura's oldest Zen temple offers a special zazen program guided in English (orientation, short sitting sessions, and a Q&A), but only on specific dates — advance booking is required.

• Enoshima Aquarium 3 h Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min

  One of Japan's best-loved aquariums, with a spectacular jellyfish hall, dolphins and a large tank devoted to Sagami Bay. It sits right on the beachfront and is included in the Enoshima 1day pass.

• Enoshima Island 2.5 h

  A shrine island connected by a bridge, with sea caves and views of Mount Fuji on clear days. Price correction: Enoshima does NOT charge for entry. The Samuel Cocking garden is free from nine to five and five hundred yen after that; the Sea Candle is eight hundred; the Escar escalators five hundred. The combined Sea Candle Set costs one thousand one hundred, and the Enoshima 1day pass, which adds the Iwaya caves and the aquarium, one thousand five hundred and fifty.

• Great Buddha hiking trail 2.5 h

  A ridge path linking Kita-Kamakura with Genjiyama, Zeniarai Benten and the Great Buddha, crossing woodland and caves. It is shorter and more accessible than the Tenen trail, but check its condition beforehand because closures from fallen trees are common.

• Hot springs with sea views at Enoshima Island Spa 3 h booking Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min

  Natural hot springs and outdoor pools on Enoshima island itself, with Mount Fuji in the background on a clear day. Since April 2026 there is a morning bathing slot from 7 to 10, and the hot-spring-only bath has been extended to 3 hours.

• Iwaya Caves and the Chigogafuchi reef on Enoshima 1.5 h Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min

  Sea caves at the far end of the island, carved by the surf, where tradition says Kukai and Nichiren meditated, and which are walked with a lantern. They are reached across the Chigogafuchi rock platform and close in bad weather or heavy swell.

• Kakuon-ji Temple, the most protected in Kamakura 1.5 h

  A temple from 1218 wedged into a closed valley, with a thatched Yakushi-do, Kamakura-period sculptures and yagura burial caves in the hillside. 500 yen, photography, drawing and eating all prohibited, and it closes for the whole of August.

• Komachi Dori Street 1 h

  Pedestrian street lined with shops and snack stalls on the way to the station. Overcrowding warning: the Enoden can build up waits of an hour during Golden Week, and since 2018 the town hall has run a priority entrance at Kamakura station for residents holding a certificate, extended in 2026 to season-pass holders. People who live along the coast cannot use their own train in high season: it is better to avoid Golden Week and Sunday afternoons, and to use the bus or the Shonan monorail instead.

• Matcha at the Kisen-an tea house of Jomyo-ji Temple 1.5 h

  A tea room rebuilt on the 1365 original, where matcha is served facing a dry garden with the continuous sound of a shishi-odoshi. The same grounds also hold an English-style garden with a restaurant in an old Western house.

• Meigetsu-in Temple (the Hydrangea Temple) 1 h

  Known as 'ajisai-dera' for the thousands of blue hydrangeas that cover the grounds in June, with a famous round window overlooking the garden. To be precise: it does NOT have timed tickets or reservations, contrary to what many guides assume. The rear garden behind the hondo, the one with the famous round window, is paid separately and opens only in June and at the peak of autumn. The morning queue in June is enormous: you have to be there before opening or it is not worth it.

• Reitaisai and yabusame at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu 3 h only 14-16 Sep

  The shrine's great annual festival (14-16 September), which culminates in yabusame: mounted archers dressed as samurai shooting arrows at full gallop, a ritual inherited from Yoritomo's time. Yabusame is held twice a year, not once: at the September Reitaisai and also at the Kamakura Matsuri in April.

• Seven Lucky Gods circuit of Kamakura and Enoshima 5 h

  Eight sites, among them Hase-dera, Zeniarai Benten, Jochi-ji, Hokai-ji and Enoshima Shrine, are visited while stamping a goshuin book. It is done mostly in January but is available all year, and it is the best excuse to string together secondary temples.

• Sutra copying at Hase-dera or Tokei-ji 1.5 h

  Shakyo means tracing the characters of the Heart Sutra with a brush in silence, and both temples offer it daily with no Japanese required. It is the most effective activity in Kamakura for bringing your pulse down after the crowds.

• Tokei-ji Temple, the women's refuge 1 h

  For six centuries it was an enkiri-dera, the only place where a woman could obtain a divorce against her husband's will by taking refuge for three years. Entry is free today, photography is prohibited throughout the grounds and sutra copying is offered daily.

• Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine 1 h

  The city's main Shinto shrine, linked to the Minamoto samurai clan.

• Tsurugaoka Museum at the Kamakura Bunkakan 1.5 h

  Junzo Sakakura's 1951 building was Japan's first public museum of modern art and is a key piece of Japanese modernism, with pilotis over the shrine's lotus pond. It is visited as much for the container as for the contents.

• Zeniarai Benten Shrine 1 h

  A shrine tucked inside a cave, where tradition holds that washing money in its sacred spring will multiply it. It forms part of the official Seven Gods of Fortune circuit of Kamakura and Enoshima, a detail that makes far more sense of it as part of a route.

• Zuisen-ji Temple and Muso Soseki's rock garden 1.5 h

  At the end of a remote valley, with the only surviving dry garden carved into living rock by the 14th-century master Muso Soseki. This is the temple of January narcissus and February plum blossom, when there is almost nobody around.

• An afternoon on Zaimokuza beach 2.5 h

  The quietest beach in Kamakura, with fewer people than Yuigahama and a side view of Enoshima. Warning: black kites steal food out of your hand in a dive, so do not eat outdoors and never feed them. Barbecues and alcohol are regulated by ordinance.

• Bando 33 Kannon from Sugimoto-dera, temple number one 2 h

  Sugimoto-dera, from 734 and the oldest temple in Kamakura, is the starting point of the thirty-three Kannon temple pilgrimage of the Kanto region. Even without doing the whole thing, starting it here and stamping the book changes the meaning of the visit.

• Dark-water bath at Inamuragasaki Onsen 1.5 h

  A moor-type spring of deep dark gold, undiluted, in an unassuming building 4 minutes from Inamuragasaki station. The lookout bath faces the sea and opens from 9 to 9.

• Dawn at Koshigoe fishing port 1.5 h Koshigoe, Kamakura · 25 min

  This is where the shirasu in every Kamakura bowl actually comes from, and in the morning you can watch the catch being landed and sorted. The closed season runs from 1 January to 10 March, so in winter there is no raw shirasu anywhere.

• Hokai-ji and the ruins of Tosho-ji, where the shogunate ended 1.5 h

  In 1333 some 870 members of the Hojo clan killed themselves here as Kamakura fell; Hokai-ji was founded to appease their spirits and Takatoki's burial cave is still in the hillside. It is the grimmest place in the city, and in spring it is covered in peonies.

• Jewel of Shonan winter illumination on Enoshima 2 h Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min

  From late November to late February the Samuel Cocking garden and the Sea Candle are covered in lights and the island becomes the best night out on the coast. After 5 the garden costs 500 yen.

• Kamakura fireworks over Yuigahama 2.5 h only mid-July

  Some 2,500 shots in July from boats off Yuigahama and Zaimokuza, with the local speciality of underwater fireworks that burst at water level. It is frequently cancelled or cut short because of swell: in 2026 the main programme was called off.

• Kamakura Matsuri and the dance of Shizuka Gozen 2.5 h only the second and third weekends of April

  In April the Hachimangu stages the dance Shizuka Gozen performed before Yoritomo and holds mounted yabusame, along with the flower festival. It is the other annual window for horseback archery, alongside the September one.

• Kamakura Museum of National Treasures 1.5 h

  Inside the grounds of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, it holds the Kamakura-period Buddhist sculptures that the temples evacuated here after the 1923 earthquake. Closed Mondays and photography prohibited.

• Kamakura vegetable market at the Renbai 1 h

  The farmers' market has run since 1928 and is where kamakura-yasai were born, oddly coloured vegetables bought by chefs from across the region. It opens in the morning almost every day and the growers rotate in shifts.

• Kamakura-bori museum and workshop 1 h

  A museum devoted to kamakura-bori, the wood carving and lacquer technique with 750 years of history that was born in the Zen temples and is designated a traditional Japanese craft.

• Kamakura-gu Shrine and Prince Morinaga's cave 1 h

  Founded by direct order of Emperor Meiji in 1869 to honour Prince Morinaga, imprisoned in a cave on these grounds and murdered in 1335. You can throw a clay dish against a stone to break bad luck, and in autumn there is open-air Noh by torchlight.

• Kenchin-jiru, the soup born at Kencho-ji 1 h

  The vegetable and tofu broth eaten across Japan today takes its name from Kencho-ji itself, where tradition says a monk invented it while putting a broken block of tofu back together. Eating it in Kita-Kamakura in winter closes the circle of the Zen visit.

• Menkake Gyoretsu at Goryo Shrine 1.5 h only 18 Sep

  On 18 September, ten men in grotesque masks, among them that of a pregnant woman, parade through Hase in a ritual designated a prefectural folk property. It is extremely odd, very old and has nothing to do with the genial image of Kamakura.

• Myohon-ji Temple and the Hiki valley 1 h

  The largest Nichiren temple in Kamakura, raised over the valley where the Hiki clan was wiped out in 1203, 5 minutes from the station and almost always empty. In April it fills with flowering kaido, and the contrast with the massacre it commemorates is brutal.

• Onarimachi and Yuigahama-odori, antique-dealer Kamakura 2 h

  The two streets that serve as alternatives to Komachi, with secondhand bookshops, ceramics, antiques, cafes and independent design shops. You can walk them without being jostled even during Golden Week.

• Paddleboarding or kayaking in Zaimokuza bay 2.5 h booking

  From Zaimokuza beach you paddle out with a view of the Enoshima skyline and, with luck, Mount Fuji. At low tide you pass beside the stones of Wakaejima, which can only be seen from the water.

• Riding the Enoden the way residents do 1 h

  The 1902 tram passes centimetres from the houses and is the only transport for thousands of coastal residents. In high season the city council activates priority entry for residents with a certificate at Kamakura station, and waits of an hour have been recorded: giving way and not blocking doors is not politeness, it is the bare minimum.

• Ryuko-ji and the site of Nichiren's failed execution 1.5 h Katase, Fujisawa · 25 min

  Next to the Enoden's Enoshima station, the temple marks the spot at Tatsunokuchi where Nichiren was to be beheaded in 1271 and where, according to tradition, lightning split the executioner's sword. It has the only five-storey pagoda in the area and it is free.

• Seishun Buta Yaro pilgrimage around Enoshima and Shichirigahama 3 h Fujisawa y Shichirigahama · 25 min

  The series is set with photographic precision in Fujisawa, Enoshima and the Shichirigahama coast, and the city itself publishes official location routes. It is a far less contentious anime pilgrimage than the Slam Dunk one because it spreads across open settings.

• Shonan suspended monorail between Ofuna and Enoshima 0.5 h Ofuna a Enoshima · 25 min

  One of the very few suspended monorails in the world, crossing hills, tunnels and rooftops in 14 minutes as it hangs from the rail like a slow roller coaster. Since March 2026 the one-day ticket costs 750 yen.

• Silver ring workshop in a Kamakura studio 3 h booking

  Workshops where you forge and file your own silver ring in a half-day session, heirs to the local metalworking tradition. It is the alternative to kamakura-bori for anyone who prefers metal to lacquer.

• Sugimoto-dera Temple 1 h

  The oldest temple in Kamakura (year 734, predating the shogunate itself), first stop on the Bando Kannon pilgrimage, with a moss-covered stone stairway. It is the oldest temple in Kamakura, from 734, and number one on the Bando Sanjusan Kannon circuit, the thirty-three Kannon temple pilgrimage of the Kanto region.

• Surf lesson at Shichirigahama or Yuigahama 3 h booking

  Shonan is the cradle of Japanese surfing and there are schools with board and wetsuit included and instructors used to beginners. The swell is small and forgiving, ideal for a first time.

• Tako-senbei and grilled sazae on the climb to Enoshima 0.5 h

  A whole octopus pressed into a giant cracker and sazae sea snail grilled in its shell are the two classic bites of Enoshima's Nakamise street. Queues are long at weekends and you eat standing up.

• Tenen Hiking Trail 3 h

  A mountain trail through the hills north of the city, linking several historic temples with wooded viewpoints. Warning: the Kamakura trails are closed regularly by typhoons and landslides. This section was shut from 3 to 10 March 2026 because of fallen trees. It is worth checking its condition on the municipal website before setting out.

• Tenno-sai of Enoshima and Koshigoe 3 h Enoshima y Koshigoe · 30 min only the second Sunday of July

  In July the bearers carry the mikoshi into the sea and the two shrines, Enoshima's and Koshigoe's, meet halfway. It is a fishermen's matsuri, not a show staged for visitors.

• The cut passes of Kamakura: Kewaizaka and Asaina 2 h

  Kamakura was closed in by mountains and could be entered only through seven gorges hacked out of the rock, the kiritoshi, which were its defensive system. Walking Asaina, with water running along the ground and vertical sandstone walls, explains the city better than any temple.

• Enoshima marina, Olympic sailing venue 2 h booking Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min

  Sailing at the Tokyo 2020 Games was held here, as it was already in 1964, and the harbour is still active with clubs and yacht outings open to the public. You can walk the quay free or go aboard with a booking.

• Enoshima summer lanterns 2 h Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min only 1 Aug - 23 Sep

  Between 1 August and 23 September the island is lit with lanterns along the paths, the shrine and the Iwaya Caves. It is the way to dodge the heat and the daytime crowds.

• Film location route: Our Little Sister and Destiny 2.5 h

  Kamakura is a recurring set for Japanese cinema, from the house and streets of Koreeda's Umimachi Diary to the fantastical Kamakura of Destiny. Walking the locations is another way to make sense of the city, with no temples involved.

• Genjiyama Park and the Minamoto hill 1 h

  A wooded hill with the statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo, on the spot where the clan raised its standard, and a lookout over the city. It is the natural stop halfway along the Great Buddha trail.

• Hato Sabure at the Toshimaya flagship store 0.5 h

  The dove-shaped biscuit invented in Kamakura in 1894 and the souvenir of Kanagawa par excellence, at the original shop on Wakamiya Oji. The yellow tin is itself a piece of Japanese design.

• Kamakura Annex of the Museum of Modern Art, Kanagawa 1.5 h

  A few minutes from the Hachimangu, it programmes exhibitions of Japanese modern art in a quiet building with a sculpture garden. It is the natural complement to the Bunkakan and almost never has a queue.

• Kanagawa Flower Center in Ofuna 2 h Ofuna, Kamakura · 25 min

  A large, cheap botanical garden in Ofuna, with greenhouses, a peony and iris collection and a sizeable rose garden. It is where local people go when Kamakura is impossible.

• Komyo-ji Temple in Zaimokuza and its monumental gate 1 h

  The head temple of the Jodo school in Kanto, with the largest wooden gate in Kamakura and a lotus pond garden that flowers in July. It sits by the beach, off every circuit, and entry is free.

• Nakamise street on Enoshima 1 h Enoshima, Fujisawa · 30 min

  The approach slope up to the shrine, with shops selling shells, seaweed sweets, tako-senbei and pilgrim goods. It is unashamedly touristy but keeps businesses run by several generations.

• Ofuna, the Kamakura nobody visits 2 h Ofuna, Kamakura · 25 min

  The municipality's other station is a working town with a covered shopping arcade, cheap izakaya and not a single tourist. It is where to eat well once everything in Kamakura has shut at 9.

• The great white Kannon of Ofuna 1 h Ofuna, Kamakura · 25 min

  A Kannon bust of almost 25 metres visible from the train at Ofuna, completed in 1960 after decades of interruption, with a chapel inside the figure itself. It also holds a flame brought from Hiroshima as a peace monument.

• The Slam Dunk level crossing at Kamakura-Koko-Mae 0.5 h Shichirigahama, Kamakura · 20 min

  It is the anime's opening shot and today one of Japan's most serious overtourism flashpoints: up to 200 people a day, municipal cameras, Enoden wardens and a police car five days a week. Residents have reported people urinating in private gardens, and the city council warns it could deliberately make the spot less photogenic. If you go: do not step onto the road, do not block the crossing, no flash and no litter.

• Wakaejima, the oldest port ruins in Japan 1 h

  A stone breakwater built in 1232 off Zaimokuza that surfaces only at low tide and is the oldest surviving port installation in the country. Check the tide table or you will see absolutely nothing.

What only happens on specific dates

• Kamakura Matsuri and the dance of Shizuka Gozen the second and third weekends of April
• Kamakura fireworks over Yuigahama mid-July
• Tenno-sai of Enoshima and Koshigoe the second Sunday of July
• Bonbori Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu roughly 6-7 to 9 August
• Enoshima summer lanterns 1 Aug - 23 Sep
• Reitaisai and yabusame at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu 14-16 Sep
• Menkake Gyoretsu at Goryo Shrine 18 Sep

Ready-made routes through Kamakura

Chains well with

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