Kamakura on Foot

The route

• 01

  Dandy1022 / CC BY-SA 4.0

  Kanagawa · Kita-Kamakura · From Tokyo Stn · ~60 min

  Engaku-ji

  Kamakura's second Great Zen Mountain — walk straight from the station exit to one of Japan's finest medieval bronze bells.

  What to look for

  • Sanmon (main gate, 1783) — the ceremonial entrance gate, the starting point for the path through the complex
  • Butsuden (Buddha hall) — the main worship hall, rebuilt in 1964, enshrining a wooden Shaka Nyorai Buddha
  • National Treasure bell (Ogane, 1301) — a 2.6-metre bronze bell on a forested hilltop above the compound; a teahouse beside it serves tea and sweets

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• Next stop · 3.1 km in a straight line
• 02

  Țetcu Mircea Rareș at Romanian Wikipedia / CC BY 2.5

  Kanagawa · Kamakura · From Tokyo Stn · ~70 min

  Hasedera

  A 9.18-metre wooden Kannon, a hydrangea slope over Sagami Bay and a candle-lit cave — five minutes from the Kamakura Great Buddha and usually walked past.

  What to look for

  • The eleven-headed Kannon — 9.18 metres of carved camphor wood in the main hall, among the largest wooden Buddhist images in Japan; photography is not permitted
  • The hydrangea path — a looping slope above the main hall, planted in mixed white, blue and pink, with Kamakura's roofs and Sagami Bay below
  • Benten-kutsu cave — a low cave the temple ascribes to Kobo Daishi's retreat, walls carved with Benzaiten and sixteen attendants, lit only enough to move through

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• Next stop · 0.2 km in a straight line
• 03

  Ocdp / CC0

  Kamakura west · Gokurakuji · From Shinagawa Stn · ~65 min · Better early

  Goryo Shrine

  Three real landmarks in one short walk, off the Great Buddha crowd, where the little Enoden train slides past a shrine gate.

  What to look for

  • Torii by the tracks — the shrine's entrance gate stands right at the Enoden crossing, where the train passes close by
  • Chikaramochiya (founded 1690) — a 300-year-old sweets shop beside the shrine path, selling Gongoro chikaramochi rice cakes
  • Goryo Shrine precincts — a small shrine dedicated to the Heian warrior Gongoro Kagemasa, one of Kamakura's Seven Lucky Gods

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• Next stop · 2.8 km in a straight line
• 04

  MiNe / CC BY 2.0

  Kamakura · Koshigoe · From Shinjuku Stn · ~60 min

  Kamakurakokomae Railway Crossing

  The Slam Dunk crossing on the Enoden — a coastal train, a bay view, and a famous frame that still draws visitors from across Asia.

  What to look for

  • The Enoden crossing itself — the level crossing on Route 134 where trains pass with the bay view behind; the image made famous by Slam Dunk
  • Sagami Bay panorama — the open sea view visible from the crossing; clearest on days without ocean haze
  • Kamakurakokomae Station — a tiny single-platform Enoden station right beside the crossing, with the original 1902 line character still present

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