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Kamakura Day Trip from Tokyo: Temples, Beach and Great Buddha

By JAPN Published

Kamakura Day Trip from Tokyo: Temples, Beach and Great Buddha

The Great Buddha and Hase Area

The Kamakura Daibutsu at Kotokuin Temple stands 13.35 meters tall and weighs 121 tons of bronze, cast in 1252 during the Kamakura period. Originally housed inside a wooden hall, the structure was swept away by a tsunami in 1498 and the Buddha has sat outdoors ever since, weathering to a distinctive green patina. For 20 yen you can enter the hollow interior and see the casting seams and reinforcement braces added during restorations. The calm, slightly downward-tilted expression of the face follows the Sung Chinese sculptural style that influenced Kamakura-era artists.

Hasedera Temple perches on a hillside five minutes from the Daibutsu, famous for its 9.18-meter gilded wooden Kannon statue, the largest wooden sculpture in Japan, and its cave containing thousands of tiny Jizo statues placed by parents mourning lost children. The temple’s observation deck offers panoramic views across Yuigahama Beach and Sagami Bay. Hydrangea paths along the hillside draw enormous crowds from early to mid-June when roughly 2,500 plants bloom in purple, blue, pink, and white varieties.

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and Eastern Kamakura

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura’s most important, sits at the end of Wakamiya Oji, a boulevard leading from the coast that Minamoto no Yoritomo built as the city’s central axis when he established the Kamakura Shogunate in 1185. The shrine’s approach passes through three torii gates and over a drum bridge spanning lotus ponds that bloom in late July. A thousand-year-old ginkgo tree beside the main staircase famously fell in a typhoon in 2010, and a sprout from the remaining stump now grows in its place.

Komachi-dori, the pedestrian shopping street running parallel to Wakamiya Oji between Kamakura Station and the shrine, fills with shops selling purple sweet potato ice cream, matcha cookies, and Kamakura-bori lacquerware carved from wood in a technique unique to the city. Hokokuji Temple east of the shrine is known as the Bamboo Temple for its grove of 2,000 moso bamboo stalks where a tea house serves matcha and wagashi for 600 yen. Sugimotodera, a ten-minute walk further, claims to be Kamakura’s oldest temple, founded in 734 with a moss-covered stone staircase too slippery and steep for most visitors.

Hiking Trails Between Temples

The Daibutsu Hiking Trail connects the Great Buddha area to Kita-Kamakura through roughly 90 minutes of forest paths along the ridgeline above the city. The trail passes through Zeniarai Benten Shrine, where visitors wash money in spring water inside a cave, believing the ritual will multiply their wealth. The shrine’s entrance through a tunnel carved in rock adds atmosphere. The trail is well-marked but includes some steep sections with tree-root steps and can be muddy after rain.

The Ten-en Trail runs from Zuisenji Temple in eastern Kamakura north to Kita-Kamakura, offering a more secluded route through forest with occasional views of the ocean. Connecting it to visits at Engakuji and Kenchoji, two of Kamakura’s Five Great Zen Temples, creates a full-day walking itinerary. Engakuji’s Shariden hall, a National Treasure, exemplifies the Chinese-influenced Zen architectural style, though it is only viewable from outside the gate. Kenchoji, the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan founded in 1253, contains a juniper garden planted by its Chinese founder Rankei Doryu.

Beaches and Practical Information

Yuigahama and Zaimokuza beaches stretch along Kamakura’s south coast, popular from July through August when beach houses serving food and drinks line the sand. The water is calm and shallow, suitable for families, though jellyfish appear by mid-August. Inamuragasaki Point between Yuigahama and Shichirigahama offers sunset views with Enoshima Island silhouetted against the sky and Mount Fuji visible to the right on clear evenings.

JR Yokosuka Line reaches Kamakura from Tokyo Station in 57 minutes and from Yokohama in 25 minutes. The Enoden electric railway, a charming single-track tram running along the coast from Kamakura to Fujisawa, passes through residential neighborhoods so narrow that houses nearly brush the sides of the cars. The most famous view is at Kamakura-Koko-Mae station where the tracks run parallel to the sea, a location made iconic by the Slam Dunk anime opening sequence. A one-day Enoden pass costs 800 yen.

This content is for informational purposes only and reflects independent research. Details may change — verify current information before making travel plans.