Kamakura

Worth seeing in and around Kamakura

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Kōtoku-in Temple

   Kōtoku-in is a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo-shū sect in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its mountain name is Daii-zan, and its common temple name is Shōjōsen-ji.

   1.6 km · Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Tsurugaoka Hachimangū

   Tsurugaoka Hachimangū is the most important Shinto shrine in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is a cultural center of the city of Kamakura and serves as the venue of many of its most important festivals with two museums.

   800 m · Shinto shrine in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Engaku-ji Temple

   Zuirokusan Engaku Kōshō Zenji, or Engaku-ji, is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo.

   2.1 km · Zen Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Kenchō-ji Temple

   Kenchō-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō Regents.

   1.4 km · temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Yokohama City University

   Yokohama City University is a public university, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2013, YCU has two faculties with a total of around 4,850 students, 111 of whom are foreign.

   6.1 km · Japanese university · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Hase-dera Temple

   Hase-dera, commonly called the Hase-kannon, is one of the Buddhist temples in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, famous for housing a massive wooden statue of Jūichimen Kannon, an eleven-headed manifestation of the Bodhisattva Kannon. The temple originally belonged to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, but eventually became an independent temple of the Jōdo-shū.

   1.9 km · Buddhist temple in Kamakura · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Shichirigahama

   Shichirigahama is a beach near Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which goes from Koyurugimisaki Cape, near Fujisawa, to Inamuragasaki Cape, west of Kamakura. Since from it one could enjoy a clear view of both Mount Fuji and Enoshima at the same time, during the Edo period it was popular as a subject for ukiyo-e.

   4.2 km · sandy beach in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Kanazawa Bunko

   Kanazawa Bunko, formally titled the Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa-Bunko Museum, is a museum located in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama, Japan. It features a collection of traditional Japanese and Chinese art objects, many dating from the Kamakura period.

   7.4 km · museum in Japan · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Jufuku-ji Temple

   Kikokuzan Kongō Jufuku Zenji, usually known as Jufuku-ji, is a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect and the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Ranked third among Kamakura's prestigious Five Mountains, it is number 24 among the Thirty-Three Kamakura Kannon pilgrimage temples and number 18 of the Kamakura Nijūyon Jizō temples.

   600 m · building in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Yuigahama

    Yuigahama is a beach near Kamakura, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The relation between the beach and its neighboring areas is complex.

    1 km · beach and neighborhood in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

Kamakura's sights are scattered around the city. Most visitors make a beeline for the Great Buddha and stop off at Hase Kannon on the way; these sights can be very crowded on weekends and holidays.

1. 01
   Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shrine
2. 02
   Myohonji Temple

   The cemetery contains the grave of the creator of Ultraman, a popular 1960s TV show.

3. 03
   Kōtokuin

   Home of the famous Great Buddha (大仏 Daibutsu), a bronze statue of Amida that at 13.35 meters is the second largest bronze statue in Japan (second only to that in Nara's Todaiji).

4. 04
   Hasedera

   This temple, also called "Hase Kannon", is home to the largest wooden statue in Japan, representing Buddhist deity Kannon.

5. 05
   Zeniarai Benten Shrine
6. 06
   Kamakurakōkōmae Station

   Fans of Japanese anime, TV shows and movies will instantly recognize the surroundings of this station as the location is frequently featured.

From Wikivoyage: Kamakura, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Fueda Park (Keihinkyuko bus from Kamakura station to Fueda). This park has a baseball field, 4 tennis courts and a large multipurpose field. Sports equipment is available for rental. A soccer ball, basketball, or tennis racket costs ¥100 for 2 hours. 4 gloves, 2 bats and 4 balls cost ¥3000 per 2 hours including the field charge.

1. 01
   Yuigahama
2. 02
   Inamuragasaki
3. 03
   Shichirigahama

From Wikivoyage: Kamakura, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

There are a large number of places to eat in the vicinity of the train station. For a snack, try the local specialty, purple potato soft ice cream (murasaki-imo sofuto), which tastes much better than it sounds (or looks). It is made from the purple sweet potato found throughout Japan. In Komachi street, there is a rice cracker (senbei) shop where you can toast your own senbei. One cracker costs about ¥200.

From Wikivoyage: Kamakura, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Kamakura

Airports

Tokyo Haneda (HND), 33 km · Narita (NRT), 91 km · Ibaraki (IBR), 123 km

Stations

Kamakura Station, 200 m · Fujisawa Station, 6.2 km · Katase-Enoshima Station, 6.4 km · Ōfuna Station, 4.2 km · Zushi Station, 3.5 km

• Narita → Kamakura

  87 km · quickest by road, 2h 47m · ¥1,290–1,760
  GuideToday
• Omitama → Kamakura

  126 km · quickest by road, 3h 33m · ¥1,620–2,210
  GuideToday
• Makinohara / Shimada → Kamakura

  135 km · quickest by road, 3h 6m · ¥1,990–2,720
  GuideToday
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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Kamakura

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Kamakura. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Kamakura – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.