Views of Mt. Fuji

Kamakura, the Seaside Retreat

I arrived in Kamakura the day before my birthday, having flown in from Kagoshima to Haneda airport. This was my second visit to Kamakura, though this time I was staying in Kamakura proper rather than the nearby Enoshima area. Like last time, it was also early December at the time of my birthday.

The first thing I did was take a walk down to the beach and breath in the salt air. I noticed that coming up north again, the sun sets 45 minutes earlier. This wasn’t so bad because it meant that sunset happened around 4:30–5 and I could photograph it before dinner.

For my birthday I went on a tour not dissimilar from one four years ago when I was last in Kamakura. I began at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū but this time I was able to stop at some museums and temples I’d skipped last time when I was more concerend about the money.

Kamakura has long been a vacation destination and the attractions have fairly steep admission fees around 500 yen ($5) or more. Some weren’t really worthwhile, like the The Museum of Modern Art Kamakura Annex which had an exhibit I wasn’t that interested in, but others like Kencho-ji I’d wanted to visit last time but skipped because of the cost. This time around I went in and was glad to see the fall colours. Even though it was December, it was still around 15 degrees and warm out in the sun so it was very pleasant.

Along my tour I also revisited Meigetsu-in and Engaku-ji. The first is famous for a circular window, though this time there was no teapot in front of it. On the other hand, the weather was much warmer and nicer than last time — which was cold and a little drizzly — so I was able to appreciate the small dry rock garden.

Engaku-ji was pretty much the same as I remembered it, with the same temple buildings and gardens unchanged.

This time in Kamakura I had more time to tour around and so I went to check out the Hayama Shiosai Park which I had high hopes for. There was an expat named Douglas M. Roth who lived near Shiosai and held it in high regard but noticed that it was rarely if ever, been mentioned in Japanese garden literature, despite being once an emperor’s home so he began the Shiosai project, an annual ranking of Japanese gardens.

I can’t say that I was overtly impressed by Shiosai but that might be because it was winter and the flowers weren’t out. I did enjoy the pond and a calm waterfall surrounded by colourful foliage, as well as a museum with a large collection of wild sea creatures, but it was Mount Fuji-san in the distance that drew my attention.

Fuji-san is visible from most of Kamakura’s many beaches because the area curves out geographically from the main island as a peninsula separating Tokyo and Sagami bay. This means that it’s possible to walk most of the Kamakura coast and always see Fuji-san except when passing over rocky headlands between sandy crescent beaches.

So this became how I spent my week in Kamakura — walking the beaches and taking photos of Fuji-san.

Eventually I made my way back to Enoshima, and knowing the landscape well from my previous trip, set up to capture the sunset.

There was of course the time to see other attractions that I hadn’t known about last time. One of the best was Hasedera near the famous great Hase Buddha. This Buddhist temple is situated on the hillside with a large pond at the base and gardens above. The fall colours were also quite brilliant and I spent quite a while capturing their colours.

Most striking about Hasedera was the karesansui or dry rock garden off to the side. It was completely unexpected but one of the most striking I’ve seen. I really enjoyed this garden, even if the buildings were closed to the public and I could only see it from a single vantage. I’m determined when I settle down sometime to figure out all of the stroll and dry gardens I’ve been to so that I can compare them for reference.

Despite being a vacation destination, Kamakura has a lot of temples and shrines but most aren’t in the main area with the tourist. Several are scattered in the hills at the edge of town but there are walking trails between them. Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine was interesting because there was a tunnel and a series of torii gates to go through while Jufuku-ji was a long pathway in the forest to the temple building. Both were photogenic in their own way and I was reminded how awesome it is that I’m in Japan and able to travel around to see all these amayzing places.

Kamakura is home to one of my favourite railways, the Enoshima Electric Railway which runs along the coast sometimes as a single track and sometimes as a street car squeezing between buildings. Spending so much time walking along the beach, I also took the railway frequently to get to and from the guesthouse I was staying at, and to pick up from where I left off the day before.

The last day in Kamakura was particularly fullfilling. I spent the morning near Enoshima watching the many surfers ride waves and then visited a Ukiyo-e museum before ending the night with a fantastic view of Fuji-san.

There wasn’t anything particularly special about this beach but for some reason the twilight colours really popped out. The reflections in the water really emulated the outline of the mountains and formed strong leading lines which I was really happy with. This was a really great conclusion to a wonderful time in Kamakura. Though it is pretty westernized with many cafes and burgers, the beach and proximity to Tokyo make it a desirable place to be. If I could have a vacation home in Japan, it would maybe be on the beac here.

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed pleased subscribe to stay up to date with my adventures.