Day Trip to Kamakura
Approximate reading time: 7- 10 minutes
Team MarVe in Tokyo, Japan
Table of contents
Introduction
Disclaimer
Exploring Kamamura
Day 0: Hotel Check-In & Tokyo Essentials
(Tokyo → Ginza → Convenience Stores → Thrift Shops)
Day 1: Kamakura’s Old Town Charm & Coastal Beauty
(Enoshima → Kamakura)
Enoshima Island & Enoshima Shrine
Food Trip
Japanese Garden Visit
Meggendorfer Book Store
Night Visit to Emperor’s Palace
Komachi Street (Custom Rings & Dinner)
Hotel Recommendations
Quick Tips
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Ending notes
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Introduction
A pulled rickshaw (jinrikisha) in the streets of Tokyo, Japan
Whether you’ve been to Tokyo or not, you’ll know that it’s a city that never seems to sleep. Home to some of the busiest and most visited train stations in all of Japan, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of things you’ll want to do in the heart of Tokyo.
So you can imagine the breath of fresh air we got just by taking a day trip to Kamakura, one of our new favorite spots just a train ride outside of Tokyo!
Known for its beach and surfing spots, the charming, little town of Kamakura offers an escape from the urban landscape of Tokyo. It may only be nearby, but it definitely does the job of keeping you relaxed!
Ave and I were lucky enough to have our friend, Yoshi, show us around the area as a local. If you have a free or not-so-busy day on your Tokyo itinerary, you might want to consider taking a day trip to our favorite surf town in Japan — Kamakura!
Disclaimers
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Exploring Kamamura
Day 0
Watch our Tokyo vlog and explore Tokyo, Japan with us!
Hotel Check-In & Tokyo Essentials
(Tokyo → Ginza → Convenience Stores → Thrift Shops)
Before anything, we checked into our hotel at Hotel Gracery in Ginza, which cost us about $1000 for 6 nights. This is more expensive than what our backpacker itineraries are used to, but Tokyo is really expensive to live in. This is honestly already a deal considering our location in Ginza!
Hotel Gracery
After a bit of rest, we headed out to get some convenience store snacks – a 7-Eleven, Lawson or Family Mart run is an absolute must when you go to Japan, after all!
Then we headed to 2nd Street for some thrift shopping, because of course we just had to.
Day 1
Kamakura’s Old Town Charm & Coastal Beauty
Kamakura coastal city with the view of Mt. Fuji in Japan.
(Enoshima → Kamakura)
The next full day we had was dedicated to the main star: our Kamakura trip! We were so lucky for our first time going there, since our friend, Yoshi, courteously showed us around the area.
He explained that Enoshima and Kamakura, the areas we were going to, had an “old town” and “surf town” kind of vibe. Of course, Ave and I were immediately charmed.
True enough, upon arriving at Kamakura, Yoshi’s descriptions couldn’t be more accurate; the buildings and streets reminded me so much of my time back in Honolulu. Many people were on their way to the beach with surfboards mounted on their bicycles. It’s like Siargao in a way, too!
You instantly feel how local the place is, because there aren’t a lot of people. You mostly see locals gathering on the beach, even in the Hawaiian-themed restaurants right by the streets.
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Enoshima
Connected by a bridge, Enoshima Island is located by the coast of Kamakura, and it boasts its own shrine, a park, and even caves.
Enoshima Shrine
For our trip, we were able to visit one of the three Enoshima shrines dedicated to Benten, a goddess of good fortune, wealth, music, and knowledge. Of course we had to pay our respects ;).
Kidding aside, the octagonal shrine building was unlike any other I’ve seen so far. Decorated delicately in the lucky colors of red and gold, this place easily becomes one of the highlights for your day trip.
It was also explained to us that the red gates you see at many shrines are called ‘torii’. These torii are a portal to another world – the world of the gods. Apparently, you shouldn’t walk in the middle when you enter these gates, because the middle walkway is reserved for the gods!
Food trip
We were getting a little hungry, so we decided to eat some snacks that were being sold at the entrance of the shrine.
We had a fried potato snack and the traditional Japanese ‘dango’, which is essentially skewered rice cakes that can be grilled and caramelized. They were both really good!
Japanese Garden
Next, Yoshi took us to this Japanese botanical garden that felt larger than life. It was a much needed scenery that I didn’t think could exist so beautifully!
The best part was that there were not many tourists with us when we went. If there were any, they seemed to be locals, too.
If you’re familiar with the famous Arashiyama bamboo grove, they have something of the sort in this garden, too. It’s not as long, but at least you get the picture without the crowd, am I right?
Kamakura
Meggendorfer Book Store
We headed back to the mainland again, this time stopping by at the Meggendorfer Book Store.
Here, we looked for a souvenir to buy, and had a hard time because there were so many cute books to choose from! This particular book store specializes in making pop-up books from 3D sharks, hand puppets, sumo wrestling matches, to Hokusai paintings coming alive from the pages.
We ended up getting our pop-up book titled, “Tokyo,” which is what we ended up naming our daughter. It’s a truly special moment.
It’s easy to explore the beach in a town like Kamakura, since you’re almost always by the seaside. Even when you’re not directly in front of it, the calming splash of the gentle waves are heard along the streets.
For our lunch food trip, we headed to a local restaurant that only had a menu in Japanese. Here’s when we felt grateful for our friend Yoshi, who is native to Japan! They know just what to recommend. If you have a friend who is also a Japanese native, they might just be happy to show you around, too.
When the menu is in Japanese, you know you’re about to eat some good food, catered to the local taste.
We split a bowl of salmon egg (called ‘ikura’), salmon sashimi and rice - this was unexpectedly good, and the salmon tasted perfectly fresh!
We also had a grilled mackerel, which was cooked just right.
The restaurant in particular, always had fresh fish because the seafood was kept in fish tanks.
After a big lunch, we still had room for dessert: it was kakigori, or shaved ice with matcha and red bean this time. It was hard to eat, but the taste was so worth the effort!
At night, we visited the emperor’s palace by taking the walkway where you are said to be “walking in the emperor’s footsteps.” It was definitely a different experience, because the vibe of Kamakura at night is so stark from Kamakura in the morning!
Komachi Street
Our last destination was Komachi street, where we made custom rings and had our dinner.
Komachi-dori Street in Kamakura, Japan.
I got a ring with the Japanese character for ‘heart, mind, and soul’ engraved into it. This took about 10 minutes, and it was handled with utmost care from the staff.
To cap off such a busy day, we had dinner at another local restaurant, which turned out to be yet another good idea.
The curry udon and curry soba were two different kinds of noodles that I never had before. Overall, the dishes we ordered were so tasty! I definitely recommend going there if you ever find yourself in the area.
After our day trip, it was finally time to go back to the concrete jungle of Tokyo. Don’t get me wrong, though – I still absolutely adore Tokyo and everything it has to offer! I am so amazed by this country and its technology. You just really need a change of scenery sometimes, and I know you can find that in Kamakura.
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Getting there
There are services and taxis that go to Kamakura, but we opted to take the train as it is cheaper and the experience on a train ride is just much more different.
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Ending notes
Kevin → Martin → Yoshi → Ave
I hope you enjoyed reading this guide for a day trip at Kamakura; it was fun reliving the fun times that I had there with my wife Ave, and our friend Yoshi and Kevin! If I get the chance, I would absolutely spend a few more days at this place next time. This town has charmed us, and we know slow afternoon enjoyers will, too.
This is an absolute recommendation for surfers who want to visit Tokyo, because who knows? You might need a little bit of a surf break. Not a surfer? A beach break, then! There’s something for everybody in this quiet, little town.
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