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Lylibellule鎌倉と江ノ島 Kamakura & Enoshima
Posted by meronpan on March 3, 2009
Pics of/guide through my day trip to Kamakura & Enoshima! Turn back now if you’re looking for akiba-kei shenanigans, those will resume later :P
From the Shinagawa station it was about 1000 yen and 1 hour to get to Kamakura. Really easy to trip to make with no transfers. Also, supposedly a lot cheaper if you get the special kamakura day pass which includes a round trip to Kamakura and unlimited use of local rail in the kamakura area (enoden & odakyu). I say supposedly because I got a late start that day and dashed off to the train station as fast as I could… didn’t stop to try and figure out how to buy one ^^;; Alas it woulda been worth it. The local enoden line was expensive!
At first I was only going to look around Kamakura and head over to hase for the daibutsu, but when I arrived and saw the map with enoshima island I remember my aunt saying it was worth a trip, so a trip I made! Once you arrive at the JR kamakura, the enoden line is connected so just transfer and you’re on your way to hase or enoshima or wherever.
About 20 minutes more on local rail and I arrived at enoshima station!
Was neat to hear the rail crossing sounds from anime in real life… Aaaah, the simple pleasures of an otaku ^^;
Once I got to the enoshima station, I think there might’ve been a sign pointing towards enoshima island, but at any rate, everyone else was walking int he same direction down the street (the opposite direction of the pic I took above), so I just followed (hint: head towards the water :P)
Once you’re at the wafer, there’ll be a long bridge to take you to the island. Make sure to go when the weather’s nice and you’ll have a great walk ^^
Was a bit cold when I went but the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful day.
Fuji-san was beautiful, visible from the bridge. First time I was able to see Fuji-san with my own eyes.
As you get to the island, there’s a nice small street filled with little shops.
Keep walking to head up to the top.
A buncha shrines to see… I never really know what I’m looking at or if it’s something famous, but always like visiting these sorts of places regardless ^^;
Be sure to cleanse yourself~ (well, actually I didn’t see very many people doing so ^^;;)
Ton ‘o omikuji
As I climbed higher and higher I decided it was my goal to get to the observation tower I had seen in the distance, at the top of the island. Climbing higher the view became better and better ^^
Eventually after kinda getting lost near the top, figured out that you have to buy admission into the park to get to the observation tower ^^; Buy the combo ticket and you’re all set.
The garden wasn’t terribly interseting, though I’m not one for plants… colorful flowers and such, sure I’ll take some pics, but…
…mmm just looked like a buncha foliage to me ^^;;; Mebbe it’s more interesting in the spring or summer? Or to a botanist? ^^; Anyhow I was distracted by my goal…
Finally found the entrance, gave my ticket over, and headed up!
Man, it was a gorgeous view! You could peer out over the city…
Or out to sea…
Or just down at the island itself…
After you take the elevator to the top of the tower, remember to take the stairs up to the actual observation deck, where you have a view unhindered by glass walls. If you’re afraid of heights it might be a little unnerving though ^^;
But the view!
It was a great view. ^^
Heading down, since I had forgotten my watch, was lucky to find a sun dial to tell the time ^^;;;
Stopped for some lunch… “island ramen” I think they called it. mmm oishikatta~
Then made the trek back to the station to head to hase!
At hase you just follow the signs for the daibutsu.
Was happy that most of the attractions I went to were really easy to find. Just exited the station in the direction I was pointed and it was a straight walk down the street.
Wasn’t much to see except for the daibutsu itself but was definitely a sight to see. Over 13m tall!
And once again, thank goodness for the weather. Everything looked spectacular.
Are these… giant sandals?
I’m such a bad tourist. I didn’t read any of the signs or anything… was just busy snapping up pics, then moving on to the next location ^^;;;
After the daibutsu… i *forgot* to go to hase-dera orz. Guess that’ll have to wait for another trip ^^;;; So it was back to kamkura station for me. About a block from the station I found wakamiya ooji, a long street lined with sakura and torii gates.
Unfortunately most of the trees weren’t in bloom (that’s why March/April is so great!) but found a few here and there…
mmmm i love sakura
Finally got down the road (had to hurry, sun was goin down ^^;)
Arrived at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.
Again, make sure to cleanse yourself ^^
Evidently this is the main shrine in the city, looks like they also have a ton of huge events here.
Always so many steps ^^;
I think this tree is famous… gah, I’m sure wikipedia has something to say about it ^^;
These blossoms were slightly different colors, not sure if they’re also sakura or what.
Was really starting to lose daylight…
Little girl was feeding the pidgeons and getting swarmed every once in a while ^^;
Alas, no pic of that, just a bird ^^;
And with daylight failing, decided it was time for some grub.
Was delighted to see the sign on the right (unagi ^^)
Nice and warm inside, which was good because outside my camera got so cold it was erroring out when I tried to put it in macro mode ^^;; Luckily it started working again in the warmth.
The menu had 2 sizes of unadon, 3 sizes of unajyuu and maybe a handful of other things. I love it when places can just stick to what they’re good at ^^
Finally a look at komachi doori just to see the shops they had.
You can enter right near the station and there’s a long street full of shops.
Alas I’m not one for shopping and was dead tired, so after a walk up and back, I got on a train back for Tokyo (well, akihabara actually :P).
Many thanks to danny for his article. Don’t think I woulda known to stop by otherwise. Definitely recommended for a relaxing day of sightseeing away from Tokyo, if that’s your kind of thing. Danny said he got around by bike, which definitely woulda saved some time, but on foot I think I was still able to cover a lot of ground.
以上！
kesenaitsumi said
Wow…the scenes there is really nice. Loved the sakura too ^.^
meronpan said
if only all the sakura were in bloom. i probably woulda died of happiness ^^
aaroninjapan09 said
Wow… a few of those pictures in this post were definitely epic.
That Mount Fuji pic in particular, is postcard worthy. Amazing, gimme your skillz.
aaroninjapan09 said
Sorry for the double post, but wanted to say this much. I have the better camera, but your pictures pwn my pictures completely. In fact, some of your pictures look better than mine even in terms of technical quality. It really goes to illustrate the point, that you don`t need an SLR to take great pictures.
meronpan said
i’ll just respond to both posts here ^^;
you give me more credit than i’m due ^^; the mount fuji one looks nice sized down, but the original size is pretty grainy ‘cuz i was zoomed in so far ^^; though i guess it still is one of my favorites, regardless ^^;
i’ve definitely found that peeps talking about the importance of good lighting speak truth… that’s why i think some of my pics turned out nice… the good weather, clear skies made a heck of a difference. that, plus all the things i’ve been learning about photography from my figure shoots really came in handy (well, not so much for these pics, since i think i was just on auto mode) ^^;
but yeah, back to the weather… when it’s a nice day, the colors are nice and vivid, the bright light means your shutter speed can go way up (errr well, fast ^^;), making free hand shots a lot a better… the pics practically take themselves :P
on the other hand, i was dying for dslr during my trip because i wanted to use a different lens! that’s the main reason i’m excited to upgrade. ah yes, that and the fact that at full size, the pics aren’t quite as sharp as i’d like when i make them into 1920×1200 wallpapers ^^;;
JefLebowski said
Man, I am really envious… but, and that I swear by my beloved
Noir-Fork, I will visit Japan. Eat stuff. Take photos. and have fun >.<
meronpan said
just takes some saving and vacation time ^_^ ganbatte itte ne~ ^^
rangerroh said
Nice pictures! seem like you didnt just stay a akiba. ^^ LOVE the sakura!
meronpan said
thanks! yeah, made it a point to not spend every day in akiba ^^;; sakura ftw~
theinfernoproject said
Really great pictures. I actually enjoyed the scenery in Japan more than the busy life since I get that in Toronto…though it’s not as busy as Tokyo.
meronpan said
scenery is more enjoyable than the spectacle of city life for me too, though I must say I love the subway/rail in tokyo! nothing like being able to get everywhere on foot for a change!
Ayu said
Photos are wonderful, makes me want to visit Japan and miss China at the same time ><; I really love visiting oriental temples ^^
meronpan said
i have yet to visit china orz …someday! ‘course i also need to get over to nara sometime also… ahhh so much to see!
Rin said
I have to remember to go there when I go to Japan in the summer. Lets see…I have 2 days free left. I think I’ll go here for a day. It’s seem worth the trip.
Now I need to figure out what to do and how to get there and back safely…without getting lost…
Too tired to shop but not too tired to go to Akihabara…LOL!!!
meronpan said
Seemed like a nice town so if you were lost, I think just a simple question like, “enoden?” (the local rail line) would probably point you towards the nearest train station.
i surprised even myself heading to akiba instead of at least making a quick stop at the hotel ^^; needed to get my fix! hahaha
Q said
Is it just me, or Danny Choo did mention a bit about Kamakura? Seems like a very nice local place to visit for my next trip to Japan.
Really nice photos there, and wow you managed to see some sakura as well! What surprises me that the streets are really clean as if it’s rarely been used; not something easily seen in urban areas. :o
meronpan said
yes he did, i linked his article in the final paragraph of my post ^^; very nice day trip (i’d also recommend nikko for shrine/temple lovers) if you don’t want to spend money for shinkansen.
the clean streets are a mystery to me… because there are no garbage cans anywhere!! i was constantly holding on to wrappers or other things all the way back to my hotel room ^^;;
phossil said
Wow, mt. Fuji is entirely cover with snow..
Cool pictures. I love sakura season ^^
meronpan said
yeah, i couldn’t have asked for anything better for my first in person sighting of fuji-san.
wish i could go back in march… sakura season is absolutely gorgeous.
Blowfish said
Looks like a really nice place to spend the dawn of your life/holidays at.I prefer big city life in everyday life though.
Mount Fuji looks pretty impressive
meronpan said
yeah, not sure how well i’d fit in a smaller town… though in this case, being an hour train ride from the otaku capital of the world might make up for that ^^