The Sunrise Shack cafe in Inamuragasaki, Kamakura.
Kita-Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture, may be one of the places that tourists who only see Tokyo and not its surroundings are missing out the most.
Kanagawa is definitely a prefecture worth spending more time exploring and admiring. I even have several friends who moved from Tokyo to Kanagawa when covid started and many jobs became remote-work friendly. The best part is that it is only 1 hour distance by train from Tokyo’s Shibuya Station.
Here, I’m going to share with you a super beautiful combo of nearby places that you can visit all together in one day to have not only a touristy experience, but also a more local one. We love those places so much that we go every year.
Kita-Kamakura
Kita-Kamakura is all about how it feels to be there, so it is a bit difficult to express its beauty with pictures and I haven’t taken many, so I’ll try my best to describe it.
It feels as if you go back in time to explore a very old Japanese small town that looks like an old village right in the middle of the mountains. You can feel and see nature everywhere you walk!
You can also see old traditional Japanese houses and stores in places like Kyoto, but Kita-Kamakura being so small and surrounded by nature make it feel quite different. It is refreshing and relaxing!
Animation of how Kita-Kamakura “feels”. Not far from how it truly looks like.
You don’t need to spend much time in Kita-Kamakura, so you can just try my preferred store below (Kazahana) and then see the super beautiful temple Jochi-ji. See pictures or Jochi-ji on this Google Maps link to also get a better idea of how Kita-Kamakura looks like.
I’d also recommend to check on Google Maps other places in case you want to spend more time there. We usually also stop at Verve Coffee because we like the flavor of their coffee, specially in the winter when they have their delicious Kinmokusei (fragrant olive) latte!
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Kazahana - Matcha and Usagi Manju
Kamakurakōkō-Mae Station
Amazing view from the Kamakurakōkō-Mae Station.
Once again, it is difficult to say in pictures how it feels to be in this station, but I had never been at a small station right in front of the sea like this and it feels amazing!
You will see many tourists in this station. What people usually do here is to get out of the station and walk up the hill, then they wait for the next train to pass and take either a video or a picture of the train passing right in front of the sea. To get an idea of what kind of picture, look at this one on Google Maps!
After taking the picture and admiring the beautiful sea, you can get on the same train to continue your trip to Enoshima!
Enoshima
Torii entrance to the street that leads to Enoshima Shrine.
Enoshima has incredibly delicious seafood and a very nice view to Mount Fuji. This one, together with Kamakurakōkō-Mae Station, are a little bit more touristy, so Kita-Kamakura gives you a perfect break from the more touristy places.
In order to go to Enoshima from the train station, you need to walk by a bridge that connects the island. In the middle of that bridge, there are some spots where you can sit to relax and enjoy a beautiful view of Mount Fuji. I loved seeing the sunset from there!
Enoshima has many places where you can eat, but the one whose flavor has been the best in our experience is the one below named “Kimura”.
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There is one more restaurant in Enoshima that we’d recommend to stop by to try their Ika (squid) and yellow corn. It is the one from the image below named Kaisaku. It is very easy to find because it is the first restaurant that you will see right after you crossed the bridge that connects Enoshima. Just in case, this is their Google Maps profile for you to know which one it is.
Kaisaku restaurant at night in Enoshima.
How to go from one place to the other
If you leave from Shibuya or any other station where the Shonan-Shinjuku Line train stops, you can easily go straight to Kita-Kamakura. I always recommend to use Google Maps everywhere you go, but just for you to get a general idea, I’ll briefly tell you below how to go to each place. See this Google Maps link as a reference of how to go from Shibuya to Kita-Kamakura.
After visiting Kita-Kamakura, this is what you would need to do:
1. From Kita-Kamakura station, head to the next station which is Kamakura. See the route on this Google Maps link as a reference.
2. Once in Kamakura Station, explore Kamakura a little bit if you want or directly change trains to the Enoden Line. See the route on this Google Maps link as a reference.
3. Once in the Enoden Line train, stop at Kamakurakōkō-Mae Station to take the picture of the train passing next to the sea and feel the fresh air close to the see.
4. Go back to Kamakurakōkō-Mae Station and board the next train heading to Enoshima Station. See the route on this Google Maps link as a reference.
5. From Enoshima Station, walk all the way to the island. Once you are there, head to the sea and you’ll see the bridge that connects the island.
6. Enjoy!
One more place we loved: Inamuragasaki
Incredible sea view of Enoshima and Mount Fuji from Inamuragasaki Park.
The best view we have had of Mount Fuji from Kanagawa Prefecture is from a park in Inamuragasaki, which is also one of the stations that you pass by from the Enoden line train that you take from Kamakura to go to Enoshima.
Inamuragasaki has been an amazing spot for us to have a relaxing and healthy breakfast since we discovered The Sunrise Shack cafe. In Japan, it hasn’t been too easy for us to find many good places open early morning, but this one is.
This cafe has very good organic smoothies and açaí bowls as the one in the picture below. Not only that, but the view from the second floor is also amazing! The only thing you can see from the windows is the sea, as you can see on the first image at the very top of this webpage. Looks as if I was in a boat, right?
Delicious Açaí Bowl at The Sunrise Shack cafe in Inamuragasaki, Kamakura.
Considering the other places to visit that we mentioned above, a good plan that also considers Inamuragasaki could be:
- Go from wherever you are staying straight to Inamuragasaki first thing in the morning to have breakfast at The Sunrise Shack cafe and then go to Inamuragasaki Park to have the same amazing view we had of Mount Fuji if it is a sunny day.
- Go to Kamakurakōkō-Mae Station to take a picture of the train passing next to the sea.
- Go to Enoshima, explore it, and have lunch at Kimura. Before leaving Enoshima, try Kaisaku’s Ika (squid)
- Go to Kamakura to change trains for Kita-Kamakura, then head to Kita-Kamakura to have an afternoon matcha at Kazahana. Verve closes at 7 pm, so you can next relax there.
Cautions:
- If it isn’t sunny, there is a big chance of Mount Fuji being completely covered by clouds or fog, so plan according to the weather if possible.
- Most of the places at Kita-Kamakura close at 5 pm, so make sure to be there from 3 pm in case there is a line to enter the place