The Great Buddha at Kamakura

The wooden hall that once enclosed the Kotoku-in Buddha was destroyed by a tsunami in the 14th century, and nobody ever bothered to rebuild it. The result is that the 13.35-metre bronze seated figure of Amida Buddha, completed around 1252, now sits under open sky with forested hills behind it. That accident of history produced a better setting than the enclosed building would have. There is something right about a statue this scale occupying open air.

The Buddha weighs 121 tonnes and was cast in bronze during the Kamakura shogunate period. Entry to the temple grounds is 300 yen (cash only). For an additional 20 yen – also cash, also at the booth beside the lotus base – you can enter the hollow interior through a small door in the back. Wooden stairs lead through the interior where the medieval casting method is visible, the bronze shell supported by internal bracing. The experience takes about five minutes and gives you a concrete sense of the engineering required to produce this in 1252. Both fees are cash-only; carry small change before you arrive.

Getting There

Kamakura is 50 kilometres south of Tokyo. Take the JR Yokosuka Line from Tokyo Station, Shinagawa, or Yokohama – about an hour to Kamakura Station. The JR Pass covers this. From Kamakura Station, take the Enoden (Enoshima Electric Railway) tram toward Fujisawa, 260 yen, to Hase Station, about 10 minutes. The Kotoku-in entrance is a 10-minute walk from Hase Station.

Hours: 8:00am to 5:30pm April through September, 8:00am to 5:00pm October through March. Interior access closes at 4:30pm. Last entry 15 minutes before closing.

The Rest of Kamakura

Kamakura served as Japan’s effective capital and the seat of the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333. That concentration of political and religious authority in a small coastal city left an extraordinary density of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is the main Shinto shrine and the architectural centre of the town. The approach along Wakamiya-Oji, a long boulevard lined with cherry trees and stone lanterns, is the most photogenic route in the city. The shrine complex is active and worth time at any season, though cherry blossom season in late March draws large crowds.

Engakuji Temple, a 5-minute walk north of Kamakura Station toward Kita-Kamakura, is a Zen temple founded in 1282 and still operating as a practice centre. The 1783 gate (Sanmon) and the reliquary (Shariden, one of the oldest wooden buildings in Kamakura) are particularly fine and less visited than the main tourist sites.

Hase-dera Temple, adjacent to the Great Buddha area, is undervisited relative to its quality. Garden terraces give panoramic views over the bay. The cave beneath the main hall contains a passage of small Buddhist statues in a low-ceilinged rock chamber – atmospheric in a way the open-air temples aren’t.

Enoshima

Enoshima Island, 20 minutes by Enoden tram from Hase, is a small island connected to the mainland by bridge, with Shinto shrines, a botanical garden, and sea caves accessible at low tide. The view of Mount Fuji across the bay from Enoshima on clear winter mornings is one of the most reliably good Fuji views near Tokyo. Allow two hours.

Eating in Kamakura

Shirasu – baby whitebait caught offshore – is Kamakura’s local specialty and you should eat it here rather than pretending it’s available just as well in Tokyo. Raw shirasu don (on rice) and fried shirasu don are the standard preparations. The streets around Hase Station and the Komachi-dori pedestrian street toward Tsurugaoka have multiple restaurants serving it. Kamakura gets heavy day-trip crowds from Tokyo at weekends; arriving before 10am avoids the surge and the empty Komachi-dori in morning light is worth the early train.

Staying

Kamakura works well as a day trip from Tokyo, but staying overnight allows you to see the Tsurugaoka approach in late afternoon light and the Kotoku-in at opening before the crowds arrive. Budget guesthouses and traditional ryokan (Japanese inn with kaiseki dinner) are both available in the town centre.