Kamakura & Enoshima

We meet at Tokyo Station in the morning and take the JR Yokosuka Line south to Kamakura. The meeting point and departure time are agreed in advance.

Kamakura's lively shopping street begins right by the station. We stroll past small shops selling local crafts, sweets and snacks on our way up towards the shrine.

Founded by the first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo, this is the spiritual heart of Kamakura. Broad stone steps lead up to the vermilion main hall, with lotus ponds and wooded hills all around. I tell the story of the samurai capital that grew up around it.

Cast in bronze in 1252, the Great Buddha has sat under the open sky since a tsunami swept away its hall more than five hundred years ago. Standing in front of the calm, 11-metre figure is one of the classic moments of a trip to Japan.

A hillside temple with gardens, ponds and a tall gilded statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. From the terrace there is a wide view over Kamakura and the bay; in early summer the slopes are covered in hydrangeas.

Kamakura's local speciality is shirasu — tiny whitebait caught in the bay — served fresh or lightly boiled over rice. We choose a small restaurant near the sea according to availability and your preferences; the meal is paid for separately.

A small, green island linked to the mainland by a long bridge. A lane of old inns and snack stalls leads up to Enoshima Shrine, and paths continue through the woods to viewpoints over Sagami Bay — on a clear day, with Mount Fuji on the horizon.

We return to Tokyo together in the early evening. Arrival time depends on the day's train departures.