Japan 2019: Kamakura (Tsurujaoka Hachimangu & Kotoku-in)
DAY 8
I’m now writing about my experience (today is Feb 05, 2021), so I can’t quite remember if the days are right… but I am going in chronological order for sure. Besides that… we woke up around 9 and we took the 1h train to the Kamaura area!
This was somewhere new for my sister and I, because when we each went back in 2018, none of us got the chance to explore this area. I would still like to say we didn’t get much time to explore the area… we went to these 2 main spots and then left for Tokyo again.
This post will be a bit long so stay with me, I swear it’s interesting.
TSURUJAOKA HACHIMANGU
If I’m remembering correctly, Kamakura station is this cute little building as just as you walk out from the trains towards the main area, there is a bakery right in the station. Though the breads looked real good, we didn’t get any (though if you did, please let me know how they were lol).
We arrived at Kamakura station around 10:30am - 11:00am and I was like we need to goooo or it will be busy. If you don’t know what I’m going to say about Japan and popular areas by now - yes, it was REALLY busy by the time we got there. If you aren’t going to a major attraction early enough or (possibly) late enough, then you will be surrounded by many other people.
Tsurujaoka Hachimangu is about a 10 minute walk from the station, so I assume because of its ease of access, a lot of people go here. You shouldn’t miss it because the street sort of ends off weird, the roads like make a box shape around the shrine area.
[Yes, of course the peoples faces are blurred out in the second photo. I mean 1) they didn’t ask to be in the photo and 2) at this time, it’s basically impossible to take a photo with no one else in it]
As you can see, it is quite a long path towards the actual shrine and you’ll have to go up a flight of stairs before you even reach it (lol) so make sure you’re wearing some comfortable shoes.
I think we were pretty early? Because it looks like the stalls on the path towards the temple were only beginning to set up (if you check the left image just above). I assume these were going to be street food vendors or souvenir vendors. WE HAD PLACES TO BE, so we couldn’t wait for them to open.
Once you’re at the top, you can pray there (of course), buy charms, votive planks - all the basics of any shrine really. Other than these things, there isn’t much to do in this particular place. We looked around a bit, took a few photos and then went to look for lunch.
As you walk towards this shrine, you’ll most probably walk along this street that is full of shops for food and things you can buy. So access to food is definitely easy here. I think white bait fish is a specialty of the area because there were along of signs advertising their white bait - or maybe they were just tricking people who didn’t know (lol).
We stopped by a shop that sold white bait and other options of fish on top of some rice. I can’t remember the shop name but you had to walk up a few steps to the second floor to enter this shop. The menu had a few bowls that had set options or you were able to make your own bowl by choosing a number of fish options from the ones they had. I choose the option of cooked white bait with unagi and tuna. I wasn’t brave enough to get the raw white bait.
This meal was pretty decent: the tuna was pretty good, the white bait didn’t have much taste to it (imagine blanched with a bit of chew), and the ungai was definitely not my favourite. It was kind of tough, it wasn’t as fresh as other unagi I’ve tasted and the sauce wasn’t my cup of tea. I’d maybe give this place a 5/10? Maybe I just didn’t pick the right thing.
My mom tried the raw white fish bait and it was much better than the cooked - so I’d maybe pick that instead.
There are a lot of food options in the area, so don’t feel like you need to settle. There are also lots of shops selling street food like items, so if you wanted to try a little something here and there instead of sitting down at a restaurant.
Yeah sorry, the camera decided to focus on the piece of paper instead of the actual cheese tart and this was the only photo I had, so you’ll have to deal with it. But I picked up this cute little cheese tart from some random store along the road. Nice cheese flavour without being overly cheesy - if that makes any sense at all - it was good!
KOTOKU-IN
Kotoku-in is famous for its bronze Buddha statues and is one of the most popular and well known near the Tokyo area. It’s only a short train ride from the Tsurujaoka Hachimangu area but they are small trains and they WILL be packed. If you have your Suica/Pasmo train card, just need to scan and walk through the gates - always recommend getting one of those and loading it with money instead of buying individual tickets.
Once you reach the station where Kotoku-in is, its quite a far walk. I think its only 10-15 minutes but that day, it was REAL sunny and quite hot, so we were SWEATING. Plus, there isn’t much shade as you walk, so remember to swear sunscreen…
Me writing this now and ‘reminiscing’ about the walk there… holy, was it a hot day…
But anyway, I think this was the first Buddha temple we went to on our trip and it was cool to see. Yes, this place was full of people too. The Buddha itself is actually hollow, so you can pay a small admission fee to go inside if you wish. We chose not to. There are a few things you can buy in the area: small snacks and drinks, some charms, and you can buy incense to burn.
Random story: We were just resting on this giant rock and there was this gigantic bug (I think it was a grasshopper but I can’t remember) and honestly, it was disgusting looking. And low key, it kept following us so we ran to a different area.
Going to Kotoku-in was a quick little visit, there was just the statue to look at. We left after just a few minutes and headed for Tokyo again.
BACK TO TOKYO
Since we got back pretty early in the day still, we walked around the Ginza area, which was near our hotel. There are a lot of different malls and department stores in Ginza and they typically have a food area in the basement floor. Lots of snack souvenir items you can get down here. I know we stopped by a bakery and got some baked good but I don’t have a photo of that, sorry. BUT we did stop by this frozen yogurt popsicle place? They had some really tasty looking options.
(Sorry for my crusty finger) This one had raspberry and peaches (white and orange flesh) in it! The taste is how you would imagine it would taste - yogurt with fruits in it (lol). It’s pretty simple. Worth it? Maybe for the try yeah.
On the weekends, certain streets in the Ginza area are closed off. So you’ll see a lot of people in the area walking around on the streets and it would be a great time to take some street photos too!
For dinner, we decided to eat ramen again! But this time we went to another popular chain in Japan called Ippudo (instead of the typical Ichiran). Of course the offerings were different, with different flavour profiles and everything. I mean, ramen flavours even change from prefecture to prefecture, so no two ramen places are alike.
The ramen bowl I ordered had 2 styles of roasted pork, egg, some wood ear mushrooms, nori, beansprouts and green onions. This chain also had a few free sides you can add into the ramen (that were in containers at your table) - I recommend adding A LOT of garlic in there. It just elevates the dish to a whole nother level, I swear. Just make sure you have mints with you (lol).
Honestly, this ramen chain was just as delicious as Ichiran in my opinion. Of course they aren’t the same but they are both equally full of flavour, have a great bite to their noodles and they’re around the same prices (this one being slightly cheaper though). Definitely recommend you try out Ippudo if you get the chance. There are actually a few locations in the US and in other parts of the world - here’s to hoping they open one in Canada.
This was a pretty packed day for us and I was pretty exhausted. But I hope you enjoyed reading this and joining me on my journey? If you have any questions or comments, you can leave them down below. Until next time, see you
-Thomas