Access
This is actually my third time coming to Kamakura. This day, I got a friend, who had also been wanted to go there for a long time, to go with me. We met up at JR Shinbashi Station (JR新橋駅) at 10:30 am. We took the Yokosuka Line (横須賀線) directly to Kamakura Station (鎌倉駅). It took 53 minutes and cost 799 yen. There are surely other ways to go. Make sure to check out some transportation applications; that would definitely help. After we got to the Kamakura Station, we purchased the one-day transportation pass around Kamakura area at the station, which cost 700 yen. I recommend this because you will be taking Enoshima Electric Railway to access Enoshima, which is a beautiful island that you always go when you visit this area.
Komachi Street (小町通り)
Getting out from the station, you can see this torii, red gate, at the left side. If you enter the torii, you can see the Komachi Street, which is a shopping street that’s full of variety goods stores and dessert stores.
GRAM
Although there are so many things to explore in this street, we went to a store called “GRAM” first. It’s a popular store that sells custom rings. You can find this store by walking down the street and turn left when you see the elephant graffiti. We got there at around 12pm, but there was already a long queue! So we received a ticket that asked us to come back at 2:30pm. If you want to come to this store, I recommend you to come earlier. (I will talk about more about this store in the following.)
Kamakura High School Station (鎌倉高校前駅)
Since we got spare time until 2:30pm, we decided to move on first. In which, we took the Enoshima Electric Railway to Kamakura High School Station. The Kamakura’s Enoshima Electric Railway station is on the other side of Kamakura Station. This place is a famous spot, because it was used in the opening song’s scene in one of the most famous basketball anime, “Slam Dunk”, so it’s like a little anime pilgrimage here. Even though you have never seen this anime, this is still a great stop to stay by. Because it has a beautiful coast view that can refresh your mind. After pretending to be the character in the anime and taking some pictures, it was about time for us to go back. (Normally you would want to move on to Enoshima after this place, because it’s the right direction.)
Iori (伊織)
We went back to the Komachi Street. This time we check out some stores before rushing into the ring store. Iori is a towel store. The stunning Japanese style interior design attracted us to go in. The interior design made the towel feel really clean and comfortable.
Melting Pot
This was another variety goods store that I enjoyed. This store was different from the last one. It was more like western style. All the goods inside looked so unique and adorable.
Yumemiya (夢見屋)
We decided to grab some snacks on our way to the store. And this one was a dango(団子) store. Dango is Japanese rice cakes in shape of balls with sauce on it. It is one of the most iconic Japanese snacks. It was really delicious and it’s not too expansive, so I recommend you to try it. (around 160-180 yen per stick)
More Stores!!
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu (鶴岡八幡宮)
After turning right at the end of Komachi Street, you can see this majestic torii. This is one of the most important shrines in Kamakura, Tsurugaoka Hachmangu. If was founded in by Minamoto Yoriyoshi in 1063. It was built here by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1180. It has almost a thousand years of history!
Whitebait Taiyaki Pie (しらす鯛焼き)
After visiting the shrine, we went back to the Komachi Street. I bought this whitebait taiyaki pie because I found it really special! Normally you would have red bean inside a Taiyaki, but they change it into whitebait since it is the local ingredient in Kamakura. It was 400 yen, but definitely worth it to have a try.
Cacao
This was the last place that we visited before going back to the ring store. It was a dessert store. The one I bought was the fondant tart, which cost 270 yen. It was a limited item, because they only bake few of them and serve them when these tarts are still hot and melted. You might need to ask them what’s the time when they bake these. The chocolate taste was so rich and the touch of half melted chocolate on your tongue was just so amazing. You have to try this!
Back to GRAM
So we started to queue up at 2:30pm, and we actually got into the store at around 4:30pm, which was a crazily long wait. However, my friend really wanted the rings so we committed the queue. As I mentioned, this is a custom ring store. What I meant by custom was that when you enter the store, they look at you and measure your fingers. Then they just instantly create a ring that’s for you. So you don’t have to worry if the rings don’t fit you. And most importantly it only costs 990 yen (without tax)!!! My friend ordered 4 of them. However, I would recommend you to come earlier as I said; we waited for so long while it was a normal Tuesday! See how popular this store is.
Most of the people here are couples, and they make the same rings, that’s why I said that Kamakura is a great dating place.
Enoshima (江ノ島)
We were kind of behind the schedule, but we move on to Enoshima after we finished making the rings. You have to take Enoshima Electric Railway to Enoshima Station and walked pass a bridge to get to the Enoshima island.
We were hungry so we got this super big shrimp rice crackers (600 yen)! It was so delicious!
Since it was late, we decided to buy the escalator ticket to go to the top of the island, the ticket we bought was a bundle with the entrance ticket of Enoshima Samuel Cocking Garden, which costs 560 yen. From late November to Early February, there is light-up show in the garden! That is what I meant by a great dating spot!
This beautiful illumination summed up our amazing one day trip in Kamakura. And I am sure that I would like to visit this place again! If you are living in Tokyo or visiting Tokyo, what are you waiting for? Kamakura is such a great casual place, where you can fill your one day with joy.
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