Top choice in Kamakura
A three-minute walk to the beach, this lovely guesthouse occupies a restored wooden building that's almost a century old, with paper lampshades and a small cafe and bar (noon to 5pm Saturday and Sunday). Choose from a six-bed dorm or two private rooms, all with common tiled bathrooms. Catch bus 12, 40 or 41 to Kuhon-ji from Kamakura Station.
English-speaking owner Masa is a good source of information and rents bodyboards and bicycles (¥500 per day).
26.83 MILES
This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…
28.01 MILES
Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…
25.67 MILES
Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all…
11.32 MILES
This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…
26.68 MILES
Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are…
28.24 MILES
The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world,…
26.69 MILES
Tokyo’s grandest Shintō shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken, whose reign (1868–1912) coincided with Japan's transformation from…
28.65 MILES
Occupying a verdant swath of Hakone hillside is this unmissable art safari, leading visitors past a rich array of 19th- and 20th-century sculptures and…
1.13 MILES
The focal point of this Jōdo sect temple, one of the most popular in the Kantō region, is a 9m-high carved wooden jūichimen (11-faced) Kannon statue…
1.14 MILES
Kamakura's most iconic sight, an 11.4m bronze statue of Amida Buddha (amitābha in Sanskrit), is in Kōtoku-in, a Jōdo sect temple. Completed in 1252, it's…
3. Kamakura National Treasure Museum
1.23 MILES
This museum displays an excellent collection of Kamakura religious art and statuary. Some are the typically peaceful Jizō (Buddhist patron of travellers,…
1.3 MILES
This Rinzai Zen temple is popular for its small forest of towering mōsō bamboo, within which you can relax under a shelter with a cup of matcha and sweets…
1.31 MILES
Kamakura's most important shrine is, naturally, dedicated to Hachiman, the god of war. Minamoto no Yoritomo himself ordered its construction in 1191 and…
1.36 MILES
This small temple, founded in AD 734, is reputed to be the oldest in Kamakura. Climb the steep steps up to the ferocious-looking guardian deities and…
1.39 MILES
One of Kamakura's most alluring Shintō shrines, which you can enter via tunnel or a trail above; it's located along the Daibutsu hiking trail. Washing…
1.39 MILES
This Shintō shrine, dedicated to the fox spirit Inari and strewn with thousands of tiny fox totems, is located in woodland along Kamakura's Daibutsu…