Aug 1, 2014 - 1 min read

A Day in Kamakura with Fireworks

Visiting Hachimangu Shrine, Great Buddha and Enoshima

By George Popescu

Community writer

I suppose this bridge near Hachimangu Shrine is famous for being one of the oldest bridges in Japan and for being used in photos of newlyweds.

Some people decided to dress traditionally to visit the shrine, with sunglasses on top though.

They had some type of ceremony at the shrine that day and this monk was walking around all the time. I got lucky to catch him as he was going up the steps into the dark house.

This is a very wide view of Hachimangu Shrine and the people visiting.

This is what you'd see from being at the top of the shrine and looking down at the horizon.

There is a fairly large lake nearby with many plants, flowers and leaves. I also caught a glimpse of a large turtle in the water but not in time to take its photo.

Around the lake there's lots of pigeons including the very rarely seen white pigeon.

The area has many train lines and the trains look a bit old or outdated. They are smaller than the trains in Tokyo but having a lot of charm.

Beautiful traditional street in Kamakura.

Lots of people have some very wonderful and traditional looking houses complete with gardens and gates.

This is the front of the Buddha statue which is made of bronze so it gets very hot in the summer time.

This is the back of the great Buddha statue. There's air holes since you can go inside the statue; it is still very hot though.

This is a view of Enoshima Island as seen from the bridge leading up to it. I didn't have much time to visit around since I had to return and get ready for the fireworks.

The beach in Kamakura was full of people waiting to see the fireworks, and they didn't disappoint. They went on for over an hour with a couple of minutes in between each burst.

At the end they had different types of fireworks popping continuously for about 5 minutes, and bursting into different colours.

In the summer there's many fireworks events in Japan and one of the most famous ones is in Kamakura, about one hour south of Tokyo by train. I enjoyed walking around for the whole day and visiting Hachimangu Shrine as well as the Great Buddha statue and a quick look at Enoshima Island. I set up my blue tarp on the beach early to make sure I have a space to watch the fireworks in the evening, as the beach will be full of people well before the 7 p.m. starting time of the fireworks.

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By George Popescu

Community writer

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Elena Lisina 5 years ago

Great shots! I visited te same places in Kamakura and enjoyed them, too!

Shiro Someya 9 years ago

I agree that it’ll be definitely a good idea to see the HANABI, the Japanese traditional fireworks. That must be exciting everyone. We TripHugger will actually have a meet-up event of following dates by keeping a space for our friends. Anyone can apply to the meet-up, let’s enjoy it with us!

July 19th: http://www.triphugger.com/20150719Adachi_en.htm
July 21st: http://www.triphugger.com/20150721Katsushika_en.htm
July 23rd: http://www.triphugger.com/20150723Kamakura_en.htm

Thanks,

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