Year-end excursion by myself on the Enoden. After leaving Enoshima, I came to Gokurakuji Temple station.
The Gokurakuji in Kamakura is known to have been the setting for various comic/drama productions. The relatively new one that I am familiar with is “Umimachi diary” (Akimi Yoshida 2006-2018), but for me, this is still the station of “ORETACHI NO ASA (Morning of us)” (NTV drama 1976). Gokurakuji is the town where Oss (Hiroshi Katsuno), Chu (Ichiro Ogura) and Kahko (Naomi Hase) lived.
With nostalgia for the dramas of the 70’s, I changed the RAW development finish a bit for the Gokurakuji photo. Sepia is too conventional and PENTAX “Satobi” is too lonely, so I used my own profile “Honoka-ish” style.
The story that the Enoden train, which was scheduled to be closed down due to poor business performance at the time, was directly triggered by the influx of young people visiting the site after it became a sacred place for “Morning of us” is not an urban legend, but rather a fact.
I had also wanted to visit Gokurakuji since I moved to Tokyo from west part of Japan when I was a student, but it took me several decades of twists and turns until I came here for the first time.
I don’t remember the details of the scene in the drama, but I vaguely remember that there was a scene in the title background where the main characters come down this slope by the Gokurakuji station (sorry if I’m wrong).
A historic Jizo Hall by the train station. It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?
I decided to walk from Gokurakuji station to the neighboring Hase station.
On the way, we took pictures of Hoshino-i and other places as we walked down the hill.
So much for the “Honoka” look.
I found this little stylish apartment in a residential area near Hase station.
The fact that there is a surfboard storage attached to the house suggests that it is a residence (or perhaps a guesthouse?) prepared for such people. The room in the left front is a drying room, isn’t it?
I was impressed by the scenery that is typical of Kamakura/Shonan coast area.
Soon after, we arrived at Hase Station on the Enoden Line.
If you come to Hase, how can you not return to see the Great Buddha?
Naturally, we will extend our visit to Kotoku-in Temple.
This was actually my first time to visit the Great Buddha in Kamakura.
I was glad that the weather was nice and I was able to capture his face in the full amount of light. The blueness of the sky added to my appreciation.
The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a bronze statue that has been sitting exposed ever since the loss of the Hall building in the 14th century. A full view of the surrounding area is also included.
The last issue is a bonus.
This time it was supposed to be an Enoden walk, but I broke the rule of using the Shonan Monorail from Enoshima instead of the Enoden train when pulling out.
Because you want to ride the monorail, don’t you?
As you can see from the ride, the Shonan Monorail has many ups and downs and big curves, and because it is a rare “suspension type”, you can feel the car swinging from side to side, giving it quite a “roller coaster” feel (The official website also features the train and advertises it). In my opinion, it is 30% more enjoyable to ride the coaster while looking forward in the first car, so I highly recommend trying it on Enoshima sightseeing.
Well, I highly recommend that you try it on your way to OR from Enoshima. The other way is by Enoden.
Since I failed to take pictures along the way, I took a picture of the monorail departing from Ofuna Station, the last stop.
So, that’s it for this article on our Enoden + Monorail walk in Kamakura and Enoshima.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article.
