Enoshima

Enoshima is a rocky island about four kilometres around, joined to the beach by a bridge, and it rises steeply - the shrine buildings, three of them, are set at different levels up the slope, and a chain of paid outdoor escalators exists because the stairs are long. Enoshima Shrine is dedicated to Benzaiten and the island has been a pilgrimage site since the sixth century by tradition. At the far end the ground drops to the Iwaya caves, two sea caves cut by wave action and lit for visitors, reached by a walkway along the rocks; the inner cave is where the shrine's origins are placed. The Sea Candle observation tower stands in the Samuel Cocking garden at the top. On clear winter days Fuji shows across Sagami Bay behind the island, and the western shore is where people gather at sunset.

History

The whole island is dedicated to Benzaiten, goddess of music and entertainment, who by legend raised it from the sea floor in the sixth century; the Enoshima Engi, a history of its shrines, was written by the Buddhist monk Kōkei in 1047. In 1880, after the Meiji government's separation of Shinto and Buddhism freed the land, the British merchant Samuel Cocking bought much of the upland in his Japanese wife's name and built a power plant and large botanical gardens with a huge greenhouse. The Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 wrecked the greenhouse, but the garden survives as the Samuel Cocking Garden, with more than half a million visitors a year (Wikipedia, Enoshima).

The main sights

• Three shrine halls - set at different levels up a steep island slope.
• The Iwaya caves - lit sea caves at the far end, reached by a rock walkway.
• The Sea Candle - an observation tower in the Cocking garden at the summit.
• Fuji across the bay - visible on clear winter days behind the island.

When to go

November to February for Fuji; all year otherwise. Half a day.

Practical notes

Everything on the island charges - escalators, garden, tower and caves separately. The climb is substantial without them. Weekends and summer are extremely crowded. The caves close in high seas.

Nearby

Kamakura is east along the Enoden line; the Shonan beaches run west.

Key facts