Mar 13, 2015 - 1 min read

A Trip to Kamakura from Fukui

Changing trains to get to Kamakura in search of spring!

By Takako Sakamoto

Community writer

First, you should get to JR Fukui Station where dinosaurs will welcome you with scary roars!

Go to a platform bound for Kyoto and Osaka. Take either the Shirasagi or Thunderbird express trains.

This is Shirasagi Express train bound for Maibara (in Shiga prefecture), which is located between Fukui and Kyoto.

Long cars of the Shinkansen (bullet train) stopping at Maibara

At JR Maibara Station, take the Shinkansen Hikari bound for Tokyo

You will stop at JR Hamamatsu Station, but don't get off here!

Now, you have arrived at JR Odawara Station. Take an express 'Odoriko (named after a famous novel of Kawabata Yasunari, 'The Izu Dancer')' and get off at Ofuna Station. This train is Odoriko!

Finally, you have arrived at JR Kamakura Station. It takes about 3.5 hours from JR Fukui Station.

Wow! A sacred straw rope like you see at shrines is hanging from the terminal building of JR Kamakura Station! (at the east entrance/exit)

The west entrance of JR Kamakura Station

A rickshaw waiting for customers in front of JR Kamakura Station makes you feel you are in one of the most famous tourist destinations in Japan!

Famous Enoden's Kamakura Station terminal building

On the way back, you can take Shinkansen from JR Shin-yokohama Station. This terminal building is relatively new, which was rebuilt in 2008.

There are many shops and restaurants in the new terminal building CUBIC PLAZA Shin-yokohama

The Shin-yokohama Station I knew ten years ago no longer exists. Uniqlo? Takashima-ya? Time flies!

In late February, I could no longer wait for spring in snowy Fukui. I decided to visit Kamakura, where spring must have come already. When I checked, I found I needed to change trains three times. Still, nothing could quench my strong desire to feel spring with my whole body! First, I took an express train from JR Fukui Station, then changed trains at Maibara, and took the Shinkansen Hikari (bullet train) bound for Tokyo. Next, I changed trains at Odawara Station where a famous express train 'Odoriko' awaited me. Then I changed trains once again at JR Ofuna Station. for the final leg of my journey, a local train to Kamakura. When I arrived, the sun had already set and the night was dark. I took a cab to head for a hotel I booked for the occasion, Kamakura Prince Hotel.