A Trip to Kamakura from Fukui

Changing trains to get to Kamakura in search of spring!

Takako Sakamoto Mar 13, 2015 - 1 min read

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

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

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

<p>Long cars of the Shinkansen (bullet train) stopping at Maibara</p>

<p>At JR Maibara Station, take the Shinkansen Hikari bound for Tokyo</p>

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

<p>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!</p>

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

<p>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)</p>

<p>The west entrance of JR Kamakura Station</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>Famous Enoden's Kamakura Station terminal building</p>

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

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

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

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.

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...