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14204 ／かまくらし

Kamakura City

A pond about 200 m long faced the hall.

Yofukuji ruins, Nikaido pond

Photo by Syced (CC0)

01 ／ Harbor

At low tide, a stone-piledharbor surfaces.

Harbor in Kamakura City — Photo by Tsuyoshi chiba (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The remains of a harbor built in the first year of Joei (1232), with a pier of piled cobblestones jutting out off Zaimokuza Beach. The city records that a monk petitioned the shogunate for an artificial island because boats were swept away on this shallow, wind-whipped coast.

National Historic Site (1968)
Harbor remains of Joei 1 (1232)
Designated area spans Kamakura City and Zushi City (national)

02 ／ Excavation

Excavation confirmed the Buddhahas kept its place and facing.

The Great Buddha hall has been reconstructed as a five-bay-square building. Excavation found the casting remains of the Great Buddha and the packed foundations for the stones, laid out in a square. No rebuilding is recorded after 1369, and a visitor in 1486 wrote that the Buddha sat in the open air.

National Historic Site (2004)
Five bays square, 145 shaku by 140 shaku (national)
Foundation packing about 3 m wide and 2 m deep (national)

03 ／ Valley

The head of the valley was cutflat from the late 13th century on.

Excavation showed that the valley was extensively graded from the late 13th century onward, with buildings on foundation stones and set posts raised on the flat ground. The city notes that a place where yagura caves and the flat ground survive together is rare even within the city. The provisional opening of February-March 2026 has ended; the next is undecided.

National Historic Site (2010)
Provisional opening ended 11 March 2026 (next undecided)
The Shakado cut-through is closed to passage (city)

Kamakura City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot November 2021)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

54 minutes from Tokyo, 46 from Shinagawa.

about 170,000 people
60 min to a city centre

On the JR Yokosuka Line, it is 54 minutes at the fastest from Tokyo and 46 from Shinagawa. From Shinjuku, the JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line takes 57 at the fastest (JR East timetable, October 2026). The city's guide gives about a 5-minute walk from the west exit of Kamakura Station to City Hall.

People living here: 172,710people
Area: 39.66km²
Households: 75,722households
Rent (average for rentals): 82,979yen
Healthcare: 12 hospitals ／ 184 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —26 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kamakura City in Japan35.319°N 139.547°E

to TokyoJR Yokosuka Line54min
to ShinagawaJR Yokosuka Line46min
to ShinjukuJR Shonan-Shinjuku Line57min

Travel times follow JR東日本の駅時刻表（timetables.jreast.co.jp）。東京駅「横須賀線横浜・鎌倉方面(下り)」(tt1039/1039130・1039131)・品川駅「横須賀線横浜・鎌倉方面(下り)」(tt0788/0788070・0788071)・新宿駅「湘南新宿ライン横浜・大船方面(南行)」(tt0866/0866090・0866091) の各列車の停車駅一覧(train/…)で、起点の発時刻と鎌倉の着時刻(鎌倉は発着どちらか)の差を、平日ダイヤ・土曜休日ダイヤの両方で全列車について数え、小さいほうを採った。時刻表の版は URL の 2610（2026年10月）。 (checked 2026-10-21). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Kamakura City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

7.6km

Yokohama City, Fujisawa City, Zushi City

Kamakura City isthis kind of town.

01Yofukuji ruins in Nikaido, Kamakura, are a nationally designated historic site: the remains of a temple modeled on one in Hiraizumi. Its main hall was two-storied, and the place name Nikaido is said to come from that hall's name. A garden pond about 200 m long was made before the hall
02Wakaejima, off Zaimokuza Beach, is the nationally designated site of a harbor, and the Great Buddha hall site in Hase is also a national historic site. The Buddha sits in the open air, and the national commentary records no rebuilding of the hall. On a ridge in Gokurakuji, the national historic site Isshomasu also has a square earthwork enclosure
03Omachi Shakadoguchi site, a national historic site, is a flat area and a group of yagura caves at the head of the Nagoegayatsu valley; its provisional opening has ended. Kamakura has temples and shrines such as Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Kenchoji and Engakuji, and Kamakura Station is 54 minutes from Tokyo at the fastest

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kamakura City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes