Kanagawa Travel Guide

A tidal island connected to the mainland by a 600-metre bridge, sacred to Benzaiten (the goddess of everything that flows — music, water, time). The island rises 60 metres with a pagoda, sea caves, and a lighthouse park offering Mt Fuji views on clear days. The approach street (Benzaiten Nakamise) is lined with shirasu (whitebait) restaurants.

Japan's most popular weekend escape from Tokyo — 17 distinct hot spring areas around Lake Ashi and Mt Hakone with 100+ ryokan ranging from budget minshuku to legendary kaiseki establishments. The Hakone Free Pass covers the romance car train, ropeway, pirate ship on the lake, and open-air museum — all with Mt Fuji visible on clear days.

Japan's first open-air art museum — 120 sculptures by Moore, Rodin, Picasso, and Miro displayed across 7 hectares of mountain landscape, with Mt Hakone visible behind. The Picasso Pavilion houses the world's largest Picasso collection outside Spain. An outdoor foot spa of volcanic hot spring water flows through the centre of the grounds.

Japan's second-largest bronze Buddha (13.35m) has sat in the open air since its covering hall collapsed in a 1498 tsunami — and the sea salt and centuries have given it extraordinary patina. Nearby Hase-dera temple has 10,000 hydrangeas on the hillside and a sea-view cave of Kannon statues that defines Kamakura.

The Kamakura Hiking Course connects Kencho-ji, Zuisen-ji, Egara-tenjin, and Kakuon-ji through forested ridgelines above the medieval city — a 10km trail with Mt Fuji views at the highest points. Kamakura was Japan's capital 1185–1333, and the trails pass genuine 13th-century stone Buddhas carved directly into cliff faces.

A rugged Pacific coastline an hour from Tokyo with cliffs, hidden coves, and the Aburatsubo Marine Park. Miura is Japan's top producer of daikon radish and one of the nation's finest sources of bluefin tuna — the tuna festival at Misakiko Port (October) is a rare chance to buy whole-fish portions at near-wholesale prices.

The castle that withstood Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, and even Toyotomi Hideyoshi's massive invasion forces — only to surrender to Tokugawa Ieyasu without a battle. The Hojo clan's seat of power for 100 years, it has a beautifully reconstructed keep surrounded by 360 cherry trees visible from the Shinkansen.

A 175,000-square-metre garden in Yokohama housing 10 historic buildings relocated from Kyoto, Kamakura, and Nara — including a genuine 500-year-old three-storey pagoda and a Rinshunkaku villa. Built by Yokohama silk merchant Hara Sankei in 1906, it remains the finest privately built garden in eastern Japan.

Japan's largest Chinatown — 600 restaurants and shops packed into 10 blocks founded in 1859 when Yokohama became the first port open to foreign trade. The four ornate gates mark each entrance, and the Kanteibyo (Guan Yu temple) at the centre blazes with incense. The weekend dim sum queues rival Hong Kong's finest.

Yokohama's waterfront district built on reclaimed land around the historic Red Brick Warehouse (Akarenga) — a 1911 customs facility turned shopping and event space. The Landmark Tower (Japan's second-tallest), Cup Noodle Museum, and Yamashita Park connect along a promenade with the best harbour skyline in Japan.