Daibutsu Trail

photo by Syced · CC0

Three kilometres of woodland to the Great Buddha, closed by the typhoon until 2020.

You go in next to Jōchi-ji, in Kita-Kamakura, and come out behind the Great Buddha: in between are three kilometres of wooded ridge and no roads. Along the way you go down to Zeniarai Benten and Sasuke Inari without getting back onto the tarmac. ⚠️ The final stretch towards the Buddha is steep and signposting is scarce in the first half; in summer the narrow trail is crossed by the webs of jorō spiders.

It links Kita-Kamakura to the Great Buddha along the hills that enclose the city to the west, the same hills that made it defensible in the twelfth century. Typhoon Hagibis made it impassable in 2019 and it reopened in June 2020.

ℹ️ Free entry, no ticket. The published figures vary with the end points: about three kilometres and an hour and a half according to the Kamakura tourist association, which starts from Kita-Kamakura Station and ends at Hase Station; sixty to ninety minutes according to japan-guide, which measures from Jōchi-ji to the Great Buddha. ⚠️ Only in dry weather and with proper shoes: after rain the ground is not safe. No facilities along the route.

🚉 Kita-Kamakura · 10 min walk

Sources: trip-kamakura.com · japan-guide.com · kanpai-japan.com

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