Guidebooks and travel websites love Kamakura.

This seaside city to the south of Tokyo is probably most famous for its giant Buddha statue:

Since it was the political center of Japan during the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, there are a ton of cool shrines and temples in Kamakura.

Chances are you'll be surrounded by tourists when you go. I always am, at least:

Touristy stuff, aside, I love Kamakura. In particular, I love Kita-Kamakura.

北 (きた) means "north," so technically that's "North Kamakura."

鎌倉（かまくら // Kamakura）
北鎌倉（きたかまくら // Kita-Kamakura）

It's about a 45-minute train ride from Shinagawa Station to Kita-Kamakura Station:

There are a couple of reasons that I enjoy going to Kita-Kamakura.

The first is that the temples have more trees than tourists.

Kamakura itself is typically overflowing with tourists. But if you go at the right time, you'll find yourself alone, or nearly alone, quite a bit as you wander the ancient hilly paths of Kita-Kamakura.

If possible, I highly recommend going in June, as you'll likely be surrounded by beautiful hydrangeas everywhere you turn.

My pictures don't do it justice. This one that I saw on Travelience does:

That photo was apparently taken at Meigetsuin, also known as Hydrangea Temple (Ajisai-dera).

アジサイ means "hydrangea" in Japanese, by the way.

I'd say Meigetsuin is worth a visit:

It's only about a 10-minute walk from Kita-Kamakura Station.

If you're like me, though, you won't look at any maps. You'll just show up at Kita-Kamakura Station and start walking. Yeah, maybe you'll miss some gems. But there's something magical about stumbling onto a beautiful place unexpectedly.

A couple of times, though, I've wandered too much and almost gotten lost:

↑ That's my former coworker, Jeremy. He was leaving Japan, so we decided to take a little walking tour of Kamakura. It was pouring rain, and at this point we had followed a path at the back of a temple a bit too far into the hills. Luckily, we found our way back... soaking wet.

At the very right of this photo, you can vaguely make out the path we'd followed:

Some other random pictures I've taken while wandering around Kita-Kamakura:

Probably worth a visit, yeah?

If you're organized, you can actually follow a hiking trail from Kita-Kamakura to the Giant Buddha Statue:
- Kamakura Hiking Trails (Japan Guide)
- Kita-Kamakura Hike to Big Buddah (Daibutsu) (TripAdvisor)
- Daibutsu Hiking Course (Rough Guides)
- Kamakura's Trail of Treasures (NY Times)

If you find that you still have some energy after your long walk from Kita-Kamakura to Kamakura proper, you can try moving on to Enoshima, taking the Enoden Line. Then you can use the Shonan Monorail on the way back to Tokyo. We talked about both of these trains here: [NDL #692] - Activities: Trains.

Jeremy and I opted to go to Yokohama Chinatown and get down on some all-you-can-eat Chinese goodness:

Hope you enjoy Kamakura, fellow traveler.

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Useful Japanese

すいません、大仏ハイキングコースはどこですか？
すいません、　だいぶつ　ハイキング　コース　は　どこ　です　か？
Excuse me, where is the Daibutsu Hiking Course?
Literally: “excuse me, + Daibutsu (=Great Buddha) + hiking + course + は + where + です + か?”

明月院［あじさい寺］に行きたいんですが、どう行けばいいですか？
めいげついん　［あじさいでら］　に　いきたい　んです　が、　どう　いけば　いい　です　か？
I'd like to go to Meigetsuin [Hydrangea Temple]. Could you tell me how to get there?
Literally: “Meigetsuin + [Hydrangea Temple] + に + want to go + んです + が, + how do I get there (=how + if [I] go + good + です + か)?”

あ～、疲れた。あのカフェで休憩しない？
あ～、　つかれた。　あの　カフェ　で　きゅうけい　しない？
Aaahh, I'm tired. Want to take a break at that cafe?
Literally: “aaahh, + got tired. + that + cafe + で + resting / taking a break + won't do?”