Kanagawa

A painted turtle with a green shell and a face looking straight out, on a gold-leaf panel set in a wooden coffered ceiling, with lines of black brush inscription on the right

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Okutsumiya: The Turtle Is Looking at You

Published: Oct 17, 2026

A wooden lattice with a small barred door filling an arched opening cut into a rock face, with stone steps in front and ferns at the edges

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Kōsokuji: The Temple Named After Its Jailer

Published: Oct 12, 2026

A grey stone statue of Benkei in a hood, seated at a stone desk with a brush in his hand and a scroll unrolled in front of him, under pine branches, beside a tall stone carved with the name of the Koshigoe letter

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Manpukuji: Yoshitsune’s Waiting Room

Published: Oct 12, 2026

A hill of tantan yakisoba on a square white plate, topped with mizuna, finely shredded white leek and shredded nori, with a heap of red pickled ginger at one side and reddish-brown sauce on the plate; a plate of gyoza behind

Kanagawa Food Story

Tantan Yakisoba: Yugawara’s Noodles Named for a Tanuki

Eaten at: Gyoza no Ichibantei, Yugawara (餃子の一番亭湯河原店／餃子のゆがわら一番亭)
Published: Oct 12, 2026

A row of stone kappa figures in pink aprons on stone pedestals under small wooden roofs, lining both sides of a garden path

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Jōsenji: The Head Priest Sends His Kappa

Published: Oct 10, 2026

Bronze relief panels on the Efudezuka at Egara Tenjin Shrine, each showing a kappa drawn by a different cartoonist

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Egara Tenjin Shrine: Where Cartoonists Retire Their Brushes

Published: Oct 3, 2026

A bronze female nude at the edge of the Enoshima fountain, with Benzaiten playing a lute and a dancer behind her and the bridge to the mainland beyond

Kanagawa Monuments

Enoshima’s Olympic Fountain: Five Rings, Five Women

Published: Oct 3, 2026

Kanagawa Food Story

Enoshima-don: Sea and Land, Strangers in a Bowl

Eaten at: Enoshimatei (江之島亭)
Published: Oct 2, 2026

The green bronze torii at the foot of the shopping street leading to Enoshima Shrine, with a crowd of visitors passing beneath it and wooded hills behind

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Enoshima’s Bronze Torii: A Gate from the Pleasure Quarter

Published: Oct 2, 2026

A weathered bronze dragon with antler-like horns and long whiskers, seen from below against a blue sky, its claws resting on rocks

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Wadatsumi-no-miya: The Dragon Moved Upstairs

Published: Oct 1, 2026

A wall of red wooden lion heads at Kamakura-gū, two large ones rising above hundreds of small ones

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Kamakura-gū Shrine: Let the Dish Take the Hit

Published: Sep 29, 2026

Front view of Deco Hachikō with a red heart-shaped nose, an H on its macaron collar and pink bows on its forelegs

Kanagawa Monuments

Deco Hachikō: The Other Shibuya’s Best-Dressed Dog

Published: Sep 28, 2026

Three paintings by Kayoko Murata depicting Kamakura’s Christian history behind a stone baptismal font.

Kanagawa Architecture

Yukinoshita Catholic Church: Kamakura’s Christians, Remembered in Paint

Published: Sep 26, 2026

Two large prawn tempura pieces covered with egg and onion over rice at Minemoto in Kamakura.

Kanagawa Food Story

Kamakura-don: Prawns Under an Egg Blanket

Eaten at: Minemoto, Komachi-dori branch (鎌倉峰本小町通り店)
Published: Sep 25, 2026

Thin sheets of soba over ice, topped with wasabi and radish sprouts at Minemoto in Kamakura.

Kanagawa Food Story

Soba Sashimi: Noodles in the Nude

Eaten at: Minemoto, Komachi-dori branch (鎌倉峰本小町通り店)
Published: Sep 25, 2026

An open box of ten Gongorō chikara mochi covered in sweet bean paste.

Kanagawa Food Story

Gongorō Chikara Mochi: A 300-Year Tradition, Best Eaten Today

Bought at: Chikaramochiya (力餅家)
Published: Sep 23, 2026

A giant ginkgo beside Goryō Shrine in Zushi, its roots spreading across the shaded grounds.

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Goryō Shrine: A Giant Ginkgo and the House That Moved Out

Published: Sep 20, 2026

Tokumori bara-don at Sato no Udon in Fujisawa, with glazed pork belly and sesame seeds over shredded cabbage and rice.

Kanagawa Food Story

Bara-don: Fujisawa’s Pork Bowl from an Udon Shop

Eaten at: Sato no Udon, Fujisawa branch (里のうどん藤沢店)
Published: Sep 18, 2026

A close view of Koizumi Junsaku’s dragon painted across the Dharma Hall ceiling at Kenchōji Temple in Kamakura.

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Kenchōji Temple: A Dragon Worth Looking Up To

Published: Sep 16, 2026

Close view of a polished black stone stag beetle with fallen bamboo leaves on its back at Mushizuka, Kenchōji Temple.

Kanagawa Monuments

Mushizuka: Where Insects Get Some Respect

Published: Sep 15, 2026

Kenchinjiru set at Tenshin-an in Kita-Kamakura, with an amber bowl of vegetable soup and two nori-wrapped rice balls.

Kanagawa Food Story

Kenchinjiru: Soup Lessons from the Zen Temple Next Door

Eaten at: Tenshin-an (点心庵)
Published: Sep 12, 2026

Red gateway of Kōkōdō tunnel in Kamakura, with faded food signs and a dark pedestrian passage beneath the rock.

Kanagawa Architecture

Kōkōdō: A Delicious-Looking Shortcut

Published: Sep 10, 2026

Dark entrance to Taya Cave at Jōsenji Temple, framed by greenery and pale hydrangeas.

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Taya Cave: A Pilgrimage by Candlelight

Published: Sep 8, 2026

A large dinosaur model with bared teeth in foliage inside Ancient Restaurant Dinosaur in Yamato.

Kanagawa Restaurants

Ancient Restaurant Dinosaur: A Modern Meal in the Jurassic

Permanently closed

Published: Sep 5, 2026

Vanilla Gyo-ice with fish powder, wasabi and a fish-bone cracker.

Kanagawa Food Story

Horohoro-don and Gyo-ice: There’s No Escaping Fish, Even at Dessert

Eaten at: Enoshima Koya (江ノ島小屋)
Published: Sep 4, 2026

Five-step Petitcalator escalator in the basement of Kawasaki More’s, the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s shortest escalator.

Petitcalator: The World’s Shortest Escalator

Published: Aug 29, 2026

White fox statue leaning over dark volcanic rock, with several other foxes and a small shrine behind it at Keihin Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Keihin Fushimi Inari Shrine: 108 Foxes and a Little Mount Fuji

Published: Aug 27, 2026

Reclining stone cat on top of the Nekozuka memorial in Yokohama.

Kanagawa Monuments

Nekozuka: A Small Memorial to a Very Loyal Cat

Published: Aug 27, 2026

Japanese-style Catholic church with a tiled roof, white plaster walls and timber framing in Katase near Enoshima.

Kanagawa Architecture

Katase Catholic Church: The Church That Looks Like a Temple

Published: Aug 27, 2026

Ofuna Kannon rising above the approach steps at Ofuna Kannonji Temple in Kamakura.

Kanagawa Temples & Shrines

Ofuna Kannon Temple: A Giant Kannon, from the Shoulders Up

Published: Aug 25, 2026