Travel Tuesdays #25 To Enoshima, Japan & The Iwaya Caves!

I have lived in Tokyo off and on for almost 20 years and I have never gone to Enoshima island. I decided to take a day off the other week and fix that. Unfortunately, I went during the start of a historic heat wave in Japan, but I still had a very memorable time. Here's how it went.

Enoshima is a small island located in Fujisawa city in the Sagami Bay. It's just over an hour south by train from Shinjuku or Hachioji. The trip costs about $10 one way.

The island sits 600m (2000') offshore and is connected to the mainland by a bridge. It has been the home to the Buddhist goddess Benzaiten since around the 10th century and there are many shrines there dedicated to her. It is also home to botanical gardens, a myriad of restaurants, inns and the Iwaya Caves. There is quite a lot of history to the island which I'm not going to get too much into because this post would turn into a month long project.

I arrived at about 11am, an hour late after taking the wrong Odakyu train and having to backtrack to Machida. The station was strangely small, and unimpressive for such a popular location.

From the station it is only about a 10-minute walk to get to the island. You first cross over the Sakai river and then go through a pedestrian tunnel under the coast highway. Then a bridge to the island. This short walk offers some nice opportunities to take pictures or a detour to the beach, which was very tempting.

Once across the bridge the fun begins. A narrow street leads you into the island core. This street is lined with gift shops, cafes, hotels and of course tourists! It is a picturesque street and what I think many foreigners think Japan at one time looked like.

There are several of these areas on the islands, almost like tiny towns, where you can stop to get a souvenir, food & drink or even stay the night. There are also personal residences which I was surprised to see. I wonder what it would be like to live on the island. Perhaps they are vacation homes?

Much of the island is dedicated to temples and a botanical garden which was built by a British merchant named Samuel Cocking. If you haven't heard of him I would suggest checking out his wiki page I linked.

The first temple has a very large gate at its entrance atop a flight of stairs. Speaking of stairs, there are a LOT of them as you walk around the island so be prepared!

You can either go into the temple or proceed along the road which leads you to the left side of the island. I didn't visit any of the temples as I wanted to visit the Iwaya Caves and walk around and take in the island. There are plenty of things to do without visiting the temples.

The backside of the temple as you walk up and around it.

Just passed the first temple there is a lookout point. From this spot, you can see the harbor below as you look east towards Kamakura and Yokosuka.

It was a good area to stop and drink an entire bottle of tea. I mentioned that this day was early into a record-breaking heatwave in Japan. At this point, the temperature had reached 37celsius, 99farenheit with high humidity. Luckily there was a vending machine nearby with cold drinks.

A few feet further up the road was this fence with locks attached to it. You see these types of things in Japan, notes, towels, etc. tied to fences. They represent wishes people make, often times couples wishing for love, money and/or good fortune. My wife and I did one with a towel at a temple when we were still dating. I think it worked!

After climbing several more flights of stairs you arrive at the summit. It is a much-welcomed relief after climbing so many stairs. This is a good place to take another rest!

On your left, there are look-out points and a restaurant that offers ice cream and cold drinks. On the straight ahead and to the right is the path to the botanical gardens and the Enoshima Sea Candle.

Both the botanical gardens and the Sea Candle cost money to enter, about $2-$3 each. I wanted to go to the Sea Candle, but I wasn't sure I had time so I continued on.

Before I continued though I grabbed a picture of the backside of the island from the lookout point. You are looking southeast across the Pacific Ocean.

The nice thing is from this point you start descending down the back of the island.

I regret not trying this out. Next time for sure!

A dilapidated, closed hotel.

Just before arriving at the last, long flight of descending stairs there is another temple/shrine complex. There are about 4 shrines here and one of the creepiest statues I have seen in Japan.

That statue haunts me to this day.

Quickly moving along you finally reach the last staircase! It's a long one though. The temperature immediately decreased in this area as there was a good breeze from the ocean.

Once down the stairs there is a public restroom where you can now vomit from the torturous hike and heat or, use the sinks to dip your head under to cool off. Whatever works.

You will also immediately notice giant, scurrying bugs. They look like miniature lobsters and I had to hop a bit to avoid stepping on them or letting them climb up my leg!

This one was about the size of my thumb and decided to pose for me.

Finally I made it to the tide pools and the Iwaya Caves.

Looking back.

There are 2 different caves. They were formed by the sea thousands of years ago by eroding softer rock and exposing already existing cracks. The caves cost about $3 to go into and I quickly paid the fee to get out of the heat.

After a short walk through the first cave entrance it opens up into a large cavern with a small pool full of fish and other creatures. This is the larger of the two caves and the more spectacular.

Taking the path to your left, deeper into the cave, there is a small table set up with employees handing out hand-held candles. I took one and continued on.

The further back you go into the cave the darker, wetter and lower the ceiling is. I was almost squatting as I made it to the end of the cave. It wasn't really the end though. The cave continued on, but it was too small for a tourist to pass through.

As you head back to the entrance there is an adjacent route that had a small shrine at the end of it.

It was incredibly uncomfortable in there so I quickly headed back out and over to the second cave.

The second cave was quite a bit shorter with a slumbering dragon at the end. For some reason, I forgot to take pictures of it though.

On the way out of the second cave there was a plaque mentioning a stone turtle in the water. Can you see it?

I left the caves and decided to explore the surrounding tide pools. At the exit, there was an old staircase that had been partially washed away. On the temporary fence handrail were pictures explaining that a few years earlier a typhoon ripped through the island and did heavy damage to the exterior of the caves and the walkways.

It's amazing how powerful nature is.

Walking around I found a nice tide pool. ​As I was trying to take a picture of it a young woman walked into the shot. At first I was a bit annoyed, but when I got home and saw the picture on my computer I was pleasantly surprised​. It turned out to be an awesome photo, probably the best of the day. Yes, I know the horizon is not level.

I continued to explore this area, slipping a few times on the slimy rocks​ when I came across this guy. He had a drone submarine he was playing with.

Before heading back I grabbed one more photo looking back towards Fujisawa city and the bridge to the island. At this point,​ I noticed a small dock to the left of me. What I would later find out is it's a ferry point. You can take a ferry out to this side of the island if you don't want to hike/walk all the way. I would definitely​ recommend the hike though.

Finally it was time to head back. The walk/hike back was brutal. I drank 2 bottles of tea trying to stay cool. Everyone passing me was complaining of the heat while wearing pants, long-sleeved​ shirts etc. Go figure.

When I got back to the other side I broke down and grabbed an ice cream in an air-conditioned​ restaurant. It was a short reprieve​ from the heat.

Once back in Fujisawa city I did some exploring. The area is quite nice with a lot of modern mansions. I wouldn't mind living here!

There were also a lot of surf shops and American businesses like Volcom and Wahoos!

For some reason though, Wahoos was closed for the evening on a Friday at 7pm!! So I grabbed a beer, sat on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.

It was a fantastic day despite the heat. There is so much to do on Enoshima. I am looking forward to going back this fall to explore the temples, Sea Candle and many of the other things I missed. Until then, thanks for reading!

If you are in Japan or planning on visiting you might want to consider Enoshima.

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