The day after we returned from our 2026 Tanaka-Evans Washington Vacation, we took a trip down to Enoshima to visit with some friends who came from America. We don’t do a lot of domestic travel in Japan, and so this was a good opportunity for us to go somewhere we haven’t been before.

Saturday, July 12th

We took a train to Enoshima, and transferred to a suspended monorail, after which we had a short walk to the AirBnB. We didn’t get in until later in the afternoon, so figured we would play dinner by ear.

It turns out that Saturday was the start of a festival in the local area – I didn’t know what it was, though I did look it up at the time and saw it was a local temple thing.

The festival was held on the famous Enoshima train tracks, well, really the Main Street which the train happens to run down, which is very interesting. Every once in a while, everyone had to clear out of the road (including portable shrines!) and the train would go by.

We wandered around, looking for stalls that sell food, but there weren’t any of the usual festival stalls around. We stopped at one of the restaurants on the shopping street and got some food, and then afterwards we went down to the beach just to check that out.

Sunday, July 13th

On Sunday, our plan was to relax at the beach. The festival continued, but we headed out a bit early (around 8am) so people were just setting up, and nothing was in full swing yet.

We walked down to the beach, and rented a spot in a “beach house” – not really a house. You pay like 2000 yen, and then get a seat in the shade, access to their showers and changing rooms, and so on. The place sells food and drinks, and is a great way to spend time on the beach and not worry about getting sunburned.

Eric’s father-in-law Ned was there, and Ned and I spent most of our time in the shade while everyone else went down to play in the ocean. I really enjoyed this day at the beach – I didn’t have to worry about getting sunburned, was able to have nice conversation with people, had a great view of the ocean, and could relax. This is definitely how I’m doing the beach in the future.

As the day went on, the beach started to get busier, with more people, boats, windsurfers, and so on.

Different groups were running back and forth with all the shells and wildlife they discovered. The kids definitely had lots of fun. I think some of the adults did as well.

Monday, July 14th

Lisa and Momo went back home on Sunday since Momo had school on Monday. Alan and I stayed for some additional sightseeing with our friends. The first stop was the Big Buddha (大仏) at Kamakura. That’s always fun.

After that we took the bus to Hokokuji temple, which is well-known for its beautiful bamboo grove. We walked the grounds, which are amazing, and stopped for a green tea at the temple grounds viewing the bamboo grove. I really enjoyed this stop – it’s less well-known, and a bit harder to get to (you take a bus) but worth a visit in my opinion.

We had a nice sushi lunch, and then headed back to Enoshima to check out the Enoshima Sea Candle. It was quite a walk up the mountain! You can pay a fee to take some escalators, but it is probably worth the walk to make experience feel earned.

By the time we climbed down, it was dark. We found a place for dinner, and then went back to our AirBnB.

Tuesday, July 15th

Tuesday was our travel day back to Tokyo, but our friends were interested in taking a Shinkansen while they were in Japan. From Enoshima that isn’t really easy to do, but we decided it would be fun to take a local train to Odawara (about an hour and a half), visit Odawara Castle, and then take the Shinkansen two stops to Shinagawa from there (about 40 minutes).

Odawara Castle was really nice! It is a pretty easy day trip from Tokyo, especially if you take the Shinkansen. We got back in the evening, and ended our domestic trip in Japan.

It’s been a good summer so far!