Some days in Japan one adventure would lead to the next… and then lead to the next. What started out as a rather simple excursion turned into quite an adventure on this specific day. The original plan was to go to Enoshima Island. This can be reached by either train or by car. In our case, we took the car. The day was beautiful as we drove up to the island. We had previously passed it when visiting the Hakone volcano. The drive was plenty and we arrived and found a parking place fairly easily before other tourists and travelers did.
Enoshima
Within minutes, we were walking around enjoying the ocean views of Mount Fuji, the street market, and behind that the first of several shrines on the Island. We would see many of them throughout the course of the morning adventure. But first, it was time for a snack. In this case, it was one of the more interesting snacks I had during this trip. Along the street market, there was a station where you ordered through what looked like a vending machine. From this, you received a ticket and this location would make your order. Our order this time around was for an octopus cracker. This was a fascinating thing. It looked like three small octopus were picked and then put on a grill that was made of two plates. These two plates squished the octopus at great pressure while also cooking the octopus. From some quick research, it appears that the octopus is cooked at 365°F and receives 1 ton of pressure! It really was interesting to watch. The resulting cracker was also interesting to look at and interesting to eat. My first observation about the cracker was how big it was! I then was shocked at how much of a cracker texture it had. It broke like a cracker and we shared it. My nephews, niece, and sister all really seemed to enjoy it. I did too. It didn’t have a super strong flavor. The octopus could be tasted and there was a tiny bit of chewiness. Overall, it was a decent snack. I probably would have preferred it in the afternoon over the morning but… I understand that the line for this particular snack gets crazy busy in the afternoon!
Having consumed our octopus cracker, we started to make our way up the hill that was in the center of Enoshima. Enoshima had the most stairs in any one adventure we took during my trip to Japan. To say there were a lot of stairs would be the biggest understatement. There is the option to pay for escalators but why would we do that!? There are several shrines building found on Enoshima that make up Enoshima Shrine. We got my goshuincho stamped here before continuing up the side of the hill. There were quite a few steps but I had no clue how many we would be tackling before the end of the day. The top of the hill has an observation tower rising into the sky known as the Sea Candle but, we’ll come back to that later. Nearby, there was also a Buddhist temple as well. However, that wasn’t our destination at the time.
Our destination was on the far side of the hill and had a LOT of steps to climb down, now that we had reached the top. Along the way, we discovered some fun sights, including more temple buildings and also what they call the Love Bell. According to tradition, couples ring the bell together and write their names on the locks that they leave attached to the fence. This tradition connects to a legend related to the island. This legend is why we were headed to the far side of the island.
The legend of Enoshima revolves around a goddess named Benzaiten and a five-headed dragon named Gozuryu. The story goes that the prehistoric village of Koshigoe was plagued by Gozuryu for a thousand years. During this time there were violent storms and relentless earthquakes. However, this all came to an end and the skies clouds cleared leading to a heavenly maiden coming down from the skies. Just before touching the surface of the water south of Koshigoe, an island rose out of the water to become her home. Legend has it that this island is Enoshima. This became the residence of the goddess Benzaiten who is the patron goddess of water, eloquence, music, and knowledge. This isn’t the end of the story, however. Gozuryu, the five-headed dragon, watched her arrival and fell madly in love with her, and asked her to marry him. There are different versions of how she reacted in this legend it appears. Some stories have her marrying him and he lays down and protects the island for all time. Another has her telling him she will only consider his proposal if he protects the people of Koshigoe. All versions have the five-headed dragon protecting the island and watching over his love Benzaiten after her arrival. This story is what led eventually to the Love Bell on top of the hill as well. It also was connected with the Dragon Caves, our destination on the far side of the island.
We continued down many many stairs and passed by some small businesses and residences as we made our way through the jungle and the far side of the island. The kids were amazing little hikers as we continued further and further through the jungle. Eventually, we reached the far side of the island and found people enjoying exploring tidal pools and fishing under the watch of Mount Fuji in the distance. The day was beautiful. Before exploring the tidal pools, we were headed for the Dragon Caves. Along the way to the Dragon Caves, we walked over a bridge that wrapped around the outside of the island. It was hard to not stop every five feet to take another picture as the whole area really was beautiful.
Eventually, we left the beautiful sunny day and entered the caves, known as the Iwaya Caves. There were plenty of places for photos here as well, but very different ones. We paid a small fee to enter the tunnel and began our exploration inside the island. As we made our way further into the darkness of the first caves, we came upon a small booth where candles (or battery-powered candles for the young ones) were handed out. On the candle was a picture of Benzaiten. These were originally part of a traditional pilgrimage but now appeared to be mostly for tourists. We continued deeper into the island. The ceiling of the tunnel got lower and lower the further we got in. This definitely had me stooping quite a bit and I was glad that this wasn’t a super long tunnel. The end of the tunnel had Buddhist shrines and a statue of the island’s goddesses. The second tunnel ended with a statue of the sun goddess Amaterasu, which is believed to be a direct ancestor of the current emperor. The experience felt like it could lead to an Indiana Jones-type adventure.
After returning our candles to the booth, we exited the first tunnel and headed to the second cave. This is where the dragon is located. In the back of this cave is a statue of a dragon. This is believed to be the dragon that guards the area since falling in love with Benzaiten. Clapping leads to lights flashing and the sound of thunder. It really was kind of fun, although it intimidated my nephew at first. However, he overcame this fear and helped me shoot a video of the dragon being brought to life with his claps. I did have to wonder why there was only one head on this five-headed dragon but I still really enjoyed getting to see it. As we made our way out of the caves, we passed an inscribed stone in a pool of water. I’m not sure what it was for but it was very peaceful and beautiful.
Back outside, we returned to the rocky coast where there were plenty of fishermen and also tourists enjoying the beautiful day and the gorgeous view of Mount Fuji. My nephews enjoyed exploring the tidal pools as they found fish and crabs. I enjoyed taking pictures of the area from different angles. It was about this time, we started realizing that we were hungry and had quite the climb ahead of us. After a few more pictures of Mount Fuji, it was time for the climb.
The climb back up the hill was quite the climb. There were a LOT of stairs. While they were well-made and stable, they were definitely steep. We pushed our way back up the hill and definitely were sweating a bit by the time we reached the top where we arrived at the Sea Candle. This observation tower stands nearly 200 feet tall and has two observation decks. There is one that is inside and one that is outside. After paying to go up in the tower, we took an elevator to the top. Once at the first observation deck, the lower one that was inside, we had beautiful views of the area. It was a bit daunting as the tower could be felt slightly moving in the wind. This probably was because it was made to be safe during an earthquake. We then made our way to the top deck that was outside and had more beautiful views. One could imagine someone sitting up there and painting the coastline and Mount Fuji as the view was simply incredible. However, everyone was getting hungry so we decided to make our way back down to find some food.
Back on the ground, we made our way through the gardens and then back down the hill (of course taking more pictures along the way). Finally, we were back in the car and ready to go find some food. This ended up not being as easy as we thought it would be, ultimately leading to us enjoying lunch from 7-11 (thank heavens for 7-11 in Japan!). This ended the first part of our adventure for the day, an adventure that we kept adding to. There was plenty of day left so we figured, why not!? We did have a few options, however. The original idea was if there was enough time to visit an ancient Japanese village and see more views of Mount Fuji. However, time and weather didn’t seem to be in our favor with this. This led to my sister coming up with a unique and beautiful idea that I don’t think was originally on our list of adventures we wanted to experience. She suggested driving down the coast to the Jogasaki Coast on the Izu Peninsula. This sounded like it could be cool, so with 7-11 in hand, we started the drive!
Jogasaki Coast on the Izu Peninsula
The drive down the coast to the Jogasaki Coast on the Izu Peninsula was really a pretty one. As we made our way along the shoreline, I was struck by how close the road was to both the ocean and to the cliffs. My sister told me about driving this road for the first time when it was dark. It sounded terrifying. As we drove, we were aware that we were up against the clock a bit. The sun goes down earlier in Japan in November than I was used to. The goal was to reach the Izu Peninsula before sunset. There were some really pretty towns and vistas as we made our way along the coast. The road was not a big one and it continued to wind its way around and through the mountains (there were a lot of tunnels). Finally, as the day was starting to show signs of fading, we arrived at our destination.
The Izu Peninsula has some incredible views that reminded me of some of the locations that James Bond would visit in some of the movies. The colors were gorgeous, the coastline rugged, and the sun was giving indications that it could be quite the sunset. However, before things got too dark, we wanted to check out the Kadowaki Suspension Bridge. The Kadowaki Suspension Bridge is nearly 160 feet long and is about 75 feet above the water below. After parking and then passing the Kadowaki Lighthouse, we made our way to the suspension bridge and crossed it. The views were stunning. As the sun hung low behind us, we enjoyed seeing the rugged Jogasaki coast and an island out in the sea. It was absolutely beautiful. We took plenty of photos of the area and of us above the ocean before returning to the suspension bridge to go and watch the sunset on the other side of the peninsula.
We hiked around some trails to find the best location, which ended up being on a point that was fairly near the lighthouse. The sunset was a beautiful gold one that’s beauty a picture simply couldn’t capture. Between the beautiful sunset, the crashing waves below, and the forest that covered this area, it really was an incredible place to watch a sunset. While this apparently is a known tourist stop, the whole area was fairly quiet. We explored the area and took pictures from several different locations. It was simple and it was lovely. Finally, the sun decided to say goodnight and we decided to make our trek back.
The first part of the drive back wasn’t dark, and this was a good thing. This was the part of the drive that was precarious and close to the edge. I could just imagine cars going off the edge of the road and never being heard of again. Thankfully, nothing like that happened for us. We crossed bridges, went through tunnels, and enjoyed seeing the beautiful reflections on the ocean from cities across the way as we continued back toward “home.” For dinner, we stopped at a McDonald’s and got it to go. This was one of two McDonald’s experiences we had on this trip. Neither of them blew me away. Unlike my experience in France where I thought McDonald’s was better than in the United States, this was not the same. In fact, it might have been one of the only things I didn’t think was better in Japan versus the United States in terms of food. However, it did the trick and we were fed and continued the drive. As we drove, we talked about the day’s adventures. At some point, we brought up the idea of stopping by Odawara Castle.
Odawara Castle
Odawara Castle is found unsurprisingly in Odawara City. The current donjon or keep was reconstructed in 1960 on the remains of the former donjon. Odawara was originally built in the mid-15th century. It changed hands through the years and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1703, and then rebuilt shortly after. However, in 1870 the Donjon and other buildings were dismantled and sold. The castle that was rebuilt in 1960 was based on drawings and models from the Edo Period. As time went by, the three major gates leading up to the castle were also restored.
By the time we arrived at Odawara Castle, it was very dark. Because of this, parking was not a problem. As we wandered around the outside of the castle grounds, we wondered how much we would be able to see. It was still early evening, but it was dark and the grounds seemed deserted. As we strolled along, we came across one of the main gates and entered it. The area was really quite beautiful and peaceful. We slowly made our way further into the grounds and took pictures of the architecture, that thankfully had been lit up at night.
As we made our way to the donjon, we could hear laughter coming from the otherwise empty grounds. It wasn’t even 8:00 PM we realized and so it wasn’t as odd for people to be out as it felt. With how empty the area was, it felt like it was midnight or something. We finally found ourselves up by the donjon and it really was impressive as it towered into the night. While we couldn’t go into it because it was after hours, it still was a pretty impressive experience.
After checking out the main building, we slowly made our way around the walls toward another one of the main gates to exit. It really was impressive seeing how large everything was and imagining the history that took place within the walls that were once there. The moat just added to the magic of the night as it brought the stories of the past to life in our imaginations. After taking some more photos at one more gate, we strolled back to the car to make the trek back home. At this point, our energy was starting to fade, and heading back seemed like a very good idea.
The drive was lovely and the night was beautiful. Once again the lights of different cities were reflecting on the water. They really were lovely in the darkness of the night. The next day was going to be a day to recover as everyone was exhausted from all of the adventures of the day that made so many memories.
This was a fantastic day of adventure and I hope you enjoyed following along from it. The next adventure will see weather necessitating a change of plans. What did you think of this one? What was your favorite part? Have you been to any of these places? Share your thoughts, opinions, and experiences in the comments below!
