Enoshima

Enoshima (江の島) is a small offshore island, about 4 km in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to the Katase section of that city by a 600-metre-long (2,000 ft) bridge. Home to some of the closest sandy beaches to Tokyo and Yokohama, the island and adjacent coastline are the hub of a local resort area.

For the Odakyu Romancecar train, see Enoshima (train).
Enoshima
Enoshima yacht harbor
Aerial photograph - Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and National Transport, Land Image Information (2009)
Looking towards Fujisawa from Enoshima Lighthouse
Viewed from Miura Peninsula.
Enoshima Shrine
Iwaya Caves

History

Classical era

Benzaiten, the goddess of music and entertainment, is enshrined on the island. The island in its entirety is dedicated to the goddess, who is said to have caused it to rise from the bottom of the sea in the sixth century.[1] The island is the scene of the Enoshima Engi, a history of shrines on Enoshima written by the Japanese Buddhist monk Kōkei in 1047 AD.

Modern era

In 1880, after the Shinto and Buddhism separation order of the new Meiji government had made the land available, much of the uplands was purchased by Samuel Cocking, a British merchant, in his Japanese wife's name. He developed a power plant and extensive botanical gardens including a very large greenhouse. Although the original greenhouse was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the botanical garden (now the Samuel Cocking Garden) remains an attraction with over half a million visitors a year.

  • Gallery
  • "Enoshima in the Sagami Province" by Hokusai (part of the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), circa 1930
  • Pilgrimage to the Cave Shrine of Benzaiten by Hiroshige Ando (c. 1850)
  • Enoshima by Yuichi Takahashi. Between 1876 and 77.
  • Photograph by Kimbei Kusakabe. 1890s.
  • Lucky Gods' visit to Enoshima (1869)
  • The Seven Ri Beach

Contemporary era

Enoshima is now the center of Shōnan, a resort area along the coast of Sagami Bay.

Transportation

Enoshima is served by three nearby railway stations: Katase-Enoshima Terminus on the Odakyū Enoshima Line, Enoshima Station on the Enoshima Electric Railway ("Enoden"), and Shōnan-Enoshima Station on the Shonan Monorail.

Features
  • Enoshima Shrine
  • Iwaya Caves- it is formed by the erosion of waves in the ancient times. It had also been a place for Buddhist monks to train. The Iwaya caves consists of the First Cave (153m in length) and the Second Cave (56m in length). These caves can be entered by purchasing a ticket.[2]
  • Samuel Cocking Garden- located at the island's summit.
  • Enoshima Sea Candle- located within the Samuel Cocking Garden.

Sport

Enoshima was the Olympic harbor for the 1964 Summer Olympics.[3] Enoshima will also be the sailing venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[4]

Accessibility

While the bridge and town area of Enoshima are wheelchair accessible, anything past the main gate of the shrine (including the observation tower, caves, etc.) is inaccessible to those with mobility difficulties.[5]

Notes
  1. Papinot (1972:82)
  2. "About Enoshima - Kamakura Travel Guide | Planetyze". Planetyze. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  3. 1964 Summer Olympics official report. Archived July 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Volume 1. Part 1. p. 115.
  4. "東京五輪、26競技の会場決定　自転車・サッカー除き". Nihon Keizai Shimbun. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  5. "Enoshima - Accessible Japan | アクセシブルジャパン". Accessible Japan | アクセシブルジャパン. Retrieved 2018-04-12.

References
  • Papinot, E. (1910). Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. 1972 printing. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-8048-0996-8.
  • Sabin, Burritt (2002). A Historical Guide to Yokohama. Yokohama: Yurindo. ISBN 4-89660-172-6.

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