Though very popular with the locals, the island of Enoshima and its neighboring quaint beach town are easy to miss. Overshadowed by alternatives like Kyoto or nearby Kamakura, the area is actually of great historical significance. While Enoshima is mostly known for its bustling beach culture now, the area was actually a very popular pilgrimage during the Edo period (1603–1868).
The beauty of the island has been captured by artists like the famous artist Hiroshige. Central to the island allure is the tale of the goddess Benzaiten and the five-headed dragon Gozuryu. In this article we will be following the roots of this legend. After much exploration I have managed to narrow the entire journey down to a one-day excursion. Nevertheless, this itinerary leaves little room for dilly-dallying. If you’d rather enjoy the slower pace of life, I highly suggest completing the entire journey over the course of two days.
The written backbone for this legend is the Enoshima Engi, a folklore chronicle compiled in 1047 by the Tendai monk Kokei. Its stories explain both the birth of Enoshima and the older mythology of nearby Koshigoe. According to the chronicle, the village endured roughly 1,000 years of terror at the hands of Gozuryu, a five-headed dragon that preyed on the people living there. One particularly grim part of the tradition holds that the dragon devoured local children. Even the old kanji once associated with Koshigoe, commonly interpreted along the lines of “child-death-overcome,” became tied to that part of the tale.
The story changes when the region is struck by violent storms and earthquakes. Amid the upheaval, a heavenly maiden descends from the sky as an island rises from the sea to become her home. That island is Enoshima, and the maiden is Benzaiten, the goddess associated with water, eloquence, music, and knowledge. Gozuryu watches her arrival and falls in love with her. The dragon that had tormented Koshigoe then approaches Benzaiten and asks her to marry him, setting up the bargain at the center of the Enoshima Engi.
Benzaiten refuses Gozuryu’s proposal unless he first changes his ways and protects the people of Koshigoe. The dragon accepts, reforms, and becomes a guardian of the same region he had terrorized, while the land is said to prosper under the protection of both deities. When Gozuryu eventually dies, he lies down near Fukazawa, now part of Kamakura, with a body so enormous that his head reaches the site of today’s Ryuko-ji. Tradition holds that the hills stretching between Kamakura and Enoshima still trace the shape of that fallen dragon. The route ahead follows that legend across the actual landscape.
How to Get There
For most travelers coming from central Tokyo, the fastest approach is Katase-Enoshima Station, reached from Shinjuku by combining the Shonan-Shinjuku Line with the Odakyu Line. As you’ll see in a service like Jorudan, another option is to ride the Yokosuka Line to Ofuna Station and transfer to the suspended Shonan Monorail for Shonan-Enoshima Station, where railfans are often busy photographing the unusual train. Two transport passes are worth knowing before setting out. The Odakyu Enoshima-Kamakura Freepass costs about 1,640 yen from Shinjuku and covers the Odakyu portion plus local travel, while the Enoden one-day Noriorikun costs 800 yen. Which one makes sense depends on how much of Kamakura and Enoshima you plan to combine.
The legend-first route starts with a station that now participates in the mythology itself. Katase-Enoshima Station was rebuilt between 2018 and 2020 in an elaborate Ryugu-jo style, expanding the building ahead of the crowds expected for the Tokyo Olympic sailing events. The design draws on the dragon-palace imagery of Ryujin and makes the mythological theme visible before the shoreline is even in view. That is useful context even if you ultimately begin in Kamakura instead. For anyone intent on following the Enoshima Engi from its roots rather than simply reaching the island as quickly as possible, the longer approach starts farther east.
If you’re interested in fully pursuing the Enoshima Engi legend, I suggest starting your travels in Kamakura. The station can be reached via the aforementioned Yokosuka line from either Tokyo or Shinagawa Station. This route will allow you to take the charming little Enoden Line to present-day Koshigoe where you can begin the journey at its roots. Should you opt to follow my advice, be sure to keep the mythology of the area in mind as you make your way towards Enoshima.
The Isle of Enoshima
Enoshima sits about a kilometer offshore and is connected to the mainland by Benten-bashi, literally the “Bridge of Benzaiten.” From the station side, the practical move is to duck under the main road and come up on the other side through a tunnel. Just be sure you’re on the right side as it is the only one with a pedestrian walkway. Once through, continue toward the water and the long crossing to the island. The adjacent road bridge has been closed to vehicles nightly from 22:00 to 5:00 since July 2024 following repeated noise complaints, although pedestrians can still make the crossing freely.
Once you reach the island you’ll have two options to explore. Immediately on your left there will be a number of restaurants and a path that leads toward the island’s marina. If you’re hungry, feel free to grab a bite but I suggest waiting until you’re deeper on the island. There are some venues with killer views if you hold off until you reach the other side of Enoshima. The marina beside this area is Enoshima Yacht Harbour, originally built for the 1964 Games and later used again for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic sailing events.
The main route instead pushes uphill through a bronze torii and onto Nakamise-dori, the busy shop-lined approach that leads toward Enoshima Shrine. Stalls and storefronts here lean heavily on local snacks and souvenirs, making this the island’s main commercial approach before the route begins climbing in earnest. Enoshima also has a small post office along the way, and it remains a functioning office serving the people who actually live on the island. Continue upward and the street eventually reaches the large vermilion torii marking the shrine entrance. Beside it sits the ticket counter for the Escar, Enoshima’s outdoor escalator system.
The Escar is the easier way up the front side of Enoshima and now costs a flat 500 yen for the full ascent, considerably less than the older roughly 1,000-yen pricing. It removes several long stair climbs, although the escalators only travel upward, so walking remains part of the day regardless. The trade-off is straightforward because the stairs pass more of the shrine approach and surrounding side paths. If it’s not the middle of summer and deadly hot out I suggest you skip the pass and just take the stairs. You will not only burn some calories but also get to see more of the area.
Enoshima’s Three Shrines
Enoshima Shrine is traditionally said to have been founded in 552, during the reign of Emperor Kinmei, when a sanctuary was established at the island’s cave. The institution visitors encounter today is not a single worship hall but a group of three shrines spread across the island: Hetsu-no-Miya, Nakatsu-no-Miya, and Okutsu-no-Miya. Each enshrines one of the three Munakata sister goddesses, Tagitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagirihime. Collectively, the sisters are worshipped here as the Enoshima deities. The route through the complex visits the shrines in sequence, which also means that the religious geography naturally pulls travelers from the busy front of Enoshima toward its cave-cut back side.
The Hojo clan is woven deeply into that religious history. Hojo Tokimasa, the first shikken, or regent, of the Kamakura shogunate, is said to have undertaken a 21-day retreat at Enoshima while praying for the fortune of his descendants. Tradition holds that a goddess appeared, foretold the future rule of his line, and vanished into the sea in serpent form, leaving behind three scales. Those scales became the basis for the Hojo mitsu-uroko, the three-scale crest that still appears around the island. When that triangular mark turns up along the route, it points back to both the Hojo and the serpent-dragon mythology. The earliest sanctuary itself stood in the erosion caves visited later in this journey.
The First Two Shrines
The first major stop is Hetsu-no-Miya, reached after climbing through Zuishinmon. The turret-like gate is modeled after Ryugu-jo, the mythical undersea palace of the dragon god Ryujin, so its shape deliberately echoes the same visual language used at Katase-Enoshima Station. Beyond it, the shrine precinct opens around Hetsu-no-Miya and several smaller features clustered nearby. A stone relief beyond the gate depicts Benzaiten with the dragon, again pulling the Enoshima Engi into the physical design of the site. The shrine itself is the first of the three main sanctuaries encountered on the standard route across Enoshima.
Hetsu-no-Miya is also where Enoshima Shrine becomes less of a single stop and more of a compact collection of small rituals, objects, and side attractions. None requires a major detour, but together they explain why simply riding the Escar to the top can skip more than a little of the island’s texture. Several features sit immediately around the shrine or just off the main approach, including purification rites, Benzaiten statuary, an unusual offertory, and a money-washing spot. They are easy to tackle in sequence before continuing uphill. The cluster includes the following:
- Purification Chinowa
A grass wheel located on the right side of the shrine. Users who pass through are said to be purified. Read here to learn the proper procedures. - Hoanden
Next to the shrine there is a special building dedicated to Benzaiten. Visitors can enter for a small fee of 200 yen. - An Odd Offertory
Hetsu-no-Miya has a rare coin pouch shaped offertory box. Most Shinto shrines use a standard cubic shaped box so this interesting quirk is unique to Enoshima. - Dragon’s Pond
As with the Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine in Kamakura, it is said that washing money and offering it to the goddess will double the amount donated. If you wish to give it a try, put your coins in the basket for washing then toss them into the offertory in the middle of the water.
From Hetsu-no-Miya, the route keeps climbing past flower gardens and a small turtle pond before turning toward the second main sanctuary. The ascent can be handled by stairs or another Escar segment, depending on how much climbing you have already volunteered for. Either way, the path steadily shifts away from the commercial bustle near Nakamise Street and deeper into the shrine complex. Nakatsu-no-Miya sits above the first precinct and announces itself with a much more decorative appearance than Hetsu-no-Miya. It is the next major religious stop before the route reaches the Samuel Cocking Garden and the higher central section of Enoshima.
Nakatsu-no-Miya is the most ornate of Enoshima Shrine’s three sanctuaries. It was founded in 853 by the monk Ennin, better known as Jikaku Daishi, then rebuilt in 1689 under the fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. A later restoration in the 1990s returned the shrine to the vivid vermilion appearance seen today. Nakatsu-no-Miya also has a long connection with kabuki, a relationship made visible at the entrance. The two stone lanterns standing there were donated by major theaters during the Edo period (1603–1868), linking the shrine not only to Enoshima’s religious history but also to the popular entertainment culture that helped draw visitors here.
The Sea Candle & the Deeper Island
Above Nakatsu-no-Miya sit the Samuel Cocking Garden and Enoshima Sea Candle, the observation tower that dominates the island’s skyline. From the upper area, views extend across the Shonan coast and, when conditions are clear, toward Mt. Fuji. The garden is free during daytime hours, roughly 9:00 to 17:00, while admission to the Sea Candle is about 800 yen and a combined garden-and-tower set runs around 1,100 yen. The complex changes character in winter. From late November through late February, the garden and tower host the Jewel of Shonan, an evening illumination spread across the upper island.
Continue beyond the observation area and the route starts feeling less like the front side of Enoshima. Sweet shops and souvenir stands remain scattered along the path, along with an old ryokan, but the dense shrine approach gradually gives way to exposed coastal geography. One of the key viewpoints is Yama-Futatsu, a deep cut in the island where erosion from Sagami Bay has eaten into the mountainside and left a deep valley between two ridges. Hawks frequently use the rising coastal air around this section. From here, the path continues toward the island’s final shrine precinct and the long descent to the Iwaya caves.
Near the top of this deeper section is a small ice cream shop that leans into flavors far removed from standard vanilla. Options have included oddities such as wasabi and Japanese mustard, making it an easy place to cash in some of the calories burned on the climb. If you have been taking the stairs, as per my advice, you have permission to indulge in whatever wacky options you feel like trying. I personally like the shirasu (whitebait) one! From there, continue along the ridge toward the older religious sites at the back of Enoshima.
The final main sanctuary is Okutsu-no-Miya, approached through an old stone torii that tradition attributes to the first Kamakura shogun in 1185. Benzaiten was once enshrined in this area during the summer months, reflecting the older relationship between the shrine complex and the caves farther below. Beside it stands Wadatsumi-no-Miya, a dragon shrine built in 1994 with a small cave that is usually open during the day. Nearby is Ryuren-no-Kane, the “Dragon’s Lover’s Bell”, installed in 1996. Couples ring the bell and attach padlocks nearby in a custom that recalls the Pont des Arts, with the act said to bind them together forever and echo the union at the center of the Enoshima legend.
Venturing Into Enoshima’s Caves
From the back of the island, the route finally descends toward the Iwaya caves. The steep approach passes several family-run shops and restaurants built along the cliff, some with balconies looking over Sagami Bay, making this a practical place to stop before or after the cave visit. Seafood dominates many menus in this part of Enoshima, with shirasu whitebait as the local specialty. Again try the shirasu whitebait which is a local specialty! After eating, keep heading downward toward the wave-cut rocks and the cave entrance. Hours vary seasonally, so this is one part of the route worth reconfirming before making the full descent.
The Iwaya caves have served as sacred spaces since ancient times and later became an important pilgrimage destination. They also appear in ukiyo-e by Hiroshige, showing how closely the caves were tied to Enoshima’s image long before modern tourism. Access was once restricted to religious pilgrims, although some visitors reportedly claimed devotional motives simply to get inside. Admission today is about 500 yen, and two main caves are open to visitors. Before entering, the stairway drops onto Chigogafuchi, the broad wave-cut rock shelf at the island’s rear, where geology, folklore, and the sea all meet in one compact stretch of coastline.
Chigogafuchi took on its present form after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 lifted this section of coastline by roughly a meter, exposing more of the rock terrace above the sea. Its name comes from a much older tragedy involving a chigo, or temple acolyte, named Shiragiku. According to the tale, Shiragiku drowned himself here after becoming the object of a monk’s unrequited infatuation. The story gives the rock shelf a darker origin than the dragon-and-goddess legend that dominates the rest of Enoshima. From Chigogafuchi, the route turns directly into the caves that preserve the island’s oldest sacred geography.
Inside the first Iwaya cave, an attendant provides a Benzaiten candle near the fork, and the low ceiling makes paying attention to your head more than a ceremonial suggestion. The left branch leads toward a crevasse traditionally said to connect with the “hole to hell” at the Narusawa Ice Cave near Mt. Fuji, while the right reaches the original site of Enoshima Shrine, where Benzaiten is believed to have first settled. A footbridge over the waves then carries visitors toward the second cave, passing a turtle-shaped rock carved by an Edo period (1603–1868) stonemason and said to be swimming back toward Ryujin’s palace. Deep inside waits a dragon statue with a small drum. Strike it twice, and if the dragon lights up twice in return, tradition says the wish is granted.
Other Nearby Attractions
Once the island’s shrines, caves, and dragon lore are behind you, either take the Benten-maru boat back toward the mainland or retrace the route on foot. The island portion ends there, but the full legend does not. Two additional sites connect the story back to the Kamakura side of the coast and to the final resting place traditionally associated with Gozuryu. Reaching both adds more transit and another climb to an already stair-heavy day, pushing the circuit well beyond a standard island visit. For anyone following the Enoshima Engi rather than just touring the island, however, they finish the geographic arc of the tale.
- Ryuko-ji
This Nichiren-sect temple in Katase stands on the former Tatsunokuchi execution ground, where Gozuryu is said to have rested his head after death. The site is better known historically for the Tatsunokuchi Persecution of 1271, when Nichiren narrowly escaped execution, while the temple itself was founded in 1337 by his disciple Nichido. It is an easy walk from Enoshima Station. - Ryuko-myo
This out-of-the-way shrine in the hills between Enoshima and Kamakura enshrines Gozuryu in death. Reach it by taking the Shonan Monorail to Nishi-Kamakura Station and tackling a short but steep hike into the hills. If you actually make it to this shrine, you might want to either congratulate yourself for completing the entirety of the journey (or alternatively, question your sanity).
Until next time travelers…
