Iwaya Caves - Enoshima, Japan - DSC07913

is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the

Katase River The is a Class B river in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture which flows into the Bay of Sagami of the Pacific Ocean. The Sakai River The Sakai River has with the length of 52.1 km and the basin size of 210.7 square km. It starts from Aih ...

which flows into the

Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while th ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to the Katase section of that city by a bridge. Home to some of the closest sandy beaches to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, the island and adjacent coastline are the hub of a local resort area.

History

Classical era

Benzaiten Benzaiten (''shinjitai'': 弁才天 or 弁財天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence"), also simply known as Benten (''shinjitai'': 弁天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯天 / 辨天), is a Japanese Buddhist god ...

, 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. The island is the scene of the ''

Enoshima Engi The ''Enoshima Engi'' (江嶋縁起) is a history of the temples and shrines on Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay. It was written in Chinese, the scholarly language of the time, by the Japanese Buddhist monk Kōkei in 1047 AD. The ''Enoshima Engi'' ...

'', a history of shrines on Enoshima written by the Japanese Buddhist

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

Kōkei in 1047 AD.

Modern era

In 1880, after the Shinto and Buddhism separation order of the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

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 struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

, the botanical garden (now the

Samuel Cocking Garden The , also known as the Enoshima Tropical Plants Garden, is a small botanical garden on the small island of Enoshima in Japan. The address is 2-3-28 Enoshima, Fujisawa, Kanagawa. The garden was established in 1880 by British merchant Samuel Co ...

) remains an attraction with over half a million visitors a year. File:Enoshima in the Sagami province.jpg, "Enoshima in the Sagami Province" by

Hokusai , known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock print series '' Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the iconic print ''The Great W ...

(part of the series'' Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji''), circa 1930 File:Hiroshige_Pilgrimage_to_the_Cave_Shrine_of_Benzaiten.jpg, Pilgrimage to the Cave Shrine of Benzaiten by Hiroshige Ando (c. 1850) File:Enoshima_by_Takahashi_Yuichi_(MOMA_Kamakura_and_Hayama).jpg, Enoshima by Yuichi Takahashi. Between 1876 and 77. File:Kusakabe_Kimbei_1016_Enoshima.JPG, Photograph by Kimbei Kusakabe. 1890s. File:Lucky Gods' visit to Enoshima.jpg, Lucky Gods' visit to Enoshima (1869) File:19 - The Seven Ri Beach.jpg, 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 is a commuter railway station on the Enoshima Electric Railway (Enoden) located in the city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Lines Enoshima Station is served by the Enoshima Electric Railway Main Line and is 3.3 kilometers from ...

on the Enoshima Electric Railway ("Enoden"), and Shōnan-Enoshima Station on the

Shonan Monorail The is a suspended SAFEGE monorail in the cities of Kamakura and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the which belongs to Michinori Holdings, and opened on March 7, 1970, the first monorail of its kind in Japan. Tr ...

Features

* Enoshima Shrine *Iwaya Caves - were formed by the erosion of waves in ancient times. It has also been a place for Buddhist monks to train. The Iwaya caves consists of the First Cave ( in length) and the Second Cave ( in length). These caves can be entered by purchasing a ticket. *

- located at the island's summit. *

Enoshima Sea Candle The Enoshima Sea Candle ( ja, 江の島シーキャンドル), also known as the Shonan Observatory Lighthouse, is an observation tower and lighthouse located in the Samuel Cocking Garden on the small tidal island of Enoshima in Fujisawa, Kan ...

- located within the Samuel Cocking Garden.

Sport

Enoshima was the Olympic harbor for the 1964 Summer Olympics. Enoshima was also used as the sailing venue for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

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.

In popular culture

* In the 1951 film '' Tokyo File 212'', a key scene takes place in Enoshima. * In the 2004 anime '' Uta Kata'', the main character and her friends visit Enoshima in one episode. * In the 2004 anime '' Elfen Lied'', Enoshima and the

are the location for the battle with Mariko. * In the 2012 anime '' Tsuritama'', Enoshima is the main location. * In the 2015 anime ''

Himouto! Umaru-chan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sankaku Head. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from March 2013 to November 2017, with its chapters collected in twelve ''tankōbon'' v ...

'', the characters visit Enoshima in the penultimate episode of the first season. * In the 2018 anime ''

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai ''Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kamoshida and illustrated by Kēji Mizoguchi. ASCII Media Works have published twelve volumes since April 2014 under the ...

'', the story mostly takes place in Enoshima. * In the 2022 anime ''

Bocchi the Rock! is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Aki Hamaji. It has been serialized in Houbunsha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Manga Time Kirara Max'' since December 2017. Its chapters have been collected in five ''tankōb ...

'', the main protagonists visit the island in episode 9. * In the video game series ''

Danganronpa is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high school students who are forced into murdering each othe ...

'', the main antagonist is named

Junko Enoshima is a Character (arts), fictional character and the primary overarching antagonist of Spike Chunsoft's ''Danganronpa'' series. Junko is featured as the main antagonist and wiktionary:mastermind, mastermind in the first two games of the series as ...

Notes

References

* Johnson, H. (2022).
Enoshima: Signifying Island Heritage Across Space and Place
. ''Okinawan Journal of Island Studies'' 3 (1): 3–20. * Papinot, E. (1910). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. 1972 printing. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. . *

External links

Fujisawa City Tourism
{{Authority control Venues of the 1964 Summer Olympics Venues of the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic sailing venues Olympic surfing venues Fujisawa, Kanagawa Islands of Kanagawa Prefecture Shoals of Japan