I decided to take a day trip to Kamakura, which is not very far from Tokyo.

The main draw of Kamakura is the Great Buddha statue (tickets Y200), which really is huge and impressive.

Nearby is Hasedera temple (tickets Y300), a beautiful temple with lots of things to see: there’s a great garden, lots of little Buddha statues and caves with wall carvings.

Kamakura is a great place to visit, as aside from the temples there are lots of cool shops and cafes, and the town centre is really cute.

Nearby is Yokohama, so you can visit both on the same day. Yokohama has a famous Chinatown, so I went to check it out. There are lots of food and souvenir shops as you’d expect from any Chinatown, but what really struck me was how nice and tidy it was – definitely the neatest Chinatown I’ve seen!

Yokohama also has the Red Brick Warehouse, a historical building which was made into a shopping centre – but a nice one, with independent shops and plenty of cafes and restaurants.

This is a good option for a day trip not far from Tokyo.

GETTING THERE:

Kamakura is served by a JR line from Shinjuku. The trip takes about 1h20. Once there, everything is within walking distance.

Yokohama is also on the JR line, and the best stations near the city centre are on the Negishi line. It is about 30min from Kamakura and 50min from Shinjuku. Tickets from Tokyo are cheap (Y800 – Y1000, or free with a JR pass).