in Enoshima, Kanagawa
Enoshima is a small island off the cost of Shonan in Kanagawa, Japan. The island is home to Enoshima Shrine (a collection of several shrines), which is believed to house Benzaiten, the goddess of music and wealth. The island was originally plagued by the dragon, Gozuryu, who eventually stopped and devoted himself to protecting the island after falling in love with Benzaiten. Since 2024 is the year of the dragon, I thought Enoshima shrine would be a great place to visit in the new year! Especially since the island hosts a beautiful illuminations display during the winter.
My Experience
We arrived at the shrine around 4:00 pm in the afternoon. It was surprisingly only a bit little more crowded than when we visited during the summer. I thought more people would come here for their hatsumode. Hatsumode is a Japanese tradition, which means the first shrine visit of the new year. People usually visit on the first, second, or third day of the new year for good luck. We spent maybe an hour going up the island and stopping to pray at each of the shrines along the way! We took the escalators up to the top near the sea candle.
They also had these cute dragon omikuji for 500 yen. Omikuji are fortune slips that you get at shrines or temples to predict your luck and give you advice for the new year. They predict all aspects of your life for the next year, including career, money, love, health, etc.
Once we were at the top of the island, we had some time to kill before the illuminations, so we walked around admiring the sunset!
Afterwards we went inside the Samuel Cocking Garden to wait for the illuminations to light up. The Jewel of Shonan or Shonan no Hoseki is an elaborate annual event held from November to February. Enoshima is decorated and lit up with illuminations and it is counted as one of the three greatest winter illuminations in Kanto. The illuminations feature romantic sparkling lights mostly in subtle purple, blue, and white hues. The Shonan no Hoseki entrance is supposed to mimic the night sky with twinkling stars. They have a few chandeliers hung here while the garden area is decked out in shining lights.
Jewel forest is a vast area of the garden that has been completely covered in lights on the ground and has lights hanging through the trees.
The Enoshima Sea Candle is completely lit up and they have this beautiful crystal jellyfish sculpture in the front lawn. This year they also had a mini tulip garden with hundreds of tulips of various colors near the entrance of the candle.
Over 70,000 Swarovski crystals are also on display in the Shonan chandelier area. The Shonan chandelier area is probably my favorite part of the illuminations! It's a long corridor you pass on your way to the Sea Candle, and it's decorated completely in purple lights with dozens of beautiful chandeliers hung.
There are other lit areas around the island outside the garden, such as the Nakatsumiya area and the Kamegaoka areas, where the trees are adorned in pink lights.
Enoshima light road is the road leading to the Ryuren no kane or the Lover's Hill Ryuren Bell of Love. The road is decked out in lights and it's about a 15 minute walk to the dragon's bell from the garden. The area was not crowded at all during night, so it was a peaceful stroll.
Lover's Hill Ryuren Bell of Love is also decorated with purple lights! They say that ringing the bell together will bring eternal love. It's also popular for couples to write their names on a padlock and attach it to the nearby fence. The Iwaya rock caves are also illuminated during the winter, but unfortunately the caves close at 5:00 pm, so we weren't able to visit this time!
Overall I loved the illuminations inside the garden. The area is so beautiful and I really enjoyed the collaboration with Swarovski. I feel like the crystal chandeliers and the crystal theme really compliments the blues and purples of the lights throughout the garden! I can see why it's part of the top three Kanto illuminations!
Official Site
Address
2 Chome-3-28 Enoshima, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-0036
Date
November 23 - February 29
Time
17:00 - 20:00 on weekdays
17:00 - 21:00 on weekends, holidays, and from 12/22 - 12/30
*From 17:30 from 1/6 - 2/29
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