Enoden Stations : EN04 & EN05 – Kugenuma & Shonan Kaigan Koen

The Enoden links Fujisawa & Kamakura via a coastal route that gives both those cities access to the little island of Enoshima – hence the name. It’s a charming, old-fashioned trainline, with some really interesting sights to be seen along the way.

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Local Sights

Not a whole lot near Kugenuma Station but Shonan Kaigan Koen – as the name suggests – is not far from the lovely Shonan Coastal Park which has great views of Enoshima & Fuji.

Both of these stations have similarly named counterparts on the Odakyu Enoshima Line – Hon-Kugenuma, which takes you into the shopping area near Kugenuma station, and then Kugenuma-Kaigan, closer to the beach.

The latter of the two has a great little bakery & cafe, Quinto, which opens pretty early – unusually for Japan – so you can have breakfast before starting your day at the beach.

All About EN04 & EN05 – Kugenuma & Shonan Kaigan Koen Stations

Kugenuma, and its various attendant stations, stretches out mostly alongside the Sakai river where it spills down into Sagami Bay.

A bridge across that river is right next door to the first of our stations today, Kugenuma. The views of the trains leaving or entering the station across that bridge might just be the most interesting thing about it.

For my money though the best thing about this station is the differing typefaces on the two entrances –

(It’s retro over modern for me.)

This part of Kugenuma is a quiet little residential area, and there’s not much around here – something that is a bit of a recurring theme so far on the Enoden.

In the absence of excitement then, let’s cross that bridge and move onto the next station – Shonan Kaigan Koen, which serves a park I’ve seen translated as Shonan Beach Park and Shonan Coastal Park, so you choose.

The station itself used to go by something else – Nishikata. It wasn’t until the end of 1958 that it received its current name, when the park itself was finished.

It’s a funny thing to think about parks being built, particularly when they’re on the coast. I always kind of think of these natural areas as kind of predetermined natural occurences. It never really occurred to me, until I started reading up on this, that pretty much the entire Shonan coast from Enoshima on down past Chigasaki has been artificially enhanced – all part of a plan begun at the end of the 1920’s.

Following the Great Kanto earthquake, a forest was planted along this stretch of coastline, which then had a road built next to it on one side, and then, on the other, the pedestrian path right beside the beach.

I suppose this all makes sense when you see just how much work is needed to prevent this entire area being reclaimed by mother nature, who loves to drive the sand towards the trees in huge gusts rolling off the ocean to bury the walkway – and even the fences either side of it.

On the other hand, the park itself seems to be pretty resilient to this kind of thing. I don’t recall there ever being an Ozymandias moment involving this chap:

There’s more than just a statue down here. Apart from the lovely views of Enoshima ….

…. or the views of Fuji …

… you can play volleyball down on the beach, use the facilities if you’re a surfer (or an otherwise sporty beach type), do a spot of skateboarding if the surf’s not up and err… maybe admire the fountain? (if it’s on)

Further on down the beach a bit (and really too far to be properly considered close to Shonan Kaigan Koen station, as it’s just a five minute or so walk from Katase-Enoshima) you can also find Enoshima aquarium.

I’ve been told it’s great but I’ve never actually been in myself. I always feel a bit sad for some of the creatures in these kinds of places, even if I do enjoy seeing them. Call me conflicted.