The Enoden Stations

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A Brief History of the Enoden Railway

Established in 1902, the Enoden connects the cities of Fujisawa & Kamakura via the little island of Enoshima, an incredibly popular tourist destination.

Enoshima is also where the railway line got its full name – the Enoshima Electric Railway; or, in Japanese, Enoshima Dentetsu – 江ノ島電鉄. When you squish that Japanese name down you get Enoden, which is what the line is typically known by.

It’s kept that name through several successive ownership changes over the years – currently, it’s operated by Odakyu, who also run a different station, Katase-Enoshima, that links the island back through Fujisawa and into their entire network. (That station building is modeled after the underwater palace that Urashima Taro finds himself in – those of you with long memories may remember the city hills and sea version of his story.)

Enoshima is also where the Enoden runs through to Koshigoe not on separate tracks, but on the street – a fairly unusual occurence in Japan, as apparently only four other lines in the whole country fall under the ‘street running railway’ classification.

This is also the part of the route where the trains pass from either Fujisawa into Kamakura, or vice versa.

It’s just after this section of track that you get some beautiful views of the ocean & Enoshima itself – if the weather’s right, you can have Mount Fuji doing her thing in the background as well – before the train dives back in to running very closely to the houses & businesses & other establishments along the route, winding through narrow tunnels & a few twists and turns as it goes through some of the oldest neighbourhoods in both the cities.

(I’ve only got this bit of a section in Fujisawa for you, but it gives you a real sense of how close the line is to the communities it passes through.)

The Mission

I lived just up the road from Enoshima & Kamakura for the better part of 6 years; even after visiting all the stations on this list, I don’t feel like I really know halfway as much about the area as I’d like to.

So this list wasn’t about the list itself so much as it was about satiating some curiosity I had regarding the places along the Enoden I’d never been to. Some of them are big touristy draws, some of them more random little things that took my fancy.

I tried to find something of note around every one of the fifteen stations along the route – although that’s not always possible, as you’ll find out…!

Nevertheless, that hardly matters. If you time your journey right, just sitting on the train and watching the scenery unfurl can be even more enjoyable.

Just make sure you sit on the left side of the carriage, relative to the direction of the train, and you’ll always have a cracking view of the ocean. Double check the sunset times with the timetable and … yeah. You’re in for a treat.

Enoden Stations Posted About So Far

Here’s a list of posts about the stations, in reverse chronological order :

[catlist id=560]

A List of the Enoshima Railway Stations

Here are all our destinations in one handy place, complete with the train station number for your viewing pleasure.

#	NAME	NAME (Japanese)
EN01	Fujisawa	藤沢
EN02	Ishigami	石上
EN03	Yanagikoji	柳小路
EN04	Kugenuma	鵠沼
EN05	Shonankaigankoen	湘南海岸公園
EN06	Enoshima	江ノ島
EN07	Koshigoe	腰越
EN08	Kamakurakokomae	鎌倉高校前
EN09	Shichirigahama	七里ヶ浜
EN10	Inamuragasaki	稲村ヶ崎
EN11	Gokurakukuji	極楽寺
EN12	Hase	長谷
EN13	Yuigahama	由比ヶ浜
EN14	Wadazuka	和田塚
EN15	Kamakura	鎌倉

BONUS MUSIC TRIVIA SECTION

Every one of the 10 tracks on Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s 2008 album, Surf Bungaku Kamkura, is named for an Enoden station:

1. Fujisawa Loser; 2. Kugenuma Surf; 3. Enoshima Esker; 4. Koshigoe Crybaby; 5. Shichirigahama Skywalk; 6. Inamuragasaki Jane; 7. Gokurakuji Heartbreak; 8. Hase Suns; 9. Yuigahama Kite; 10. Kamakura Goodbye

You can listen to bits of those over at Japanese Amazon.