Komachi-dori

A red torii marks the entrance beside the east exit of Kamakura Station, and from there the street runs about 360 metres north toward Tsurugaoka Hachimangu with roughly 250 shops packed along it. It is narrow, it is pedestrianised, and on a fine Sunday it moves at the speed of the slowest person in front of you.

The food is the reason most people are here. Shirasu, the tiny whitebait landed at Koshigoe just down the coast, turns up raw over rice, boiled, in croquettes and in senbei crackers. Raw shirasu is only available when the boats have been out, and there is a closed season from January to March, so a shop that offers it year round is selling you something frozen. Beyond that: warabi mochi, matcha soft serve, purple sweet potato ice cream, croquettes, and a steady supply of things designed to be photographed.

Note the signs asking you not to eat while walking. The shopping association has been pushing this for years because the street is too narrow for it, and most stalls have a counter or a step where you are meant to stand and finish. Following that rule marks you out as someone paying attention.

Between the food stalls there are still proper shops: Kamakura-bori carved lacquerware, ceramics, knives, and a few workshops that have been in the same family for generations. Prices are Kamakura prices.

Wakamiya-oji runs parallel one block east, wider and lined with cherry trees along the raised Dankazura path, and it is the better walk if the crowd gets to you. Weekday mornings on Komachi-dori are calm. After about eleven on a weekend, they are not.