Kamakura Great Buddha Hall Kotoku-inUnclaimed

The most convenient route is about 7 minutes' walk from Hase Station on the Enoshima Electric Railway. Alternatively, take an Enoden bus (stop 1) or a Keikyu bus (stop 6) from the bus stop at the east exit of Kamakura Station and get off right at Daibutsu-mae.

8:00-17:30 from April to September and 8:00-17:00 from October to March (entry until 15 minutes before closing). Admission is 300 yen for general visitors and junior and senior high school students, and 150 yen for elementary school students (free for pre-school children). Entry inside the Great Buddha costs a further 50 yen.

School group visits are possible. Material is available on advance viewing, reception on the day, arrangements for groups splitting up, and points to note in the grounds. Please see the official website or contact us in advance.

Goshuin are issued at the temple office. Handwritten entries in a goshuin book are available 9:00-15:00, and printed goshuin sheets 8:00-16:30.

Allow about 30 minutes to an hour to see the Great Buddha and go inside the statue. Other sights in the grounds, such as the Nio gate and the Kangetsudo hall, are also worth seeing.

The seated bronze Amida Buddha was designated a National Treasure in 1958 and is the only Buddhist statue in Kamakura with that status. Cast from 1252, it survives largely in its original form and is a valuable cultural property.

The Nio gate, with its guardian statues relocated here in the 18th century, the Kangetsudo hall housing a statue of Sho Kannon, and a stone monument inscribed with the poet Akiko Yosano's poem about the Great Buddha.

You can enter the body of the statue, open 8:00-16:30 with entry until 10 minutes before closing, for a further 50 yen. Inside you can see traces of the advanced casting technique at close range.

The seated bronze Amida Buddha is 11.31 m tall, or 13.35 m including the pedestal, and weighs about 121 tonnes. After the hall housing it collapsed in a typhoon and tsunami following the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, the statue has stood in the open air since around the end of the Muromachi period.

The Great Buddha stands in the open, so it can be seen in wet weather. Note, however, that the inside of the statue traps heat and can become hotter and more humid than the outside air, so take care in summer.

There is no car park in the temple grounds. Please use a paid car park nearby. It is very busy in the tourist season, so we strongly recommend public transport.

Open every day.

April to September 8:00-17:30; October to March 8:00-17:00 (entry until 15 minutes before closing). Entry inside the Great Buddha: 8:00-16:30.

About 7 minutes' walk from Hase Station on the Enoshima Electric Railway, or take an Enoden or Keikyu bus from the bus stop at the east exit of Kamakura Station and get off right at Daibutsu-mae.

Parking is not available.

4-2-28 Hase, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture

General visitors and junior and senior high school students 300 yen, elementary school students 150 yen (entry inside the statue is a further 50 yen).