Originally Posted by
jpatokal
I'm not entirely clear on what you're expecting to get out of Kamakura? It's "Tokyo's Kyoto" and a worthwhile day trip for the time-constrained Tokyo visitor, but since I gather your rather audacious itinerary is already taking you through the length and breadth of Japan including plenty of time at the actual Kyoto, it hardly seems necessary to cram in yet another temple town.
Yes, there's a big Buddha statue, but there's one in Nara as well, and Hasedera and Hachimangu are (shh) a rather forgettable temple and shrine respectively. There are a couple of cozy neighbourhood temples for a cup of tea in the garden and that sort of thing, but again, you can find these in any Japanese city.
To be clear here, I actually like Kamakura. But if you're staying in Hakone for two nights, then stay in Hakone for your one single whole day, instead of bouncing around like a billiard ball.
As I've expressed earlier, this is
NOT our one full day in Hakone. It's the day that we are LEAVING Hakone. We would otherwise spend a morning in town at most, and then depart for Tokyo. We're really not missing anything by visiting Kamakura, assuming it's determined that we have enough time to properly see the town. Our one full day in Hakone would be the day before.
As for why we want to visit when we're already visiting Kyoto... for the same reason that we like to travel anywhere; different experiences! You could ask why anyone would bother to visit the French Alps when they've already been to the Swiss Alps by that same reasoning. It looks like a very pretty, idyllic temple town and we will not have seen anything like it (we won't be in Kyoto for almost 2 weeks) so it seemed to make for a very nice day-trip halfway inbetween Hakone and Tokyo.