Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival (HDR Photos)

In mid-to-late March ever year, the Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival takes place on Enoshima 「江の島 Eno Island」 to mark the beginning of spring. Over two days the festival includes: live taiko drumming; live comedy by some of Japan’s most famous comedians; street performances; kids rides and play areas; art and photo displays; market and food stalls; parades; tea cermonies; religious rituals; haiku competitions; and in the evening…

Lightup at Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival

This Friday’s photos are from Saki-san’s HDR photo blog. Saki-san lives in Okinawa and posts great HDR photos regularly. Her posts are all in Japanese, but you can still gaze at her amazing shots.

Lightups are very popular in Japan. They most commonly occur around Christmas and New Year. Most are very extravagant, with some amazing displays in Kobe and Tokyo, among many others.

They look simply amazing, and at the Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival the lights are centered around the Lighthouse Observatory Tower. It’s a surreal forest of light.

Enoshima is just a few hundred metres from Fujisawa City in Kanagawa Prefecture 「神奈川県藤沢市 Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa-ken」.

The Tower here provides excellent viewing of Mt Fuji (when the skies are clear). Above is a beautiful shot of the tower with Mt Fuji in the distance.

View this location – Map coordinates: 35.299689,139.478461.

When is the Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival?

The festival is on every year in mid-to-late March. Exact dates can be found at Fujisawa City Tourist Association’s Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival page (in Japanese, but you can use Google Translate to get the date, which is at the top of the page).

How do I get to the Shonan Enoshima Spring Festival?

Enoshima and Fujisawa are about 60km south west of Tokyo.

From Tokyo Station to Fujisawa by train: Take the JR Tokaido Line to Fujisawa. This leg of the trip is ¥950 and takes 50 minutes, and is covered by the JR Pass.

From Fujisawa Station by train:

• Take the Enoshima Electric Railway line to Enoshima Station: ¥210/11 minutes.
• Or, take the Odakyu Enoshima Line Local to Katase-Enoshima Station: ¥ 150/7 minutes.