On the first day every year, after visiting Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, where Samurai guardian god is enshrined, in “Home of the Samurai” Kamakura, I usually go out and take photos of the first sunrise of at Yuigahama Beach in Kamakura.

The first sunrise and three sailing boats at Yuigahama Beach in Kamakura (photo taken on January 1, 2012).

Other than the New Year visit to a shrine, seeing the first sunrise of the New Year is one of Japanese traditions. After or before the sunrise, I usually go to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu for New Year’s visit (Hatsumode).

The first sunrise and three people on the sunrise at Yuigahama Beach in Kamakura (photo taken on January 1, 2012).

By the way, from 23:00 on December 31 to 17:00 on January 1, and January 2 & 3 from 9:00 to 17:00, main roads to central areas of Kamakura will be closed.

Pedestrians and taxes can enter the roads without any special permission. Also, drivers with special passes which are distributed to residents of central areas in Kamakura are allowed to enter into the roads (any other vehicles cannot enter though).

BUT there are always back roads for outsiders without any entrance permits. If you are coming from Tokiwa area, you can take a dark and narrow back road over a small mountain to Gokurakuji (and vice versa).

Also, you can take the Route 134 towards Kamakura and park your vehicle at a pay parking lot by Yuigahama Beach. During New Year holidays, by vehicles, these would be the closest and fastest paths to main shrines and temples in Kamakura.

Well, anyway, so I took a back road to Yuigahama Beach.

The first sunrise of 2012 and a bird at Yuigahama Beach in Kamakura (photo taken on January 1, 2012)

I was originally planning to go to the beach, but as I passed by The Great Buddha (Daibutsu) and Kotoku-in and Hasedera Temple I remembered that there is an observation deck in Hasedera Temple.

From the deck, you can view the beach and Zaimokuza area where the sun comes out. So I changed my original plan and turned around my motor scooter and went to the temple. However, because of my arrival timing (which was around 6:30AM) and crowd on the deck, there was not much space for me to shoot the first sunrise photos.

Even though (according to the forecast) the sun is expected to be out at 6:50AM, I suspected it would take a little while for the sun to appear over the cloud. *By the way, entrance fee at Hasedera was free of charge from 23:00 on December 31 to 8:00 on Jan 1. It usually costs 300 yen (which is equivalent to 3 US dollars).

So, I just left the temple. I changed back to my original plan, got on the my scooter again, and went to the Yuigahama Beach. Here are some photos of the first sunrise in Kamakura.

The first sunrise is about to come out at Yuigahama Beach in Kamakura (photo taken on January 1, 2012)

The first sunrise and three couples at Yuigahama Beach in Kamakura (photo taken on January 1, 2012)

Many people were waiting for the first sunrise of 2012 at the observation deck in Hasedera, Kamakura (photo taken on January 1, 2012)