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Temple with the largest wooden statue of Kannon in Japan, terraces with sea views and a hydrangea garden; admission 400 ¥.
The Hase-dera temple, or Hase-kannon, is one of the most beautiful and most visited temples in Kamakura, set on the slope of the Hase hill with direct views over Sagami Bay and Yuigahama beach. Its main treasure is the wooden statue of the eleven-faced Kannon, 9,18 metres tall, carved according to tradition from a single camphor trunk in the 8th century and considered the largest wooden sculpture in Japan. The precinct includes a hydrangea (ajisai) garden with more than 2.500 plants in bloom between mid-June and mid-July, one of the most popular flower spectacles in the region. The Bentendo caves, carved into the rock beneath the temple, are full of small votive figures of Benzaiten, the goddess of water and fortune. The terrace of the main temple has magnificent views towards the Pacific. Admission costs 400 ¥. Hours: 8:00-17:30 (until 17:00 from October to February). It is a two-minute walk from Hase station (Enoden), five minutes from the Great Buddha.
