Kamakura Spent a Year Taming the Slam Dunk Crossing. Here's What Changed

For years, the level crossing beside Kamakurakokomae Station was simply a lovely spot where a little green train meets the sea. Then it became the place from the Slam Dunk opening. Then it became a problem.

How it got here

• 2017: Enoden puts up caution signs in English, Chinese and Korean. In April, after residents ask for help, the city posts one guard on weekends, holidays and Golden Week, 10:00 to 18:00.
• November 2019: residents' associations, local schools, the police and Enoden form a liaison council. COVID-19 puts it on hold.
• December 2022: The First Slam Dunk rolls out across Asia, and visitor numbers climb again.
• 2023: in February, the city's tourism division says it has no plans to actively promote the spot. In May, Mayor Takashi Matsuo says the city will look at longer guard hours. In June, the city and police estimate that about 80% of visitors come from China, and report littering and people standing in the road.
• August 25, 2025: the driver of an illegally parked tourist van threatens a local teenager and hits his bicycle. It becomes the incident everyone cites.

The 2025 plan

In September 2025, Kamakura tried something different. Over four days, September 13 to 16, twelve staff a day steered photographers off the road and into a designated photo area in Koshigoe Rakko Park, the small park next to the station. They guided 9,490 people, with 20 to 100 in the photo area at any one time. On September 16, a city council committee unanimously adopted a petition from residents.

From October 1, the city raised its contracted guides from two to between five and seven, on duty 10:00 to 18:00, with a subsidy from the Japan Tourism Agency and cooperation from the police and Enoden. Seven were on duty in the first week, and there were some arguments with tourists.

The city also opened a government crowdfunding campaign for the guard costs on October 10, 2025, and it hit its 3.5 million yen target in January 2026. From December 19, 2025 to March 31, 2026, it trialed AI cameras that counted visitors and live-streamed the photo area.

Where it stands now

On January 30, 2026, Kamakura's fiscal 2026 budget kept the guides directing visitors to the photo area. Over Golden Week (April 25 to May 6, 2026), two traffic guides worked near the station every day.

What the city hasn't done is ban photos. Some blogs in 2025 claimed an outright ban on photographing the crossing. We found nothing like that in any official source. The ask is simpler: shoot from the park, not the road.

How to visit now

1. Use the photo area in Koshigoe Rakko Park. It exists so you can get the train-and-sea shot without standing in traffic.
2. Listen to the guides. They're there because residents asked for help.
3. Come by train, not car. The city asks drivers not to stop or park near the intersection.
4. Remember the school. Kamakura High School is right there. Leave students alone.
5. Follow Enoden's rules. Stay off the tracks, and no flash, tripods or stepladders.

Our Kamakurakokomae spot guide has the practical details, and One Day on the Enoden shows how to fit the crossing into a relaxed day on the coast.