2026 A Full Day at Samukawa General Library (寒川総合図書館)

In the town of Samukawa Shrine (寒川神社), the Ichinomiya (leading shrine) of former Sagami Province, this course brings together a shrine visit, park play, and reading time in a single day. In the morning, walk from Miyayama Station (宮山駅) to Samukawa Shrine (寒川神社). Known as a guardian deity that wards off misfortune from all directions, its precincts, wrapped in an expansive forest, make you stand a little straighter just from walking through them with your child. After paying your respects, walk toward Samukawa Station (寒川駅) and take a break at Samukawa Central Park (さむかわ中央公園). The highlight of the afternoon is Samukawa General Library (寒川総合図書館), where parent and child can spend a quiet time browsing the picture-book and children's-book shelves together. The library is open weekdays 9:00-19:00 and weekends and holidays 9:00-17:00. It is closed on Mondays (except holidays), during the year-end and New Year period (December 29-January 3), and on special inventory days, and parking is available. This is a day to savor two kinds of stillness, the hush of the shrine's forest and the hush of the library's books.