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| Great Escapes | Kamakura | (Entered Oct. 15, 2006) |
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So you live in Tokyo and need a good fix of some Japanese temples? Where do you go if you don't have the time or money to get to Kyoto? Kamakura! Myself I'm not a diehard temple lover, but have been known to appreciate a nice Japanese temple now and again. A bit of history for you, Kamakura was once the capital of Japan for a short time so has a lot of historical and cultural significance. Located about an hour West of Tokyo, Kamakura is a peaceful, quiet place, perfect for a relaxing stroll and unwinding away from the madness of Tokyo, well unless you're silly enough to visit on a holiday. Kumi and I decided to check out Kamakura on Monday, October the 10th, a holiday known as 'Sports Day' here in Japan. Not sure how or why 'sports' got made into a national holiday, but the Japanese seem to like taking holidays for any reason at all, (people after my own heart). There's also a holiday called 'Green Day' and 'Sea Day'. Anyway, being a holiday of course Kamakura was packed. If you've been in Japan for any length of time you probably know that the main draw of Kamakura is the giant statue of Buddha. It's the second largest in Japan, beaten out only by the one in Nara (city near Kyoto). Here he is staring down at the ant-like people around him, probably thinking about smiting them all for disturbing his meditation.
Here's a close up, doesn't look too friendly does he? Well maybe he's just concentrating really hard. It's also possible to go inside the Buddha, if you're willing to wait in line and shell out 50 yen. Kumi's been inside before and said it was just a dark cavern. We decided to give it a pass. Not sure why anyone would want to go inside Buddha anyway....
Well it was just about lunchtime and after contemplating Buddha, nothing tastes better than eating 'Buddha's face' udon (noodles). I doubt a shop in the Vatican selling God's face pizza would fly, but in Japan eating Buddha's face is just a matter of course. Sure looks like Buddha doesn't it?
Next on the agenda was a temple called Hasedera. Hasedera's claim to fame is that it has the largest statue of Kannon in Japan. Kannon is some female deity that you can't take pictures of. I decided to respect the no camera rule inside and settled for taking one of just the temple itself. Kamakura has about 20 big temples and a bunch of other smaller ones. Even seeing all the main ones in one day would be a pretty tall order so you have to pick and choose which ones you think might be more interesting.
Hasedera also has a bunch of hawks flying about! One even swooped in and almost grabbed some woman's head in his talons. Didn't manage to get a picture of that, but got a few distance shots.
A Japanese temple wouldn't be a Japanese temple without a few carp (koi) swimming about. These guys were hungry! When we stepped to the edge of the pond they all rushed over hoping for handouts. Wouldn't want to fall in the pool, they all had big mouths and looked a bit nasty.
A cave filled with little figurines! What fun. Still at Hasedera by the way, just never ending things to do here.
Kamakura is right on the ocean, and in the summer is a popular place to swim. We hit the beach and walked down it for a bit. Not much swimming action in October though, but plenty of surfers. Compared to the beaches of Izu, this here beach was a dump, with muddy brown sand and garbage everywhere....
After a long walk, we finally made it to my favourite temple, Hokokuji, famous for being surrounded by Moso bamboo, which is the largest member of the bamboo family. I was here years ago and have always wanted to come back. Even on the hottest, brighest day, the inside of the bamboo grove is cool, dark and silent. Bamboo is probably my favourite plant, just something beautiful about it. Didn't bother taking a picture of the temple, the bamboo is what's important.
Before we left we caught sight of some headless pidgeons on a branch.
By then it was getting late, and we were a bit tired from walking the whole day. We headed to Starbucks for some coffee and relaxation, before heading home. Till next time Kamakura!
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Hakodate - Day 3
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