Kamakura

Kamakura
6/8
Monday was the last day before the Japanese semester begins, and Manami and Ikumi (whom readers will remember from an earlier post) graciously offered to show me around Kamakura.  Kamakura is a small town south of the Tokyo metropolitan area, but close enough that the train ride is under an hour.  It was the seat of the first shogunate of the Minamoto clan from 1192 to 1333 (I knew the approximate dates but needed Wikipedia to confirm).  Dedicated players of the Civilization game series will note that Minamoto no Yoritomo, one of the great generals, founded the Kamakura shogunate.  Kamakura fell from historical relevance before my period of study in Early Modern Japan, but I still wanted to see it.
It didn't disappoint.

Kamakura is beautiful.  Leading away from the station into the hills is the market street, filled with tourists, tourist traps, and men with tight shorts and rickshaws that will run less able-bodied (and richer) tourists around the landmarks of the town.  Step off the shopping streets, and a different Kamakura emerges.  It seems a bit like the Lake Oswego to Yokohama's Portland; there doesn't seem to be much industry, but many of the streets are lined with beautiful houses, both recent and old, of what I expect are residents  who commute into Tokyo or Yokohama.  The town climbs into the hills until it disappears into mountainous forest, and meets the Pacific on the other end.  

The group in front of one of said beautiful residences. From L to R: Manami, Ikumi, myself.

Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine (銭洗弁財天)
Zeniarai jinja, a shrine built around a mountain spring, was our first stop.  It's a small canyon in the foothills, accessible from the road by a tunnel carved out of the rock.  The spring is called zeniarai-mizu (銭洗水), or coin-washing water, and legend says that washing one's money here will cause it to multiply, granting wealth.  In any other country, it would be the pickpocket's paradise -- hundreds of people bringing large-denomination bills to a crowded area, pulling them out and then waving them around to dry.

Me taking a picture of Manami taking one of me. Hers turned out better.

However much you wash in the spring water will be doubled.  I washed my debit card, so we'll see what happens.  I celebrated my newfound wealth by paying the relatively steep admission prices (still cheap) to Kamakura's other landmarks.

Daibutsu (大仏)
The great Buddha at Kamakura is probably the city's most famous landmark.  The flyer I brought home says it was built in 1252; it is made entirely of bronze, stands over 13 meters tall, and weighs 121 tonnes.  Next to the Buddha are a pair of straw sandals that are taller than I am, with a sign that says, 'Please don't insert coins into the straw sandals.'  We didn't stay very long, as there's little to do at the shrine besides admire the statue, but we did meet a pair of friendly cats on our way out.

The daibutsu of Kamakura, with flowers helpfully placed in front for scale.

 Hasedera (長谷寺)
Just south of the daibutsu was my favorite site we visited, the Hase Temple to Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy.  As with Zeniarai Benten, the architecture of the temple reflects the geography of Kamakura.  The shrine is tiered, with a garden at street level, lesser buildings about halfway up the climb to the top, and the main temple a hundred feet or so above the street.  Taking pictures inside the buildings is unfortunately prohibited, so my readers will just have to imagine the massive gilded statue of the eleven-headed Kannon that is the temple's main attraction.  Or google it, as other tourists haven't been as courteous as I was.  Above the temple is a short path lined with hydrangeas, and it is testament to the Japanese dedication to flower photography that the crowd waiting to walk the hydrangea path dwarfed the crowds around either of the landmark statues I visited.  My favorite aspect of the temple was the balcony that overlooks Sagami Bay.

I love temple gardens.  They epitomize the Japanese spirit of craftsmanship of nature into art that can also be seen in traditional architecture, much of early modern art, and of course, flower photography.  This is the one picture I was able to take of the entrance garden that is (almost) devoid of people.

 

Hasedera offers political advice.

The view from the top.  I took a selfie as well, but the iPhone 3 front camera really is unusable.

Kamakura was a refreshing break from Tokyo that I didn't realize I needed.  Next, settling into work.