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Published: March 17th 2007
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After 2 days in the Mitsui conference and 2 days of exploration in Tokyo (refer to my previous posts), Mingxian (my applied chem junior who had done a 6-month internship in Japan last year) decided to visit the family of his former supervisor on the 5th day. The family invited Mingxian and me for lunch in their home in Yokohama.
The family was very friendly to us. The father of Mingxian's supervisor is a famous chemist, and the mother is a kind and friendly housewife. Mingxian's supervisor also has a brother, who worked as an engineer in JVC. (He even showed us the latest video projector from JVC which he installed in the cellar. The quality of the screened videos is as good as that in the cinemas.)
After a very satisfying lunch, Mingxian and I bidded farewell to the family, and made our way to Kamakura. Kamakura is rich in history, as it was Japan's political and military centre during the 12th and 13th century. The strong influence of Buddhism is evident in the multiple temples throughout the city. We started our exploration from the Kita-Kamakura station. Once we alighted from the train, fresh air and lush
greenery greeted us. This place was so different from the noises and crowds in Tokyo!
Outside the train station, there were signs leading us to the Engaku-ji, one of the many Zen temples in Kamakura. However, we didn't enter the temple because of the admission fee. (Later we found out that most of the temples in Kamakura require admission fees.) Since we were short of money and time, we decided to visit only one temple - the grandest and largest temple Kencho-ji. (We were short of time because we arrived at 2:30pm and most temples close before 4:30pm or 5pm.)
Kencho-ji is indeed very impressive, and this is the temple you must visit if you have time for only one temple. The temple was Japan's oldest Zen training monastery, and the design and layout were heavily influenced by the Chinese song-dynasty style. Unlike typical Buddhist temples in China or Southeast Asia, Japanese Zen temples are simple and yet elegant. Everything is about peace, balance and order.
Later we walked southwards to another main attraction of Kamakura - Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, the guardian shrine of the Minamoto clan. This shrine was crowded with tourists and was noisier compared to
Suburb of Yokohama
The family's house is situated on a hill, and therefore enjoys nice views of the surroundings the Zen temples, probably because the shrine is admission-free. The shrine is located on a hillside, and the front of the shrine faces southward towards the sea. A long flight of stairs linked the shrine at the top and the entrance at the bottom, and a wide boulevard linked the sea and the shrine entrance in a straight line. From the top of the stairs (in front of the shrine), it is quite impressive to look at the straight boulevard leading to the sea and the city being surrounded by green mountains in the east and west and the sea in the south. The Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu shrine also boasts several beautiful ponds, several elegant bridges and many sakura trees. (But we saw only one tree with blooming flowers. The rest has not bloomed yet.) Wakamiya-oji, the wide boulevard connecting the shrine entrance and the sea, is lined with many shops selling local souvenirs, crafts, and food. The items on sale were so attractive and well-packaged that Mingxian and I spent a lot of time (and money) shopping... Haha. In the end, we missed the chance to visit the visit the famous Daibutsu (the bronze Great Buddha which is the landmark
of Kamakura). Although I never saw the Daibutsu in person, at least I saw it in posters, postcards and souvenirs. In fact, I have seen an even larger bronze Buddha in Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Haha. So I didn't feel sad or disappointed for missing the Daibutsu.
In the evening, I wanted to explore downtown Yokohama, but our train pass to Kamakura didn't include the Yokohama area. If we exit at Yokohama, we would have to surrender our pass. In the end, we skipped Yokohama and went to Shinjuku instead. (Shinjuku is the commercial centre of Tokyo. In fact, Shinjuku station is claimed to be the busiest station in Japan.) Mingxian had a friend who is studying in Tokyo, so he called her out for dinner. She joined us in Shinjuku and we had dinner in a fastfood restaurant. After dinner, the 3 of us went to explore Kabukicho, one of the "red-light-districts" of Tokyo. Later, we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where we could go up to the observation deck for free. The night-view of Tokyo from the observation deck was fantastic, and I'm really grateful to the Tokyo government for making this place admission-free and
The train to Kamakura 2
The door between the driver's cabin and the passenger's cabin has a big window, so we can look into the driver's cabin and enjoy the view in front of the train allowing everyone to have a feast for his/her eyes. There are 2 observation decks, one in the North building and the other in the South building. We only went up the North building, because the observation deck in the South building was closed at night.
After spending some time in the Metropolitan Government Building, we went back to Shinjuku station. After bidding farewell to Mingxian's friend, the two of us went back to our inn in Otsuka to spend our final night in Japan. (After spending 5 days in Japan, I admit that I'm beginning to fall in love with the country. I think I should learn some Japanese after I return to Singapore. Haha.)
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