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Published: March 30th 2007
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I decided to venture out for a day trip by myself to Kamakura.
I hadn't gone on the JR line or Shinkansen by myself before so I was feeling all the emotions, excitment, fear of ending up in the wrong town in the wrong direction from where I wanted to be but I must say I was mainly excited. I had heard great things about Kamakura and it was a place on the top of my list to do.
So of I went on my little adventure, had to get up at 5:20am, that was hard in itself. Got the bus to Shizuoka and then the Shinkansen to Odawara and then changed to the first JR line to Ofuna and then changed again to Kamakura, yep 1 Shinkansen and 2 trains but to my surprise I didnt get lost and I made it there by 8:30am.
As I came out of the station I was overwhelmed with the feeling of peace.......there were very few people around and I enjoyed walking around in the quiet. It was a nice feeling, just atking in the fresh air and the early morning peace.
I had my little map in hand and a
list of sights I wanted to see. First stop the largest Shrine in Kamakura, The Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine. I was shocked out how big it was. Entering the shrine was the largest Torii Gate that I have seen so far in Japan. There are many places you can enter the shrine from each with a Torii Gate and glorious surrounding. The shrine itself was stunning, the features were exquised. I cant even image how much work went into buildng it and carving the wood work. As I was there so early there complete silence in the shrine and surrounding gardens. I loved it. I left there after and hour and when I went back 3 hours later it was a completly different atmosphere. There were hundreds of people and it was a far cry from being peceful I was so glad I had gone there early to realy enjoy the peacefullness of the Shrine.
I had a great time walking from place to place, some places were quiet close together which was handy. The next stop was Kencho-Ji Temple. This is the first ranked temple of the five great Zen Temples in Kamakura. The temple was built over five
years and completion was in 1253. The Temple founder was Rankei Doryu, a chinese Zen master. The following quote demonstrates the nature of his zen teaching,
"If you have lost your trueself, all phenomena bring you nothing but annoyance.
If you discover your essence of your mind, you can follow nothing but the true path"
The Temple was lovely and extremely old. I got told off at this temple as I wondered into the private area and one of the monks was not very impressed. I didnt know they should put up a sign, he relaxed when I aplogised.....and aked me in English where I was from that took me by surprise.The temple was made up of 10 areas, The general gate, the main gate, temple bell, Jupiter tress, Buddha Hall, Dharma Hall, Main Hall, Gardens, Hanso-bo the protecting shrine and the Monastery....strickly close to the public, woops dont go in there you will anger the monks.
Next stop..... Meigetsu-In, by far my favourite thing of the day. It has an amazing garden. There were elderly Japanese men and women sketching in there and beautiful trees and flowers. There is a Moon-shining teahouse, what they call a
dry garden which expresses the buddhist view of the world. It was founded in 1160 and in 1256 it was chosen as the site for the construction of the Buddhist Temple Saimyoji. It is a place dedicated to Zenkoji worship, which is the main image of Kannon Bodhisattva, the deity of compassion. I stayed here for a long time just walking around and watching the Japanese people sketch. I was a truely beautiful place and I would recommend if you go to Kamakura to visit it.
Fourth Shrine for the day Engaku-Ji, named after Engaku-Kyo....The Sutra on Perfect Enlightenment. Engaku has eighteen branch temples. The temple has face many fires and been rebuilt several times. Within the temple are the following things to see, the main gate, worship tepmle, Buddha Selection hall, Zazen Hall for Laity Trainees, A hundred sculptures of Kan-non, Shrine of sacred tooth of Buddha this is a natonal treasure, Mausoleum of Tokimune Ho-jo the patron of the temple, Cave of whote deer, Branch temple of yellow plum and the temple bell which is also a national treasure. It was lovely to look at and again you can appreciate the work that has gone nto carving
and building the temples.
By this stage of the day I have spent 4 hours looking at temple and I knew that was it for me on the Temple seen for one day. There were still other temples I wanted to see, so will be going back for that when the weather warms up so I can have a look at the beach.
I took a break and got some yummy food in Beck's Cafe had to go there its all in the name and did a little shopping there is a great street for buying gifts. Kamakura is famous for its wood carving.
Last stop of the day, the main reason I choose to visit Kamakura......Kamakura's famous great Buddha, The Kotoku-in Daibutsu. It was constructed in 1252, it is a national treasure. It was worth the trip. It was so big, it is the second largest Buddha in Japan. You can pay 20Y and go inside, that was nothing excitibg except to say you have been in and touched the inside of the buddha. I love the Buddha's big shoes. There were alot of people there and my camara was about to go flat so I
asked a Japanese man to take a photo for me of me and the buddha. After what seemed like an eternity he finally took a photos so I thought but ni he had just moved around alot trying to get the perfect shoy just to turn the camara off. I didnt have the energy to wait for him to try again. So I found a younger Japanese girl to take a photo, she managed to take the shot but chopped the Buddha's head off. Then my camare completey died. So thats my photo me and the headless Buddha. I thought Japanese people were good at taing photos.........I guess not on that day.
After a long day I headed back to the train and got back to my little town of Asabata.
I will go again and see the reast of the temples I didnt see and check out the beach there....it is a must I think!!!!
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mum
non-member comment
I love the picture of the cherry tree in blossom you took it's a great pic quite artistic for you keep snapping away love ya mum xoxox