Kamakura

Day 255 - Just a great day out.

This morning we agreed to be on the 10.11 train from Kashiwa as Shouko would be able to get on at the next stop down the line and we could head out to the Kamakura area together. It was a great plan until we arrived at the station to find that there were two 10.11 trains, one being an express. We decided to go with the stopping all stations, as the express wouldn’t stop at Shouko’s station.

When Shouko didn’t get on the next stop up we realised we had no back up plan! We decided to get off at the next station that both trains would stop at and call. As we stepped out of the carriage, Shouko was about to step on!! So we all quickly jumped back on the train we were on. She had realised what had happened and also got off at the next station that both stopped at to change. It was very lucky because we hadn’t even looked up where we were going to meet there!

By the time we arrived in Kamakura, it was lunchtime and stinking hot. We took a walk up the main road Wakamiya-oji toward Enkaku-ji temple and stopped in at a Japanese curry house in a little alleyway on the way. Japanese curry wasn’t very hot, but tasty just the same, and added to our variety of food which has mainly consisted of sushi train and okonomiaki up to date.

Essentially, cross where ever you want!

Enkaku-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1282 and was a place where monks prayed for soldiers who lost their lives defending Japan against the Kublai Khan. There was a small museum attached, but not even our translator could read the exhibits as the script was scribbley and written in ‘old language’, so we just had to admire the artefacts and layered kimonos instead.

Tubs of sake donated to the temple by local businessman.

On the way out I picked up an “Omikuji” (fortune card) and it was not a bad one, so I didn’t need to go back into the temple and tie it in a special area and pray for a better one.

A couple reads their Omikuji to each other.

After the Enkaku-ji we walked back toward the station on a parallel street through Komachi-dori, known for its shopping. Matt’s must-have item from Japan was a puzzle box, mine was a proper tea set and up until now I was losing hope of finding one I wanted in my price range. Still nothing in this strip, so we headed for the train to Kotoku-in temple to see Japan’s second largest Daibutsu (Buddha). The biggest was in Nara, which we had already seen.

Lucky for me, there was a little pottery shop on the path up to the temple and I finally found a cute little tea set! (Sorry forgot to take a photo before sending it home).

Sitting in the open air of the gardens, Daibutsu didn’t let us down and he was very impressive. He used to be sheltered in a giant wooden house but…

I thought it was very Zen that he would just sit there while a Tsunami washed away his house.

Some terrapins playing in a nearby pond.

On the way back to the train we stopped in at Hase Dera which was also very rewarding with views out to the beach, a beautiful garden and a funny little cave which had different small chambers where you could donate money in an honesty box, take a small figurine or plaque, write on the bottom your wish and then line it up with the others.

As the beach was close by, we took a short stroll down to sticky beak. I think we’ll save our swimming for the Philippines.

Hearing that I, in particular, had a bit of an obsession with okonomiaki, Shouko took us to a street full of okonomiaki restaurants! When I asked if she had a favourite she replied that she had never been to this street before, so when I asked her how we pick one (out of at least 30!) she replied “intuition”! Intuition basically involved looking through the window to see what we thought. Shouko’s intuition did good! The place was full, funky and delicious!