He's Big, He's Bronze, He's Buddha

Thursday morning after breakfast Mika and I head out with our host, Rina, to see some sights. We hop on a trolley not far from the house for our first stop. There are temples all over the place in Kamakura. People use the trolley to temple and shrine hop. Our first stop of the day is at Jyojin temple. It is an outdoor stairwell that is lined with blossomed hydrangea. It is rainy season now so it is very green, the flowers are at full bloom and everyone knows about it. Today is Thursday and it feels busy. Rina assures us that the weekends are much worse. I hate extremely crowded events in Japan (and everywhere else really). When I lived here in 2006 whether it was fireworks, Christmas lights, or cherry blossoms the events are so packed with people all trying to view the same thing that even walking becomes a challenge. The Japanese seem to be used to it. I am not and probably never will be. In order to prevent a nervous breakdown in front of hundreds of strangers, I concentrate less on the beautiful thing we are all supposed to witness and use the event to closely observe my fellow humans.

We follow the small crowd on a narrow sidewalk and arrive at stairs leading up a hill. There are a few hydrangea bushes, and I am not sure what the fuss is about. At the landing there is a perpendicular set of steps leading up to the temple. We unanimously agree not to go into the temple and continue on about 20 feet when we hit a wall of people. Now I understand the fuss. There is a stairwell heading down the other side of the hill and walls of hydrangea are lining both sides. The purple, blue and white flowers are popping out of their green leafy base. From afar there is a view of the town and a small piece of ocean.

We make our way down the steps. There are many people snapping away with cameras and cell phones. On our way to the next destination we weave past people on narrow sidewalks browsing in stores and popping into an ice cream shop for some freshly made gelato.

The next place, and first on my list is Kamakura Daibutsu, The Great Buddha. I am not sure why, but I really enjoy visiting giant Buddha statues. Is it the fact that hundreds of years ago someone made such an enormous effort to display their devotion to their beliefs? Or is it that to my western perspective there is a definite kitsch to Buddha statues that I find endearing, and this warm feeling is grossly magnified in a 121 ton statue?
Rina leaves us to go run errands, and we enter the temple area. From over the main wall, we can see Daibutsu’s head in the distance. We pass the ticket booth and follow the pave stone path to the large statue that was completed in 1262. This is not a real holy place. It is more like an enjoyable break from the other more solemn temple and shrine visits. Very few people give coins and pray to Diabutsu. There are many school groups. Kids are running around everywhere. For only ¥20 (US 0.20) we can go inside the Buddha statue. Inside his bowels we see how the metal was welded together in a 30-part casting process. There is also some information about the construction and recent renovation. It is very hot inside a giant Buddha.
We leave Diabutsu and start thinking about our next stop. We check the map, but it is confusing. Throughout Kamakura there are large maps showing the locations of all the temples and shrines. The problem is that the map orientations are different everywhere. I do not see arrows indicating North. I let Mika navigate. It is lunchtime and we are debating the meal plan. Mika wants to sit and have lunch. I want to keep moving and eat near the next place. Usually when Mika is hungry her stomach takes control of the situation. I have much better camel reserves and will forge ahead with little nourishment. This is a reoccurring theme in our travels. I veto her first restaurant choice only 30 ft. from the Great Buddha entrance. She is starting to get cranky and luckily spots a small shop selling very large pork buns. Mika loves dim sum. Her stomach is happy, and a crisis has been avoided. It is now after 2 PM and most restaurants have closed for lunch. Now I am really hungry. We are near the next shrine. We go to a convenience store to rehydrate, and I get a bowl of cold udon (noodles) for lunch.

We arrive at the main road of Kamakura which will lead us to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, Kamakura‘s main shrine. The sidewalks are large and the street is busy with shoppers and tourists. We elect to walk on the raised pathway in the middle of the street that is lined with cherry trees. I am sure during cherry blossom viewing season this pathway is extremely packed, but right now there are very few pedestrians. We pass under the large red shrine gate and a long pathway leads to a plaza. For ¥100 ($1.10) Mika buys her fortune at the stand selling religious items. We walk up the steep steps to the shrine.

We come down on a more peaceful side trail that curves away from the main steps and passes through a wooded area. Mika spots a 4GB memory card on the ground. Now we have a big dilemma should we keep it, or do we give it to the lost and found. Since we are at an important shrine we ask the only pertinent question. What would Buddha do? It ends up that there is no lost and found, so Mika gives it to the girl at the stand selling religious doodads in case someone is looking for their lost photo memories from Kamakura. The girl seems very happy to have a new 4GB memory card.

The next day, Friday, we have only one temple on our agenda. We do not leave the house until 1 PM. Hōkokuji Temple is around a half hour walk from the train station. The first part of the walk is a part we had done the day before. The new part is uphill on, not necessarily a sidewalk, but a narrow part of the street blocked by a metal barrier. Cars and buses are whizzing closely by.
The entrance way to the temple is very green and mossy with a few statues. The main reason we came to Hōkokuji Temple is for its bamboo forest. We pay ¥200 ($2.40) each to enter. There is a stone path leading through the bamboo forest. For having such a narrow trunk bamboo stretches quite high. They also provide a lot of shade. There are several small, moss-covered, stone lanterns amongst the bamboo. It is a very peaceful and relaxing place.
Mika, tired from the uphill walk to the temple and not sleeping well, decides she wants to stop for an ice coffee on the way back to the train station. My body concurs that cold caffeine would hit the spot. We pass several small cafes, but Mika does not want to pay the more than $4 asking price for what is probably a very small drink. Half way back I guzzle a bottle of cold coffee from a convenient store. Mika holds out for better things. We trudge back to the station and finally find an air conditioned place where all travelers are welcome to rest their weary bones for as little as ¥100 ($1). McDonalds. Mika finally gets her ice coffee. I get a yogurt-ice cream. We have our treats and are just $2 poorer. We write a postcard, linger a bit and go out to buy groceries. We then take the trolley back to the house.

Kamakura Homestay

On Wednesday, June 23 we leave Shizuoka heading east towards our final destination, Tokyo. But first, our next stop is Kamakura. Kamakura is famous for having many temples and shrines, a long swimming and surfing beach, and views of Mt. Fuji. Its one hour proximity to Tokyo makes Kamakura a popular day trip for sightseers. Kamakura’s beaches are swarmed on the weekends. Luckily we arrive on a weekday.

As the train slowly creeps onwards I can feel that we are much closer to mega-urbanization. The buildings around the stations are becoming larger, taller and closer together. The train is also getting more and more busy at each station which makes it uncomfortable having suitcases that take up precious floor space. We get off in Ofuna. A busy stop to try to pull a suitcase around. I wish I was wearing a t-shirt that said “pardon me” in Japanese. I also start dreading having to ride the Tokyo subway with all of our luggage and don’t even want to think about Jakarta.

So two trains and one monorail later we arrive at Mika’s friend’s stop. Rina and her seven-year old son are waiting for us at the station. Rina is now a stay-at-home mom and urban herbalist. A few months ago they moved into a new home in a beautiful, hilly suburb of Kamakura. Kamakura is essentially a suburb of Tokyo. Instead of having a mother-in-law apartment, they bought a mother-in-law’s duplex. The home strangely has two adjoining interior doors with Rina’s mom’s house on the other side.

After settling in, we take a fifteen minute walk down to the beach. All along the sand they have started building wood structures that will temporarily house restaurants, bars and aesthetic salons to serve the mass of Tokyoite beachgoers this summer. The sun is setting and the western sky is turning pinkish. We continue along the beach and suddenly Rina points out Mt. Fuji. The shy mountain has finally appeared from the clouds to reveal himself to us. We start walking more briskly to get to the Mt. Fuji viewing boardwalk before daylight is completely gone. The sky is now a screaming orange-pink. I, of course, do not have my camera. Luckily Mika has her small one in her purse. We do our best to get photos of the iconic mountain.

That small triangle on the horizon left of center is Mt. Fuji.

That evening we meet Rina’s husband, Shingo, at a restaurant near the ocean. He teaches web design in Tokyo and has a one-way, 70 minute commute everyday. The restaurant is an Izakaya with numerous local fish specialties. An Izakaya is an eatery where you order many small plates that everyone shares instead of entrees. We also order a local sake. Everything is fantastic.

The next day, Shingo goes to work, their son goes to school, and we have a leisurely breakfast with the usual assortment of Japanese dishes that I have now become accustomed to. I tell Rina that if she came to visit us in Denver she would probably just get cereal and a banana. After breakfast she takes us to see some of Kamakura’s sights.

Mika and I return exhausted from sight-seeing on foot all day. Mika and Rina make dinner. I play soccer with her son in the street. We have a great home-made dinner of more Kamakura fish specialties. After dinner her son gives us a violin concert of Vivaldi with a Bach encore. When I was seven, I was lucky if I could play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the recorder. Shingo gets back very late from Tokyo. Everyone is too tired to wake up at 4 AM to watch Japan’s world cup match.

The next day Mika and I head out late with only one temple and grocery shopping on our agenda. We return home and Mika prepares Vietnamese spring rolls and fried noodles for dinner. After dinner we have a rousing game of the Japanese version of LIFE, which includes golf club membership, a Yakuza career option and nuclear plant meltdowns. Without being able to read the board or cards, I win the game. Rina’s husband returns from work just before 12 AM.

Early Saturday morning, Shingo heads back to work - if you have not figured it out yet, the Japanese work really long hours. Mika and I had bought bagels (package of two bland bagels = $2.75) , cream cheese and smoked salmon so we have a nice brunch outside with Rina‘s mother who told stories about her father who was an antique samurai sword expert. Around 12 PM we get on a bus to go to Mika’s sister’s house. Rina and her son take the half hour bus ride with us to Fujisawa just to see us off from another great visit. Then they turn around and go right back. The Japanese are very kind like that.

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