There are some options for day trips outside of Tokyo. With my prepaid rail pass we visit Kamakura, which is an ancient city on the coast in Tokyo Bay about an hour by train. Kamakura is considered the birthplace of the samurai way of life. My handy guide book explains “Minamoto no Yoritoma, Japan’s first shogun, chose this site for his military government. The warrior elite took much of their ideology – and aesthetics – from Zen Buddhism, endowing splendid temples that still exist today”.
From the train station we walk to one of the many temples in this ancient town. There are many young children about in traditional costume. It’s a special time for them. And there is a wedding bring performed in all the regalia of traditional Japan. It’s fascinating to watch. Despite the tremendous age of these many aces of worship, they are not from a past era. These temples still play a big part in the lives and traditions of many Japanese today. And different temples have different purposes for worship. For example, there is one for women who want to prey for success in falling pregnant.
Just outside central Kamakura and up in the hills is Hase. We get to here by bus from the train station. Here we first visit The Great Buddha Kamakura, or Kamakura Daibutsu. It’s a striking statue over 11 m tall and weighing 121 tons. Construction began in 1252 and took 10 years to complete. The community paid for it. So popular is this Buddha, it shares honours with Mount Fuji for the quintessential picture postcard image of Japan. This Buddha used to be undercover but in 1495 its wooden temple was washed away in a tsunami. It’s hard to imagine such a disaster because we are well above the sea level. There are a lot of people here from all angles of life. The statue in its peaceful pose invokes a sense of serenity and even I can feel it. It’s pleasant just being here.
We then visit the Hase-dera temple. It’s a complex of beautiful buildings in the typical Japanese Buddhist style, up on the hills overlooking the ocean. There are some beautiful views.
We jump on a local train that takes us around the coast line to Enoshima Island. There are great beaches along this stretch of coast and there is plenty of surfing going on. Apparently this is a popular escape for Tokyo residents. Enoshima is a hilly little island covered in temples and markets and steps…many steps. You can get both your gastronomic and spiritual fix in one. We’re here on a Wednesday afternoon and the narrow walkways are packed with people. There is food of all descriptions but the most popular it seems is octopus biscuit. People line up for octopus that has been compressed into this huge (about 30cm by 20cm) rectangular but very thin biscuit.
On the way back to Tokyo we stop in Yokohama. It’s a busy modern port city in a Tokyo Bay. A Chinatown is not far from the city centre and is a great place for us to eat. Typically the narrow streets are full of colourful decoration and signage. From here it’s a walk down to the harbour. It’s about 7 pm so the harbour is ablaze with city lighting. It’s beautiful. You can walk for miles along waterfront walkways.
Train back to Tokyo and back to the Hotel at 9.30pm. I’m exhausted.
angusmccoll 