One Big Buddha - Kamakura

Wednesday - June 12, 2013

Today the faculty were off for another full-day tour.  The rain was coming down pretty good again today so we got our umbrellas and loaded up on the bus.  It is strange how little we've seen of the students over the past few days and today will be no different.  But, a day with Yuji and Sho is always a fun adventure.

Today we're headed to Kamakura which is a city in Japan about 30 miles south and slightly west of Tokyo.  It's a popular tourist destination because of its beaches and temples.  Sounds good to me!  WARNING:  There are going to be a lot of pictures of this day!

Our first stop was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu.  This is the most important Shinto shrine in Kamakura and is considered the geographical and cultural center of the city. 

The bridge leading to the temple.

Bob, me, Big Mike, and Oxford Mike.  Love these guys!

A wedding procession.

 As we were getting closer to the temple, Sho realized that a wedding was going on at this lower structure.  Sho was really excited about this.  He said that he's been here around 25 times and it was only the second time that a wedding had been taking place during his visit. So... naturally we had to take a picture!

Me, Sho, and Mara with a wedding as our backdrop.

These containers are full of sake... presented as an offering.

The international faculty of Technos International Week 2013.  What a great group!

 So we were off to a good start.  Sure there was a little rain, but we got to see a wedding and another great temple.  Also, we were all discovering something else...  the soft serve ice cream in Japan is awesome.  Two flavors were quickly becoming favorites of the group...  Green Tea and Sweet Potato.  We had a little bit of time before we needed to be back on the bus.  I grabbed a Green Tea and Sweet Potato swirl cone and we were off to the Koutoku-in Temple.

The whole experience at the Koutoku-in temple was one of my favorite experiences of the trip.  This area is home to a giant bronze Buddha statue that is over 750 years old.  Apparently it was once housed in a wooden structure but the structure burned down.  The statue remained and it's been outdoors ever since. 

 

 

 

That is one big Buddha!

It's so big, you can go inside it.  Here is a shot from the inside looking up into its head.

Side view.  Notice the umbrellas on the bottom right of the picture.  That is a line of people waiting to go in the statue.

Some info about the statue.

There were a lot of schoolkids at the statue and it seems as if many of them had an assignment where they were supposed to try and practice their English with a tourist.  Mike and I had a wonderful encounter with a group of students.

Look at this great crew!  i could have hung out with them all day!

So Kamakura was scoring big points in my book so far.  Now it was time for lunch.  Would lunch live up to the great day we were already having?  YES!  We went to a restaurant where we were served an absolute feast of food.  What made it extra fun was that, by now, we all kind of knew what we liked and didn't like in terms of some of the common food.  So we were able to share with each other and trade with each other.  I loved the sashimi and tempura... but I traded away my soba noodles.  Plus we were served this wonderful piece of fried fish.  It was a great meal.

Look at this meal!  Yes that is almost all for me!  Once again we get the royal treatment.  Amazing.

After a quick stop for some more green tea ice cream we walked to the Hase-dare Temple.  This temple is famous for its large wooden statue of Kannon, one of the biggest wooded statues in Japan, and also for its hydrangeas.   These grounds were gorgeous and we were there in prime hydrangea season.  Get ready for some pictures...

Wandering through hydrangeas in the rain with Mara and Mike.

It's tough to see, but the ocean is in the distance.  We could see surfers from up here.

Between the flowers and the umbrellas, it was a wonderful display of color.

This was going to be a great picture but this guy wouldn't leave so I had to incorporate him.

At one point yesterday I asked Yuji if he could change one thing about the itinerary, what would he change...  Yuji replied that he thought maybe the schedule was a little heavy on older type locations and themes.  Edo Wonderland, Matsumoto Castle, Jindai-Ji Temple, Asakura, Edo Museum, and now Kamakura.  He thought maybe it'd be nice to add in a modern art museum or something that showcased "newer" Japan.  I understand what he means.  We've done a lot of shrines and temples over the past three days.  However, Kamakura was one of my absolute favorite places to visit so far.  I think that, were I to come back to Japan, out of the all the places we have visited outside of Tokyo, Kamakura would be the place I would most want to return to to spend more time.  Another great day!