I went into Kamakura with Chris, Yasuko and Yoko. Yoko and I met on the train and then we met up with the future Brackens on the platform in Yokohama.
We started at Kita-Kamakura which is the north side of the town. Engaku-ji was the first temple we went to. So here's the story of this one... About 700 years ago the Mongolians tried to take Japan. This guy (Toimune Hojo, governor of the Shogun) continued studying Zen all throughout the time the Mongolians were trying to take over. After they were pushed back he wanted to spread the way of Zen that had been his mental focal point throughout the conflict and to honour the souls of those who were lost in the war from both sides. He built the temple and named it Engaku after the Sutra ('a teaching') on Perfect Enlightenment. It eventually became the main centre of Zen in the Kanto Area and still continues to provide training in the way of Zen. That's essentially what it's about. It has a bunch of buildings and is quite an extensive property. There are little teahouses and small shrines and temples all on the same site. There's even the Shari-den with is the Shrine of the Sacred Tooth of Buddha. It's supposed to be a National Treasure and very important so we could only get within about a hundred feet of it, but I couldn't figure out from the information if it's the tooth that's the national treasure or if it's the building that was made to hold the tooth that's the national treasure. I think it may be the building. Or maybe it's both. The whole area was constructed to create an atmosphere conducive to meditative thought. It was put in this valley that is carved right into the rocks so it feels like the rocks are a hedge of protection from the world around, and at this time of year they are lush with greenery and trees and flowers.
Next, we walked along to another temple, Meigetsu-in. The story on this one... it was founded in 1160 as a place of rest for the soul of this guy's dad. Then this other guy in like 1256 decided that this would be the site of a Buddhist temple. Then some other guys after him kept adding on and building more. It's centered around the deity of compassion. The gardens on the site are amazing. They are green and lush and the hydrangea (which are in full extravagant bloom right now with the rains and the heat) are like wild bushes and grow into these mass bushes that line the walks and the riverbed. We walked around for quite some time and headed up the hill (up many, many stairs) to a shrine and a giant bell. And there was a place for lunch up there too. Kinda cool with the low benches with red felt on them, hidden in the trees overlooking the site. But we didn't have lunch there.
We headed back to a main road and found a fabulous old farm house that had been moved to the town and is now a restaurant. It was cool sitting up in the second story thinking this was once someone's living space. The beams were HUGE and dark and lovely. We had a lunch of "Vegetables from the Mountains" and soup and rice. We were quite refreshed and headed back out.
Walked along the street, found some rice cracker snacks that Chris loves so much, I like to call them Scooby Snacks, and we ended up at the shrine where I had been before. It's waaay up on the hill overlooking "downtown" Kamakura. I was standing apart from the others when I was approached by a man, probably in his thirties, who asked me in English where the bus was. I said I didn't know. I thought it was odd that he would ask me, of all people, who obviously isn't from around the area. But then upon leaving he looked at my chest, oh, that's why he asked me, either that or he figured me for a tourist and so would know where the bus stop is and then was legitimately distracted by the boobs. Hard to say which one it is. At the bottom of all the stairs are these giant barrels of Sake that are an offering. Serious, they're giant. They're massive. I've been there twice and have been taken with the giant barrels, and yet, I'm still to take a picture of them. Yasuko evidently knows all about Sake and the different kinds. We discussed having a Sake party, sort of like Riley's Scotch party where everyone brings a bottle and then everyone gets to taste a bit of everyone else's so that we all get a little taste of a tonne of different kinds. I guess it would have been easier to explain that by simply saying it's like a wine party, but quite frankly, that would be too simple and I'll take any opportunity I can get to talk about Scotch.
We left that shrine area and walked around the streets of the town in the shopping area. Oh, but not before seeing the biggest turtle in a pond full of the biggest water lilies I have ever seen in my life. We were standing on the bridge watching these two chicks feed the koi and some usual pond sized turtles...aw, aren't they cute... when all of a sudden, whoa, look at that face, what the heck is that, holea, look at the size of that turtle. It was giannormous. We were quite taken with it. Or at least Chris, Yasuko and I were. Yoko thought we were a little nuts. Anyway, back to the shopping area, it's full of all these fabulous little shops. Some are traditional clothing, some are traditional snacky foods, like we hit this bean shop that has all these flavoured beans. Quite tasty. Some shops are more hippy like clothing ones with organic cotton skirts and shirts in African styling. Then! Oh my, so there are these guys who give rick-shaw rides (sort of like kabuki cabs in Victoria, only minus the bike!) and they often stand on the corner and talk to passers-by. So this one guy was sort of talking to Yoko who was in front of me, then he turned away but then came back to me and kind of came up behind me and said in my ear in English, "Trust me Princess", as I give my oh so well known scandalized face and shocked vocalization. "Ah! What?" "I'll take you on a magic carpet ride." "Oh, no no no no no. You did not just say that to me! You did not. Do not even. Are you joking me? No no no no no no no. No!" Disney be damned! We saw him again as we were leaving and I just started saying, "Do not talk to me, do not even attempt to talk to me if you value your arms" as he was saying "Bye bye" in this dirty little sing song voice.
We caught the train back and parted the same way we came. I ended up bootin around Tsudanuma on the way back home. Found some peanut butter (I love oil separation) and was going to leave, but then I got distracted by the Tower Records again and ended up spending over an hour in there listening to music.
