Temple Hopping in Kamakura!

For my day off today, I decided to head to Kamakura, capital of Japan during the Kamakura Period, today a small city in Kanagawa Prefecture known for its beaches and temples, specifically for its daibutsu (Great Buddha). As the city is about an hour away from Tokyo via train, I had to make myself get up earlier than normal (though luckily not as early as I had to for Toy Story 3) and head out. While I ended up being a little later than I wanted to be in departing (I ended up checking up on google maps where I wanted to start from as I knew I would be doing a lot of walking and I wanted to be efficient with my time), I took the subway, and eventually arrived at Tokyo Station, where I proceeded to figure out where the train line I needed to take was located. With my ticket in hand (780 yen, possibly the most expensive train ticket i've paid for yet on this trip, though after today it was well worth it), I descended two stairwells and found my deserted platform. Eventually the train came, and I lucked out by choosing a compartment where I could sit down instead of stand. As always, I bring the book i'm currently reading everywhere with me, so I pulled it out and passed the train ride in an enjoyable manner (at least for the most part -- there were several times I freaked out because I believed I had gotten onto the wrong train though I had checked five times before getting on the train that I was at the right platform on the right line).

About an hour later, the train pulled into Kita-Kamakura Eki (North Kamakura Station). I almost missed it as I was so absorbed in my book. I ran off just as the doors were closing and looked around. The station appeared to be deserted, save for those just getting off the train. I felt like I had landed in the boondocks, with all this greenery and vegetation around. Part of me began to freak out tiny bit, but as I exited the station and ambled down the road, I came up on a tourist map of the Kamakura Prefecture, which showed where I currently was and where all the temples and sightseeing places in the city were.

This was perfect considering I only had a minor idea of where everything was situated. The reason I had chosen to get off at Kita-Kamakura Eki instead of the main Kamakura Station was because I felt I could visit the few sights up near this station, the walk down towards the main station, see those sights, and then walk towards the others on one of Kamakura's local lines. According to the tourist map, all of this appeared to be dooable, which made me happy considerng it appeared that my plan would work out. Won't lie, it was also cheaper to ride to Kita-Kamakura instead of the main station by 110 yen (that could buy me a sweet bun from a konbini right there...). Anyway, I also thought that if I started at the other temples instead of the temple with the Great Buddha, I would avoid the tourist crowds, as they would start at that temple and work their way to the others (or so I reasoned with myself).

As a result, my first stop was Engaku-ji, second of the five Great Zen Temples of Kamakura.

It was conveniently right next to the station, only a five minute walk. The Temple grounds were beautiful; I felt like I was in a tropical paradise with all of the greenery surrounding the temple structures. To me, there were two parts of this temple that made it rather unique. One, in the Temple's Shari-den, the tooth of the Buddha is supposedly enshrined. While it is not open to the public, it has been classified as a national treasure. Even if the tooth were there, I'm pretty sure it would have decayed by now...but anyway, that's not the point. I guess it's neat that the claim to fame for this temple is that it houses two national treasures. The other national treasure is the Ohgane, the Temple Bell.

After a long hike up the hill, climbing who knows how many stairs, I made it to the top to see a magnificent view. The bell is housed on top of this hill. Very unfortunate as the hike is not exactly fun but the bell and the view are totally worth it. This bell is HUGE and the view is equally amazing. Definitely worth the stair climbing to see this national treasure. However, I'm a little perplexed why it's a national treasure as it is a "symbolic temple bell" of the Kamakura Period. I don't know if it is even from that time period (it looks pretty old so I assume it is old -- just how old is a question in itself.

Anyway, after I left Engaku-ji, I backtracked to the map of the area near the station to see where the next temple I wanted to see was located. What was closest and the name I most easily recognized was Kencho-ji, the first of the five great Zen temples. I wasn't entirely sure how to get there, so I crossed the train tracks to the other side of the street, and decided to follow to French tourists and see where they ended up. They were heading in the general direction that Kencho-ji was in, but I wasn't sure that was their final destination. Either way, they were obviously gaijin, and therefore obviously tourists, so I would end up seeing something cool in the end even if I just followed them (at least I hoped so). I mean...what's the worst that could happen? I knew where the station was, so if I needed to backtrack, it wasn't really a problem.

Luckily, the pair ended up leading me to Tokeiji-Temple, which I had wanted to see, but wasn't listed on the map in English (and I had no idea what its name looked like in Kanji so I thought it was a lost cause). Tokeiji Temple was originally a Buddhist nunnery and later became nicknamed as the "Divorce Temple" as women who were in abusie relationships could escape to this temple, use it as a shelter, and if they stayed for three years, were permitted to divorce their husbands. Anyway, I wanted to see it and was happy to have stumbled upon it. I thought the grounds were absolutely beautiful. I'm not entirely sure why, but I liked this temple immensely moreso than the one I had just come from, even though it was smaller and didn't have as many structures nor any national treasures to boast of. It did have a whole back section of cemetaries though. I know that sounds a little morbid, but Buddhist cemetaries are really cool to walk around in(at least in my perspective). And the hike up the stairs here was worth the view as well. On the way down I crossed paths actually with the French tourists, and we exchanged mutual smiles (prior to this I had only been following them; hopefully not looking to sketchy or obvious). On my way out, I even stopped into the small gift shop there and bought some post cards.

I decided that my next stop would be Kencho-ji, as I wanted to make sure I could reach the Great Buddha temple before it closed at 5:00pm and I had quite a bit of a ways to go before reaching it. However, Kencho-ji ended up not being my next stop as I passed Jochi-ji on my way. Jochi-ji is the fourth of the five Great Zen Temples of Kamakura.

What I was most impressed with in this temple was its main altar (pictured left). These three wooden statues apparently represent the past, present and future from left to right. The statues are of the Buddhas Amida, Shakyamuni (Siddhartha), and Miroku (at least, according to the english pamphlet I received). In person, they are pretty magnificent. I wish I could've gotten a better picture of them, or even individual pictures of each statue, but the building was only for viewing. Visitors weren't even allowed to go in and walk around. Another interesting thing the temple had was a statue of the God of Happiness. I've never seen a statue like that before and I guess I was surprised to find one at a Zen Temple.

After my interlude at Jochi-ji, I continued down the main road towards Kencho-ji. I was a little skeptical about going to Kencho-ji after having gone to both Engaku-ji and Jochi-ji already. Two other Zen Temples...was I going to see anything new at this one, even if it was ranked number one of the five great Zen Temples of Kamakura? I am so glad I didn't bypass Kencho-ji. It may have been my favorite visit of the entire day.

Now the guide they give you at the entrance of the temple makes Kencho-ji seem like it has a fair amount of ground covered. This is deceptive. Kencho-ji stretches out into the mountains behind it. I DID NOT KNOW THIS. The pamphlet itself is also deceptive. Anyway, the central gate is enormous, the walkway leading up to the Butsuden is lined with Juniper trees. The Butsuden itself is magnificent. Inside is a large image of the Bodhisattava Jizo. Directly behind the Butsuden is the Hojo, in which an image of the historical Buddha is presented for public viewing. However, what's breathtaking about the Hojo is its ceiling. it's a painted dragon...like whoa. Seeing this ceiling is worth the 300 yen admission price itself. Now, after you amble around the grounds, you wander up the way towards what you think is the garden in the back of the temple. FALSE.

You keep walking up the stone pathway until you reach the foot of the hill. You see a painful amount of stairs and you climb. Eventually, you reach the summit of Hanso-bo, which is the shrine protecting the temple. And if you are still up for it, you can keep going up the mountain, climbing more, steeper stairs, until you reach the ultimate summit and see an AMAZING view. This is why Kencho-ji could possibly be my favorite temple out of all the ones I visited today. While the climbs were killer (trust me, they were), the views were spectacular. I felt like I totally got my money's worth out of this temple solely because of the views. On my way down though, I definitely filled my water bottle up at the water fountain as the heat was only getting stronger as the day progressed. I was just surprised there WAS a water fountain (first one I've seen in all my time in Japan...).

After my adventure at Kencho-ji, I decided to head towards Tskurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. Located in the heart of Kamakura, this shrine is a popular tourist attraction as well as a well loved temple by the locals. Granted, I figured I was about thirty minutes away from the Shrine from my current position at Kencho-ji. Actually, it ended up only being 15. I came in from a side entrance though, so when I actually reached the grounds, I saw they were flooded with tourists.

Not that I was surprised. I figured at any time of day this Shrine would have its fair share of visitors. The buildings were large and grand. Tourists flocked to buy their own charms. Locals were at the worship halls praying to the resident kami. The Shrine itself commanded grandeur and magnificence, but I kind of felt myself unenchanted. Maybe it was the vast amount of people that turned me off, but I just was not all that drawn to the Shrine. So I ended up leaving rather quickly after I checked out the main buildings and taken my pictures necessary for my memory.

Now came the tough part. I had to navigate my way to the Great Buddha Temple, Kotokuin. I had decided not to take the train from Kamakura Station to Hase Station and then walk from there. Instead, after examining the large tourist map next to the station once more (these are actually quite helpful, though definitely not to scale -- distances that I have thought were much longer ended up being shorter!), I set off with a direction in mind. I knew I would make it well before closing time, so I wasn't worried about timing...as long as I didn't get lost.

Which I didn't! I took a lot of back alleyways and residential streets and eventually made my way to the big street, which was obviously crowded with tourists. Then, following the massive amounts of gaijin, I made my way to the Daibutsu.

Okay, so I've seen the Daibutsu at Nara and it's pretty magnificent. But the Daibutsu of Kamakura can hold its own as well. While Nara's is the largest and Kamakura is the second largest, to me it is equally impressive. While the one in Nara is inside, the one in Kamakura is outside, exposed to the elements. I am so in awe of the engineering it takes to create a figure such as this. Upon reaching the Buddha, I walked around the entire statue, just taking in its dimensions, and rather just digesting what my eyes were seeing. I wish I had a greater vocabulary to describe just how cool and neat it was to be standing in the shadow of this magnificent statue.

Eventually, I was able to pull myself away from Kotokuin and head to my last Temple stop, Hase-dera. Hase-dera is a temple dedicated to the Bodhisattvas Kannon and Jizo, two of my favorites (I really can't say why they are my favorites, but they are).

It's also pretty busy, but I enjoyed it all the same. There were TONS of Jizo statues scattered around the Temple grounds. Up the hill, after more stairs (forget the stair master -- just hit up your Buddhist Temples, that's where you'll get your workout), the view there is equally breathtaking as you can see both the town of Kamakura as well as the beach. If I didn't mention it before, Kamakura is right on the beach. Anyway, next to the viewing area are a bunch of picnic tables for people to sit at and rest etc. So one of the gaijin is sitting there, unpacking his "lunch" or whatever, and this hawk swoops down and grabs the sandwich. No joke. A HAWK dive bombs and flys away with his food. Only later did I see the Japanese sign warning about hawks in the area. Sure enough, there were two others flying over the area, waiting for their own chances at stealing sustenance. After that incident, I ascended the mountain another time to get an even better view of the city and ocean area and then headed to the main worship hall. The large Kannon statue contained with the hall was magnificent as well. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take any pictures, but it was definitely worth seeing.

After Hase-dera, I have to say I temple over dosed. I was ready to just walk along the beach, hop on a train and head home, exhausted as I was (walking all day in the hot sun ends up taking its toll). So I made my way back to the station, deciding to walk along the waterfront. It's been a while since I have been to a beach, so I wanted to see what the famous Yugihama Beach had in store for me. While it seemed like any other beach, it was massively crowded with surfers and para sailors curiously. Had I been in more of an enthusiastic mood, I may have even waded into the water for a bit. But I was more anxious to get home. On my way back to the station, I was unsure if I was still on the right path, so I asked a woman for directions, which she gave me and then we proceeded to talk about my Japanese, that I was a study abroad student from America, that she had visited California, and so on and so forth. She was super sweet, and walked with me for a bit before heading in her own direction, reminding me of the Mister Donut I would see where I needed to turn for the station before departing. :) So sweet.

I arrived at the station, purchased a ticket, waited for the train, found a seat, and felt relief flood through my legs. Finally sitting after having been on my feet for the past six and a half hours was amazing. I returned to my book, and waited for the train to take me back home. An hour and a half later, I was back at my apartment. I collapsed for a bit, then made ramen and watched some Japanese TV for a bit before showering and cozying up with Anastasia in Japanese. To my dismay, as I was getting into the shower, I saw that I had gotten sunburned during the day. Hopefully it won't sting too much...

All in all, I had an AMAZING day at Kamakura.