Waiting for Spring to Sprung

[rkold]

When the people doing work on our house decided to re-do the back steps they managed to muck up the lock on the door so now it can't be opened. I'm rather put out since it is a royal pain with composting to have to walk all the way around the house. On the bright side, this is now the half way mark for Passover. I somehow managed to get the downstairs presentable and while the upstairs is a mess it could be worse. My food went well, which was also very happy and now we're eating leftovers. lol I think my favorite was the fritatta. I want to make another one. The only problem looming on the near horizon is my parents want me to visit my aunt. On the far horizon I still need to figure out my trip to Japan >>;; Though twotone was most helpful!

It's still cold here. I find this incredibly depressing. I can't believe the lows are in the 30's, we should not be having frosts in April. *sighs*


On Tuesday, I decided to go to Kamakura. I've of course been there before, but hadn't visited since I went with Jenn and Kate during my New Years in Japan. I didn't have a temple stamp book, and like Kyoto and Nara, Kamakura is a great location to get stamps. :D It also promised to be a little warmer than even Tokyo since it is further South.

Unlike many places I've been in Japan, Kamakura HAS changed since the last time I went there. The biggest change is much much better signs (in English and Japanese) to the various temples and actual signs with distances! I had no idea that the Daibatsu was only about a mile or so from the station. o_O Because guides always suggest taking the Enoden line I thought it was much further.


A tiny park near my hotel where presumably some people do not want to follow the rules.


Some double ume in Kamakura.


The end of ume season


This is Zeniarai Benten. It's not as popular as some of the other shrines/temples in Kamakura with foreigners because it's about 1 mile from the station and up on rather large hill. I'd only visited it once before. It's famous for bringing luck with money and if you wash your money there it's supposed to double it! It also has surprisingly nice bathrooms!




I believe these are Snow Drops




Money laundering a la Zeniarai Benten




For my husband, farming in Kamakura approx 1 hour by train from Tokyo


I want row covers ;;_;;


Some ume on the walk between Zeniarai Benten and the Daibatsu


Future sakura


Early sakura at the Daibatsu


The Daibatsu. For those who don't know, supposedly it use to be in a hall, but a tsunami came and washed the hall away leaving just the Buddha. For 20 yen one can go inside Buddha.


This picture makes me snicker. Of course the weird eyes are caused by red eye, but still. Having living surrounded by squirrels my whole life I could not believe how the Japanese were feeding them out of their hands. I so would not want a squirrel on me!


Next, I walked to Hase-dera. Hase-dera is famous for its jizo which are often decorated with bibs and presents for aborted or miscarried babies. Like the Daibatsu, it's one of the big tourist destinations in Kamakura




This flower I learned in Hakone is called an Edgeworth.








Obligatory dolly picture


Magnolia




Lots of jizo






I've no idea what sort of flowers these are but I loved how bright they were






more early sakura






I then walked from Hase-dera to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu which is probably the big shrine in Kamakura.


And at its entrance there was one sakura tree in mostly full bloom










The shrine itself


This tree is famous because the assassin of one of the Minamoto shoguns hid behind it before killing the shogun. It's over 1000 years old.

I then tried to go one more temple, but made it just after it closed! So I was lazy and took the bus back to the station and caught a train back to Tokyo. :D

Comments

[kellyhime.livejournal.com]

Oh, your pictures made us so excited to go to Kamakura again. We've gone there on all our trips, so this will be the fourth time, but we still feel like we have a lot to see. Did you go to the Inari shrine that is just below the Benten shrine? It's our favorite.

What is a temple stamp book?

I think that those red flowers are quince. Your kids look so cute at Hasadera!

[rkold.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think I went to that shrine... It sounds lovely though. I really like Kamakura and was so impressed with the new signs. I loved actually being able to walk more of the city.

When you visit a temple or shrine you can buy a book for 1000 or so yen and then every time you visit another temple or shrine you pay 300 yen to have someone stamp the book and write in calligraphy the name of the temple. I can show you some examples if you like. My friend muscatlove clued me into them and I've finished 1 book and am now nearly done with a 2nd lol Some places the books are quite plain, like my first one but some temples/shrines sell really nice ones. If you wanted to start one, I would highly recommend buying yours at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Gu since theirs were *SO NICE*

I shall remember quince for the future. :D They're really very pretty.

[kellyhime.livejournal.com]

Oh, we'd planned to go to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Gu (THG) again, so I'll definitely look around for their stamp book.

Twice before, we've gotten off the train at Kita-Kamakura and visited places while walking to Kamakura. The first time, we went on the north side of the train tracks and ended up at THG. The last time though, we went on the south side up and over the mountain along the Pilgrim's Trail. There was a fabulous view of Fuji-san at the top and the Benten shrine just on the other side. I'd definitely recommend doing that walk if you have a chance.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm maybe I have been to the Inari shrine then. I know I have walked from Zeniarai Benten to Kita Kamakura. My favorite Fuji viewing spot there is at the top of Kenncho-ji. I think I did a hike between there and Zuisen-ji as well.

These weren't hikes per se so much as walking through town, but I hadn't realized how easy it was to get to Hase-dera/the Daibatsu on foot! lol

I'll try to show you some examples later today, they're really quite impressive and a lovely and unique souvenir!

[spazzygirl19.livejournal.com]

Wow! Such beautiful pictures. I love all your pics of the different temples. It made me feel like I was there - so calm & peaceful.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

That's because depending on the temples I did a good job of cropping out the other people there XD;;; Kamakura is a really popular tourist destination because it is only 1 hour from Tokyo. Most of the other tourists are Asian, but it can still make for crowds.

But I love visiting temples and shrines and I particularly like Kamakura. :D

[ad-exia.livejournal.com]

Wow, gorgeous pictures! It looks so pretty! <3

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think I really lucked out in terms of the weather while I was in Japan. :D

[mec]

Even I'm not getting frost anymore, and our weather's usually worse than yours!

Your lovely photos remind me I still have to get to Kamakura. I go to Japan with such good intentions and somehow get sidetracked into doing other things! Not sure I'd be up for...uh...money laundering at Zeniarai Benten, but it's always helpful to know where the decent bathrooms are.

(That squirrel pic is freaking me out a little...)

[rkold.livejournal.com]

We got a frost just last night or the night before. It is so incredibly depressing. My husband refuses to believe me that is unusually cold this year. ~.~

At least the skies are blue.

You should totally go to Kamakura, it's so close to Tokyo and the trip is not very expensive! I would go again during GW but I'm actually not going to be in the Tokyo area so long other than for SCC+Dolpa.

I just could not imagine wanting a squirrel to eat out of your hand. O_O

Lovely photos!

[ginarolo.livejournal.com]

I got a kick out of the squirrel picture.

We have some begging squirrels around Central Park benches. My dogs go bug eyed when squirrels come up and approach us for food.

Re: Lovely photos!

[rkold.livejournal.com]

I wasn't fast enough to get when the squirrel was actually on the various people who were feeding them. It was just freaky, I can't imagine anyone in NY wanting a squirrel on their arm. lol

I've seen begging wildlife in the US before, but not ones that will actually climb onto people!

[jusrecht.livejournal.com]

Wheee~ thank you for sharing these! Beautiful flowers *_* I'm partial toward the pond though XD

[rkold.livejournal.com]

The flowers were so pretty this last trip to Japan. I'm hoping that by going North I'm able to see more since by the time I get back to Tokyo the sakura will be long gone.

Hehehe I am determined to get a picture of them pretending to enjoy an onsen this next trip >>;

[chocolate_chip.livejournal.com]

The not!ume are "boke", or flowering quince, and I believe that the photo under them is a peach tree, not cherry.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Ah perhaps they are Momo. I am only use to seeing Momo when it is in mainly full bloom and has that ruffly appearance like the tree in Tenshi no Sato.

I think it can be abit tricky with sakura since there are so many varieties. I had thought if the petals though had the little indentations it was sakura.

Quince is quite pretty. ♥