Kamakura

In mid-November my friend Emi and I went to Kamakura for a day of hiking and temple-hopping. We chose the Daibutsu Course, the same trail we always use- a bit boring to always do the same one but it's the perfect length for a day trip.

The hike begins near Kita Kamakura station, so it's a good chance to visit one of the many temples in the area. We found Engakuji Temple, above, to be overrun with school kids, and even though it was a weekday this was more crowded than I've seen in years. Most trees were still green, but the few that were turning colour attracted a lot of attention.

There were also berries all over the place- the purple murasakishikibu above, plus a dozen shades of white, yellow, orange and red. It's too bad the crowds had chased away all the birds, as all the berries must provide a nice smorgasbord for them.

The trail itself begins at Jochiji Temple, so we stopped for some good luck Buddha belly rubbing and were rewarded with the sight of a stinkbug with a cute design.

One little park along the way was bright with koyo (autumn leaves), so we took a break to eat mikan (mandarins) and take some pictures).

There was also an obligatory stop at Zeni-arai Benten, the shrine where you wash your money to increase your fortune. I don't know if anyone actually believes it will work- I've done it enough to know that if anything it decreases your fortune- but everyone does it just the same.

With only 22 yen in my wallet it was an easy task. It's possible to wash bills too, but I'm never sure how I'm supposed to dry them afterward. The sign below definitely doesn't help: the enigmatic English "Dries Naturally" would seem to suggest that you're supposed to let your money, well, dry naturally, while the Japanese instructions advise you to wash your riches with a handkerchief.

After a bit more hiking (I never seem to take pictures on the actual trail) we were at Daibutsu, or Great Buddha, the giant statue for which the trail is named. We skipped it (seen one big Buddha, seen em all) and had lunch instead, at a place called Kamatama Udonya. We chose it because of the picture of the daibutsu kake-udon (Great Buddha udon noodles) in the window, because how could you pass that buy and not want to try it? Upon entering I was pleasantly surprised to see that the owner could speak English and English menus were available, not that we needed them- we knew we wanted the Buddha noodles.

The noodles came in a hot broth with thinly sliced negi (long onion) for the hair, shoyu mame (fava beans cooked in soy sauce, a specialty of Shikoku) for the third eye, sliced kaeshi tamago (boiled egg flavoured with dashi) for eyes, chikuwa ten (deep-fried fish paste) for the nose, and benishoga (pickled ginger) for the mouth. It was surprisingly good, with a very light broth of home-made dashi and chewy, springy noodles. The place is run by a couple and it turns out that the wife is from Shikoku, famed for its udon. Touristy or not, this was a good bowl of noodles and I'll be back.

For dessert, or what we thought would be dessert, we bought murasaki imo crokke (purple sweet potato croquette) and ate it as we walked to Hasedera Temple. Even though crokke are usually savoury, we figured it would be sweet because sweet potatoes- especially the purple variety, are usually prepared as a dessert in Japan.

But this was savoury, flavoured with ground meat and not tasting terribly different from the regular potato variety of crokke. Very good, but not at all what we were expecting.

We had no choice but to turn around and walk to Kamakura Gelato for some real dessert. I had gelato con cafe, plain milk gelato topped with espresso, and then we headed to Hasedera Temple, our last stop of the day.

It's a large temple with a number of attractions, including a cave that I've never noticed before. We went in and saw that its walls were carved with various gods, with a stand in front for prayer candles. you buy a candle, write your name on it, light it and place it in front of the god you'd like to petition or give thanks to. Some of them, like the god of clothing, were candle-free and probably made more sense a thousand years ago. Others, like the god of money or the god of study, below, were quite popular. The god of sake (in this case "sake" would refer to alcohol in general, not just rice wine) had just two candles until an old man, who looked exactly like the kind of guy who would pray to the sake god, lit a candle and gave a very long prayer. Emi and I offered candles of our own, but to which gods I won't say (will let you know if either of our prayers comes true though).

Another thing I'd never noticed: building that houses a giant prayer wheel has part of its floor covered in pebbles. I must have never bothered to look down though, because this visit was the first time I saw that each pebble was adorned with a single character, like the one below with 無 (mu, or nothingness).

More pictures from the hike can be seen here.

For detailed info and maps on the Daibutsu Course, check out Yamaonnas' excellent guide.

Engakuji
300 yen admission
Open daily 8:00am to 4:00pm (until 5:00 in winter)

Jochiji
200 yen admission
Open daily 9:00am to 4:30pm (until 5:00 in winter)

Hasedera
300 yen admission
Open daily 8:00 to 5:30 (until 5:00 in winter)

Kamatama Udonya
3-7-21 Hase, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa
0467-22-2264
Open daily from 11:00am to 5:00pm, or until supplies last
English spoken, English menu available

Kamakura Gelato
3-8-13 Hase, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa
0467-22-8801
Winter hours: weekdays 10:30am to 5:00pm, weekends 10:30am to 5:30pm, closed Mondays and first Tuesday of the month.

Comments

[Mari L'Esperance]

Thanks for these gorgeous (especially the koyo) images of autumn in Kamakura, my mother's hometown... Natsukashii!

[J.Panda]

Kamakura is the evergreen destination, every time it is new. Good to see you posting more regularly.

[Paul]

Beautiful work as always, your blog remains one of my favorites from anywhere in the world. It's nice to actually see the purple murasaki berries - quite a strong color they have - as I've been reading Murasaki lately... so now I'll remember what they look like, and be more amused by her jokes about purple kimonos.

[A. O.]

This is great! I've always wanted to go to Japan! I keep up with your blog all the time.

[Phoenix]

All of these photos make me want to travel so bad! I love trying new food. Thanks for exposing me a little bit to Japan.

[Fran6Q]

Beautiful photos !!! I'm very happy after find your blog.
Thankyou.

[Gloria Flynn]

Happy New Year!
Love your photos, as usual. I couldn't help noticing in one of your photos (#10 as you progress down the page), there are beautiful energy orbs hovering about in the picture! How exciting to have captured them in photos! The energy of Kamakura is so special that I'm not surprised to see them there.

[bentobird/Jenn]

I loved taking this tour with you! Beauty in so many forms. Thanks for sharing your unique perspective on such a special place.

[medieval clothes]

Great shots you have here.. :) It makes me wanna come to that place too. Are those berries edible? Seems like its really delicious. NomNOmNOm