Kamakura sum-up

Ok, if I don't get back to this I will simply forget the details so let me try to summarize what is left - both in terms of what I have not covered on here and what I can remember.

One of the biggest attractions in Kamakura is the huge Buddha statue. I heard (and I could be wrong here) that it is the second biggest sitting Buddha in the whole of Japan (with the first one being in Nara 「奈良」). This place had distinctly more tourists than any other location in Kamakura on that day. If you are looking for it there are street signs and quite a bit of parking. They call it 大仏 - literally Big Buddha.



There are less known (and therefore less crowded) places to explore as well. Kamakura is host to many temples and shrines and some of the temples offer visitors traditional tea while sitting and gazing at a Zen garden. There is usually an entrance fee but it is well worth it. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten the name of the temple we visited - 岩下さん, 原さん please feel free to leave a comment with the name of the temple if you remember ;)

Tsurugaoka Hachimango （鶴岡八幡宮） and Wakamiya Oji （若宮大路）

Tsurugaoka Hachimango Shrine is one of the most famous in Shinto Shrines in Kamakura and it is always full with domestic and international visitors. The shrine itself is on a hill and takes a few minutes to go up those stairs but it is well worth it. The garden on the way to the shrine is also very pretty and is adorned by a lake as well. The birds are used to humans feeding them so do not be surprised if you "get ambushed" by them. One thing I learnt here - apparently after land is prepared for building a house or a building, they circle the field with a rope and they hang talismans on the rope to cleanse the field of bad souls.

The walk up to the shrine is almost as famous as the shrine itself. Wakamiya Oji, as it is called, is a pretty long walkway (flanked by the roads for cars) that was initially built to help shrine visitors get there from the beach. The walkway has lanterns (quite a few of them) that lit up at night and there are nearly just as many cherry trees which makes me think when the cherry blossoms are out the walkway becomes even more beautiful.

Kamakura （鎌倉）

Kamakura is a city with two important properties - it is one of the oldest cities in Japan and it has nice beaches. Of course the temperature hanging around 5 degrees Celcius (around 41 degrees Fahrenheit) it is not exactly the best weather for a swim but there is a lot to be discovered in Kamakura even without the beaches. The city is home to the second biggest sitting Buddha statue in Japan (the first one is in Nara/奈良) and it is home to literally tens of temples and shrines. The city also briefly acted as effectively the capital of Japan for a while in the 15th or 14th century (I might be off by a century or two :P).

Travelling from Tokyo to Kamakura is either by train (JR line) or by car. I was fortunate enough to be travelling with a colleague who has a car (thanks again Kota and Momoe) and the trip took around an hour. The distance is not that much (50 km or 31 miles) but the road gets very narrow as one gets close to Kamakura. The trip through the city streets and the time needed to find parking takes almost as much as the trip to get to the city. The parking lots around the famous Tsurugaoka Hachimango shrine are numerous but almost all will be full. Also be ready to pay around ￥３００　or more for half an hour of parking.

Other than the shrines there is also a famous shopping street close to the Tsurugaoka Hachimango, very crowded and with lots of stores. The restaurants in the area, as well as these stores, are very familiar with tourists so it is a pretty good probability that one can find menus or explanations in English even though the vendors or the waiters/waitresses themselves may not be able to speak a word of English.