Kamakura & Kitsune & “Bumpy”
This was about my fifth visit to Kamakura. It’s not because we live close that I’ve been a few times but because this place is just a good day out. And the daibutsu (big Buddha) is intriguing in a big-ass, yet Zen-like, way. I can sit there and look at this fella for ages, just contemplating….well, turning my brain off really and forgetting the stress of these Crazy Days we live in.
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Although Kamakura is fairly small, it does have some boasting rights. One is that, in 1192 Minamoto Yoritomo established the first shogunate (military government) of Japan in Kamakura, which was where his HQ was situated. So Kamakura can lay claim to being the beginning of almost 700 years of military rule and countless NHK jidai-geki, or samurai dramas (jidai-geki is the word which George Lucas used to create the term “Jedi”…please say someone didn’t know that so I can feel good about myself for sharing some Nerd Knowledge).
This is the grave of said bad-ass “I did it first” Shogun, Minamoto Yoritomo. It’s worth a visit, despite being a bit off the beaten track (ie. other side of the station to the main draw, that huge Buddha) and is very small. You head off the main road down a smaller side street, then climb up some stairs and there it is. You’d expect it to be a little grander considering who is buried here but it’s very tranquil. So quiet in fact, you can hear the shade of Minamoto whispering “I did it fiiiirrrrrst!” If you read the blurb above, you’ll see that he used to have a nicer home for his bones but it was destroyed.
The streets of Kamakura are fun to stroll along. I’m not a shopper but it’s interesting to just amble along and look at the wares. The main draw here though is the street food! I could spend a week walking up and down, trying different foods each meal and not be hungry (but get very tubby). Ice-creams of various persuasions, sausages of various ingredients and sweet things of varying prices. I indulged in a “Custard-In-Baum”, which was delicious but tiny. And also a sausage, which was also tasty but disappointing due to the fact I thought I’d get three bangers for 380 yen but alas, that hefty price tag was for one lonely wiener.
There is some good hiking in Kamakura, moving off the roads and into some hill trails. And of course, a bevvy of shrines to visit. Google it before you go (plenty of helpful people have put up guides and videos) and get a map from the Information Centre at the station before you head off on your little trek.
I find the shrines more interesting than the temples. I think I am right in saying that temples are Buddhist and shrines are Shinto, and also that in Japan, you are born Shinto and die Buddhist. Anyway, the fox deities that guard these shrines are intriguing. Please check out this excellent piece by Dennis A Smith to learn about these benevolent chaps.
http://dennisamith.com/2017/10/23/travel-guide-the-one-about-the-meaning-of-fox-statues-at-shrines/
As always, my favourite part of the day is having a meal out. I am ruled by my stomach. Ruled? Dominated perhaps is a more accurate term. I went to a wa-shoku (Japanese cuisine) place on the 2nd floor of Cial in the station building.
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The meal was pretty good but the sashimi wasn’t the best and the rice seemed like it had been left on the side a bit. Unusual for Japan and so a bit of a bummer. The mother and daughter next to me had ten-don (tempura & rice bowl) and kept saying how good it was, so looks like I…chose poorly.
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There is a wide range of restaurants in Kamakura so something for everyone. Unless you like Amish cooking of course! Ha ha, as if there’d be an Amish restaurant in Kamakura! Ha ha…ha…ha…ha…wohhh!
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Other highlights of my trip include: scary temple guardians (anyone seen Gantz?!)
A rather large haul of sake drums…all empty sadly.
And a kama-kiri (Praying Mantis)…Tomoki likes them.
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I’d like to go back to Kamakura in winter. Sky would be bluer and the air crisper. Would be amazing to the Daibutsu under snow. There are quite a few festivals in the summer (pretty sure we stumbled across one when my brother visited in 2002) and did I mention the street food?!
Will slap some more photos down below for anyone who has not got bored and started watching Then & Now videos on YouTube.
And one of my favourite kanji. dekoboko. It means “bumpy” and this kanji is the most un-letter-like, most like-a-drawing I know. Take care everyone and see you in October!
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