Tag Archives: Kamakura

An Update to the Japanese Rail Photos

I have put some previous posts together of Japanese trains from my travels.  This is an update to that (although a very late update given that these were taken nearly a year ago!).  I got to see some different trains while I was in Nagoya for the day and then there is the variety of trains that you get around the Tokyo area.  There was also a small line that ran through the Kamakura area which we crossed paths with as we were walking to the beach from the giant Buddha statue that I wrote about in this post.  A few more photos to amuse those of you that like different trains.

He Is Heavy, He’s My Buddha

A big reason (literally and figuratively) for going to Kamakura was to see the Buddha statue that is there.  It dates back to the 13th Century but has undergone some work since then.  It is a pretty bloody large statue.  It is also a popular tourist attraction so we were not alone on this day, even though it wasn’t a weekend.

Wandering around the Buddha and seeing it from all angles gives a good impression of its scale and also how it was made of many segments.  There are vents on the back to cool the interior (a little) which is good because you can go inside it.  It is very dark in there but you see the shape clearly.  The coloration also makes it clear which bits have been repaired over the years.  The temperature on a warm day will quickly encourage you to head back outside, though.

It is easy to get fixated on the Buddha itself but the environment in which it is displayed is really nice too.  The surrounding sculptures are interesting and there are some leaves on the ground with engravings.  Apparently there were many more at one point but only four of them remain now.  I hope nothing bad befell those who pinched the others!

A Nice Boulevard Led to a Temple!

Walking back through Kamakura, we ducked down a back street to see what was on the parallel roads.  We came to a street that had a really attractive tree lined boulevard feel to it.  At the end of the boulevard, there appeared to be a big arch so we headed up to take a look.  It turned out to be the entrance to a quite large temple.  This wasn’t something we had planned on so we weren’t going to spend a lot of time there but it would have been churlish to ignore it!

There were lots of visitors to the temple so it seemed a bit odd to have just stumbled across the place.  There were ponds to one side with large numbers of lily pads, the leaves of which people seemed to have taken to throwing coins on to.  The main temple was up a large flight of stairs.  We had other things to do so skipped the trip up there and in no way was this as a result of the excessive heat of the day and the way it looked like it would make us even hotter!

Kamakura Street Food and Shopping

A day trip to Kamakura was tagged on to the end of my visit to Japan.  It was a train ride of about an hour south of Tokyo to a coastal town.  We were heading there because of a large statue but that will get it’s own post in due course.  Coming out of the station, we are immediately on a narrow street that is filled with food and shopping.

Kamakura is known for little fish called shirasu.  They can be eaten raw or cooked and everywhere we went on this street, you could have shirasu added to your dish whether it was a hot dog or pizza.  I chose not to try it out.  Given the intense heat and humidity at this time of year, a lot of the food stands were devoted to ice cream and frozen foods.  Not a bad idea.  I wonder what they sell at cooler times of year.