Last week I made my fourth excursion to Kamakura. I have taken a completely different route each time and still feel like I have much to explore and discover in this ancient capital of Japan.

We followed Yamaonna’s Kamakura Daibutsu Hiking Course 大仏ハイキングコース during the morning. I won’t repeat everything she said. Click the link for details.

We skipped Engakuji as I was just there at the end of November. Tokeiji (東慶寺), our first stop, was incredible. I’ll have more pictures from Tokeiji in future entries. The top picture in today’s entry is from there.

The trail itself was very cool and nearly empty. The second picture is of an “ordinary” house, and its fence, on the first part of the trail.

There are a few things I would add or change to Yamaonna’s write up of the Giant Buddha Hiking Course.

One is Jochiji’s admission fee, which has increase by 50 yen in the past few months to 200 yen. Strangely, the 200 yen sign looked very old. Maybe they change the price based on the season?

One item about the Daibutsu Hiking Course I would add is that there are views on this hike when you are near the top. The views to the right are of Mt. Fuji and those to the left are of the bay and the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the morning was overcast and a bit hazy so we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji and could barely see the ocean when we sat down on the above, empty bench next to these four Japanese ladies.

If you aren’t tired after your walk and after visiting the Daibutsu, make sure to visit Hasedera if you haven’t before or if you aren’t planning on doing so on a future trip. From there you can jump on the train and go to Enoshima or you can walk the beach back most of the way to the Kamakura station, saving 250 yen and seeing much more than you can see from the train.

Also, a cheaper way to get to Kamakura is from Shibuya through Yokohama. Instead of the 780 or 890 yen quoted on Yamaonna’s blog, it is only 550 yen (although it takes a bit longer).

One final note, this hike can be very muddy if it has rained recently. It hadn’t rained in almost 48 hours but it was still muddy for us in places. I wouldn’t recommend this hike if it has rained in the past 24 hours.

Posted on March 11th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, hiking, kamakura, people, tokeiji. Comments: None

As mentioned in a prior entry about Mt. Takao, our best view of Mt. Fuji was from the train. This was the view, or lack thereof, of Mt. Fuji from the top before lunch.

After lunch on the Mt. Takao summit, with a bit more zoom on the camera and a touch of clearing, we could see a tad more of Mt. Fuji.

There are a few places selling food, drink, and souvenirs on the top of Mt. Takao. Perhaps as a reminder to those who would leave their garbage behind, there is this statue of おそうじ小僧 (Young Buddhist Priest Cleaning). We saw a lady hiker, with a bag, cleaning up the trail on the way down.

Posted on February 13th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, mt. fuji, Mt. Takao. Comments: None

The stone steps between Shinkyo and Rinnoji were amazing in the snow and completely devoid of people.

I could have sat staring at the three, giant, gold-lacquered, wooden statues of Amida, Senju-Kannon (“Kannon with a thousand arms”), and Bato-Kannon (“Kannon with a horse head”) all day were it not for the fact that it was extremely cold so we wanted to keep moving as much as possible. The place is probably crawling with tourists on a normal day, but it was quite peaceful as we were the only ones enjoying the view.

Later the next day (February 3) we participated in a setsubun festival of sorts in front of the Sanbutsudo where the above three Buddha are housed. Japanese celebrities and priests from various temples and shrines in Nikko tossed all sorts of things to the crowd as you can see in the short video I took below. We stood in the back and ended up catching “only” a kit-kat and two balls. We redeemed the balls for prizes (a bag of “goodies,” including laundry detergent and saran wrap, and a gift certificate for a night and two meals for two at a Nikko hotel).

You can hear the priest tell the people to be careful to not cause injury near the end of the video. It did get a little crazy. Some people came away with giant bags of snacks, prizes, and candy. It was sort of like an efficient trick-or-treating session, without all of the walking.

Posted on February 11th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, nikko, video. Comments: 2

Near Waseda University, Anahachimangu (穴八幡宮) can be found. The place was being refurbished when we arrived in August, but they finished in time for New Years. Loads of lucky charms could be, and were, purchased during January. You should also bring back your talisman from the prior year and pay the shrine (again, this time) to destroy it for you. How is that for clever marketing?

Posted on February 8th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, lanterns, night photography, shinto, torii. Comments: None