Sunday, October 15, 2006
Today my host family was planning to take me to Kamakura. This is a town south of Tokyo that has many shrines and temples. I was really looking forward to this because I hadn't been there yet, and also because of the Great Buddha. This is the second largest bronze Buddha in Japan and the largest one that is in the outdoors. (Mrs. Bolen has seen the largest one in Japan, which is in Nara.) Nubou, Miyaki, Magara, and I went, but Yudai didn't get to go. On Sundays he goes to a special school all day to try and get ready for his junior high entrance exam. His parents want him to go to a private junior high and there's a pretty intense exam required for entry. Imagine that, 6th graders...Yudai goes to school all day on Sunday. He studied for about 2 ½ hours on Saturday, he studies each day for an hour before school, and then he goes to a study time after school each day. Remember this the next time you're complaining about how much homework I'm giving you.

Anyway, we were going to take the train to Kamakura, which was fine with me. We had to transfer trains several times and it ended up taking about 1 ½ to 2 hours to get there. Kamakura is a town, and not all the shrines and temples are in the same spot, so we did a lot of walking. Some of the walking was uphill...a lot of uphill walking. At least I got my exercise for the day! We first went to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. This involved walking up 62 steps, but that was the easiest climb of the day. I had to wash my hands before approaching the shrine (for cleanliness), and when we got up there, I threw money into the temple for good luck. The Japanese were also making a wish in front of the temple, but I didn't make a wish. Many people had also made wishes and then tied them to a rack that was nearby.

After leaving the temple, we walked for a long way to get to the next shrine. This was a shrine to a serpent god, and so there were many eggs all around, presented as a gift to the god. At that shrine we washed our hands again, and then we each washed a coin. By washing the coin, you're supposed toget richer. Hmmmm, it would be nice if that were true.

Our last sight was the Great Buddha. This was super. I really enjoyed this because it was an amazing sight. There were many people there. I saw more Caucasians in Kamakura than I had the whole time I'd been in Japan. Some information about the Great Buddha: it is the second largest bronze sculpture in Japan (see my earlier comments on this). It was cast (made) in 1252. It weighs 93 tons and is 37 feet high. It used to be inside a building, but that building was washed away by a tsunaumi, and then another building was never constructed. We were able to actually go inside the Buddha because it's hollow. This was interesting, but there wasn't too much to see once you were in there for about two minutes. The most interesting part of going inside was the woman who was in there on her knees praying to Buddha. She was praying with a great deal of fervor.

This was our last historical sight. There are so many that a full day or two could really be used to see everything. By the time we got back to the main street, it was packed. I couldn't believe all the people there. I thought of my husband who doesn't like crowds. This would've been his worst nightmare. Anyway, we ate a place called Mother's of Kamakura. This is the kind of restaurant where about eight people sit around a big griddle/grill and the chef prepares the food right there and then serves it. It was so good. This was one of the best meals I've had since being in Japan. The meat was chicken and steak. No fish!! We did have rice, though. I guess it can't be escaped.

After eating, we got on the train and headed back to Tokyo. I really like train travel. It is fast, cheap, easy, and convenient. About halfway back, Miyuki got a call on her cell phone that Yudai was sick, to Nubou got off at a different station to go pick him up. I was really disappointed that Yudai didn't go with us to Kamakura. I think it would've been fun. Anyway, when we got back to Soka, Miyuki and Magara took me back to the hotel where we'd been staying. They were so nice to me and I'm really glad that they were my host family. The language barrier was tough, but we all did our best and still had fun with it. Thank goodness Magara was there to translate, otherwise it would've been a lot harder. I'm also glad that I had my little scrapbook. That was a lifesaver.

Once I was back at the hotel, I had to totally unpack everything and repack it again. I decided to mail a box home. I'm worried about getting everything back on the airplane. I also walked back over to the train station for a Starbucks. Mmmm, sometimes a taste of the familiar is needed. For dinner I just got food at the 99 yen store. I was too tired to go anywhere.