Kamakura
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Today was our “off” day. During the JFMF program participants are giving one day to spend as they wish, starting at about 5pm yesterday and going until this evening. Some people in our group went off to Kyoto or Hiroshima, which would be incredible experiences. However, they had several hour train rides each direction and the trips cost a few hundred dollars. The money would not be a huge deal if you got to see everything in the city, but with the limited time we had available I decided to go with a different option.
Therefore, after talking to a lot of Tokyo locals, I decided that to take a day trip to Kamakura and then spend the afternoon in Tokyo.
Kamakura, located about an hour (by train) from Tokyo, was a beautiful location. It is the location of an 11.4 meter tall bronze Buddha dating back to 1252. Basically, the Buddha was enormous. I could not help but to stand there thinking about how they possibly created in the thirteenth century without the use of modern equipment or computer imaging, because it looks amazing. In addition, the stature originally sat inside of a building, which was washed away by a tsunami in 1495-but the Buddha remained, in part due to its massive weight of almost 850 tons. For only 20 yen (less than 20 cents) you could pay to go inside the statue, which was kind of neat to do.
While in Kamakura we (my friends and fellow JFMF’ers Susan and Carrie) also visited the Hase-dera temple. The gardens at the temple were amazing, as well as the large number of statues. At first I thought that the many, many little statues were fun because they were everywhere. I also thought it was a little silly because some of them were dressed up in children’s clothing. However, after a little more reading and talking to people I came to know that the statues represent Jizo, who is the saint of travelers and lost children. Women who have lost their own children through miscarriage or other means come to dress the statues to keep the souls of the children warm.
We also saw the Kannon statue, which was a 9 meter tall wooden statue of the goddess of mercy and compassion. This statue was located within the temple building, which was very beautiful.
Overall, going to Kamakura was incredibly rewarding and relaxing at the same time. It allowed me to see a part of Japan that cannot be discovered by remaining in Tokyo and it has made me much more excited about my host city visit this week.
Therefore, after talking to a lot of Tokyo locals, I decided that to take a day trip to Kamakura and then spend the afternoon in Tokyo.
Kamakura, located about an hour (by train) from Tokyo, was a beautiful location. It is the location of an 11.4 meter tall bronze Buddha dating back to 1252. Basically, the Buddha was enormous. I could not help but to stand there thinking about how they possibly created in the thirteenth century without the use of modern equipment or computer imaging, because it looks amazing. In addition, the stature originally sat inside of a building, which was washed away by a tsunami in 1495-but the Buddha remained, in part due to its massive weight of almost 850 tons. For only 20 yen (less than 20 cents) you could pay to go inside the statue, which was kind of neat to do.
While in Kamakura we (my friends and fellow JFMF’ers Susan and Carrie) also visited the Hase-dera temple. The gardens at the temple were amazing, as well as the large number of statues. At first I thought that the many, many little statues were fun because they were everywhere. I also thought it was a little silly because some of them were dressed up in children’s clothing. However, after a little more reading and talking to people I came to know that the statues represent Jizo, who is the saint of travelers and lost children. Women who have lost their own children through miscarriage or other means come to dress the statues to keep the souls of the children warm.
We also saw the Kannon statue, which was a 9 meter tall wooden statue of the goddess of mercy and compassion. This statue was located within the temple building, which was very beautiful.
Overall, going to Kamakura was incredibly rewarding and relaxing at the same time. It allowed me to see a part of Japan that cannot be discovered by remaining in Tokyo and it has made me much more excited about my host city visit this week.
posted by Dana Specht @ 7:23 AM
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