We were up at 4:00 am!
Yuriko was up at 6:00 am, her usual waking time here in Japan. Aunt Kyoko was also up, so we had a full breakfast of a half grapefruit, miso soup, green tea, coffee, milk and juices. Also instant oatmeal (which Yuriko had brought from the U.S.), and toast (double the thickness of U.S. bread slices) with peanut butter and orange marmalade.
We left the house by 7:00 am for our Kamakura day trip, with Yuriko. It was a gray day.
Took the subway to the Ikebukuro station where we transferred to the JR Yamanote Line. We took the circle loop in the opposite direction we expected, so got off at the Shinagawa station to change to the Yokosuka Line. There is a debate as to how long the ride took to Kamakura, a mere 30 miles from Tokyo! Tamiko says it couldn’t have been more than an hour, and Kent feels it was at least two hours!
We traveled south out of Tokyo. Saw basketball and tennis courts atop buildings, totally enclosed with fencing and netting, even atop the SONY building. Along a riverbank, there were baseball diamonds and soccer fields. We saw many Little Leaguers and older teams out playing before 8:00 am on this Sunday morning.
We traveled across flat plains, and then it became very hilly. We passed the city of Ofuna with a colossal bust of Kannon (the goddess of mercy whom we dubbed “Our Lady of Mercy”) on the hillside.
Our stop was Kita (North) Kamakura. We got off the train with hundreds of Japanese tourists! This was a Sunday, and Kamakura must be a popular destination! It seemed it had just finished pouring rain.
Literally steps away from the station was the entrance to Engaku-ji. Yuriko bought the Y200 tickets, and we began the climb up the steep stairs.
A note here about the hierarchy of Zen Buddhists. In the 14th century, the Kamakura shogunate established a ranking system called Go-zan (5 mountains) for Zen Buddhist monasteries under its official sponsorship.
The Engaku-ji was ranked 2nd.
Kamakura History
In 1180, Kamakura was chosen as a natural fortress base for Yoritomo, the spared son of Yoshimoto Minamoto who was killed in clan rivalry with the Taira in 1160. Yoritomo engaged in all-out war, joined by his half-brother Yoshitsune, to destroy all of the Taira clan.
In 1192, Yoritomo forced the imperial court to name him Shogun, or the military head of state. The Emperor was left as a figurehead. Thus was Kamakura established as the first seat of the shogunal government from 1192–1333. For two centuries, some of the most important temples and shrines were built as clergy and military influenced each other to create Zen warriors and warrior-monks. After Yoritomo died, his two sons were assassinated. Since the sons were childless, power was passed to Yoritomo’s wife, Masako and her family, the Hojo.
Decline of Kamakura regime came with the 1284 and 1281 Mongol invasions. On both occasions, kamikaze, or divine, winds destroyed the Mongol fleets. But Kamakura had to reward clans for the “victory”. The clans were unhappy with the small portions and the Hojo monopoly. So they switched support to Emperor Go-Daigo, and power returned to Kyoto.
Today, Kamakura is important as a religious center.
Engaku-ji
Engaku-ji, the Temple of Spirit, founded in 1282, is where prayers continue to be offered for the well-being of the government. The temple was built by Zen warrior Tokimune Hojo to commemorate the soldiers killed in the attempted Mongol invasions, and also in gratitude to his Zen Buddhist master Bukko Kokushi, since the study of Zen helped him maintain his calm.
Once the complex had 50 buildings, but most were destroyed by fires and earthquakes. The temple belonged to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism which was introduced into Japan from China at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Samurai especially admired the Rinzai sect because of its emphasis on an ascetic life as the path to self-transcendence. Monks here were advisors to the shogunate in matters spiritual, artistic, and political.
Now the temple follows the Zazen Course of Zen Buddhism.
The San-mon, or Main Gate, was rebuilt in 1783. It is a 2-story unadorned thatched-roof structure at the top of the worn flight of steps to the temple. Straight ahead was the Butsu-den, the Worship Hall, rebuilt in 1964.
 |
| Kent, Brynne and Tamiko at the Butsu-den/Worship Hall |
Behind that hall was the Hojo, or Quarters of the Head Priest, where a Zen Sunday Sermon was being held. In front of the Hojo was a courtyard with the surviving sculptures of Kannon that were found after the 1923 great Kanto Earthquake. Once there were one hundred sculptures.
 |
| Sculptures of Kannon |
A mossy garden and pond sat behind the Hojo.
Up to the left was the gate to the Shari-den, the Hall of the Holy Relic of Buddha.
 |
| Gate to Shari-den/Hall of the Holy Relic of Buddha (a tooth) |
The Shari-den, designated a National Treasure, was originally built in 1282 in the Chinese inspired Kara style. After a fire in 1558, it was rebuilt in 1563. It is said to contain a tooth of Buddha himself.
The Kaiki-Byo, the mausoleum of Tokimune Hojo, as well as his son, Sadatoki, and his grandson, Takatoki, had a private courtyard filled with incense.
We passed a cleft in a rock wall, the Hakuroku-do, Cave of the White Deer, from which it is said a herd of divine white deer appeared to attend the sermon of the founder on opening day of this temple.
Next was the excruciating climb to the Ohgane, or belfry.
 |
| Start of the stairs to the belfry |
Located on a high point above the temple and a cemetery (see sidebar on next page), the temple bell is designated a National Treasure. The bell was donated in 1301 by Sadatoki. It is 8 feet tall and rung on rare occasions (New Year’s Eve).
 |
| Temple bell |
 |
| Japanese cemetery |
Sidebar:
Japanese cemeteries contain family plots with a memorial headstone. Behind the memorial, usually with the family crest, is a rack to hold wooden slats that look like extra long fence pickets. When someone dies, a picket is calligraphied with the honorific name he is given for the afterlife, usually a very long name. The picket is put in the family plot, and over time the picket rots and disintegrates. The Japanese are usually cremated, so that one family memorial suffices for generations.
We had to stop and sit until the trembling left our legs, and shared a $2 glass of grapefruit juice! An older woman was sweeping leaves off the path with a bundle of branches.
Back on the lower level, we saw another shrine with a fierce red figure. This was Emma, Lord of the Underworld!
We peeked into the courtyard of another building where Zen archery was being practiced. The focus was on the rituals, rather than on the aim! The ritual took so long that a rival surely had a dozen chances to shoot back!
Tokei-ji
We walked back down to the railroad tracks, and crossed them with a growing crowd of Japanese tourists. We walked along a narrow street with bumper to bumper traffic moving slower than we were. Then it was time to climb uphill to [Matsu ga oka] Tokei-ji, more popularly known as Enkiri-dera, or the Divorce Temple.
The temple was founded in 1285 by the widow of Tokimune Hojo as a refuge for victims of unhappy marriages. Under the shogunate, an unhappy husband could send the wife back to her family for a divorce, but an unhappy wife had no such option. If she ran away and was caught, the husband could have her killed. But if she made it to this temple, it was sanctuary, and she became a nun. After 2 or 3 years, she became officially divorced. The temple survived as a convent through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The last abbess died in 1902. Later it was re-established as a monastery for the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism.
We paid the Y100 each entry fee, then followed a flagstone path lined with all types of hydrangeas in a variety of pinks, blues, purples, and white.
 |
| Hydrangea path at Tokei-ji |
There was an iris “pond” in full bloom.
We passed the Treasure House and the Library which was established in memory of the great Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966). There was a rocky outcropping, covered with interesting little plants with purple flowers: rock tobacco.
 |
| Brynne, Tamiko, and Yuriko at the outcropping with rock tobacco plants |
On the hillside behind the temple was an extensive cemetery, with stone memorials on small terraces in a very wooded area. The Japanese cedars were immensely tall. There was also bamboo with feathery leaves, Japanese red maples which stood out amongst all the green, and apparently plum trees. Shrubs in the cemetery were trimmed into neat hedges. Some memorials were located in a shallow cave up in the rock outcropping.
As we left Tokei-ji, we saw a stand set up for roasting and selling sweet potatoes.
We also saw a youngster hand-feed a squirrel (see sidebar).
Sidebar:
Squirrels were very similar to those found in the U.S.
Jochi-ji
Just a few minutes walk farther down the street brought us to a small moss-covered bridge. Behind it were the moss-covered steps to Jochi-ji. But we took the road to the entrance, and paid the Y150 each fee.
Jochi-ji is ranked 4th in the hierarchy. The original buildings were destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, and has been since reconstructed. It had a nice garden, and we saw many more hydrangeas in bloom.
But we were looking for the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, a group of Indian, Chinese, and Japanese deities believed to bring wealth and long life. They were especially revered during the 15th to 17th centuries.
We thought we had found them in a group of small images against a rock wall. But then we saw a larger fellow who was labeled as a god of good fortune.
 |
| God of Good Fortune |
After leaving Jochi-ji, we had a long wait at the railroad crossing to cross the tracks. So did the long line of cars and tour buses.
We found a quaint restaurant set back from the road on a cobblestone path, with a dried flower wreath on the door like country cottage décor. Inside were low tables, so that it barely cleared our knees as we sat on chairs. The specialty (the only thing on the menu!) was beef curry, which was excellent, with rice and a bit of ginger-flavored chutney (India-style relish).
 |
| Beef curry restaurant |
Tsuru-no-oka Hachiman-gu
We continued downhill, through a tunnel of sorts (the overhang was to keep falling rocks off the road) and approached Hachiman-gu from the back, which meant we had fewer steps to climb!
This is a Minamoto-built shrine dedicated to the legendary Emperor Ojin, his wife and his mother, from whom Yoritomo Minamoto claimed descent.
We passed through red-lacquered torii, and past thousands of folded paper prayers. The Hon-do, Main Hall, is an 1828 reconstruction, sitting atop a long flight of steep steps, which we got to walk down!
 |
| Hon-do/Main Hall aatop a flight of stairs |
Almost at the bottom of the stairs, we came to the trunk of a very old gingko tree whose diameter was wider than a man spreading his arms. The tree itself grew as high as the shrine on top of the hill! Legend says that it was from behind this very tree, that the priest Kugyo stepped out to behead his uncle, the 26-year old Sanetomo, Yoritomo’s second son and last of the Minamoto shoguns. The priest was found and punished, but the head was never found.
At the base of the stairs is the Mai-den, or Dance Hall.
 |
| Mai-den/Dance Hall |
Here was the setting of a Minamoto story that is retold in Noh and Kabuki theaters. (See the story of Mai-den.)
 |
| Brynne and Kent with sake donations |
The large courtyard had a wall of sake donations on one side, and lesser buildings on the other. There were flocks of pigeons landing on people in hopes of receiving food.
 |
| Pigeons |
In another quiet area, we found white pigeons who were more wary of people.
 |
| Brynne with white pigeons |
At the entrance was the Taiko-bashi, or Drum Bridge, a small steeply arched bridge over a stream connecting two lotus ponds. Masako suggested to Yoritomo that islands be put into each pond. In the larger Genji Pond on the right are 3 (an auspicious number) islands. Genji is another name for the Minamoto clan. In the smaller Heike (name for the Taira clan) Pond, there are 4 (an unlucky number, meaning death) islands.
The Story of the Mai-den
Yoritomo Minamoto’s dashing half-brother Yoshitsune was the one who actually defeated the Taira clan in battle to win Yoritomo power. Although Yoshitsune declared allegiance to his brother, Yoritomo sent him into exile with plans to have him executed. Yoshitsune was on the run until he was betrayed, and he took his own life.
Early during the exile, Yoritomo captured his brother’s wife, the dancer Shizuka Gozen. He commanded her to dance at the family shrine as penance. But Shizuka danced with joy of love and concern for the fate of her husband. Yoritomo wanted to have her executed, but his wife Masako stopped him.
Later, Yoritomo learned Shizuka was carrying the child of his brother. If it was to be a son, Yoritomo ordered that he be killed.
Here legends either have the child slain, or they have the baby set in a cradle like Moses, and cast adrift in the reeds.
Wakamiya Oji
In a straight line from the Hachiman-gu to the sea is the Wakamiya Oji, or Avenue of the Young Prince. Yoritomo ordered the stately avenue built, because his son would travel this way to be presented to the gods. His son Yoriie was born in 1182.
Down the median of the avenue was a wide gravel path lined with stone lanterns, azalea bushes, and shade trees. Traffic traveled on either side of the path. Sidewalks on the outer edges were lined with crooked pine trees.
 |
| Kent, Brynne and Tamiko on the Avenue of the Young Prince |
 |
| Masks for sale |
We walked to the Kamakura station, to find the Enoden Electric Railway platform. We took the narrow gauge railroad to the town of Hase, passing through several tunnels and small villages. We saw several types of rail cars, from old wooden ones to new cars painted in modern beach designs with dolphins or surfers!
Kotoku-in and Daibutsu
In the town of Hase, we followed the crowds up the narrow street to Kotoku-in. We had to walk almost single-file on the narrow sidewalks. And stood back to let big tour buses negotiate corners.
We paid the Y200 each entry fee, and went through a gate into a large terraced courtyard. In the center of the courtyard is the famous Daibutsu, or Great Buddha.
 |
| Brynne, Yuriko and Tamiko with the Great Buddha |
 |
| Tamiko, Brynne and Kent with the Great Buddha |
The statue of the compassionate Amida Buddha sits cross-legged, with the draping of his robes reminiscent of ancient Greece. The bronze figure was cast in 1292, three centuries before Europeans arrived in Japan. The classical Greek lines came over the Silk Road through China during the time of Alexander the Great. The idea of the Buddha was conceived by Yoritomo in 1180, who wanted a statue to rival the one in Nara.
The Great Buddha was originally housed in a wooden temple building, which was washed away by a tidal wave in 1495. Since then, he has sat exposed to the elements.
Sidebar:
In front of the Great Buddha stood a huge bronze globe in which incense burned. Worshippers wave the smoke over themselves to purify themselves before praying.
 |
| Incense globe |
 |
| Great Buddha profile |
For Y20 each, Brynne and I went inside the Great Buddha, which was just a large bronze shell, 37’ tall!
Hase-dera
Walking back down the hill, we stopped at a vending machine (see sidebar) for drinks.
 |
| Cigarette vending machines |
 |
| Vending machines for beverages and snacks |
Then we turned up a side-street to Hase-dera. Yuriko stayed at the bottom of the hill, and the rest of us paid the entry fee of Y300 each for the privilege of climbing more stairs!
Sidebar:
Vending machines are on every corner, along wooded paths to temples, on every platform at train stations, etc. There are vending machines for hot and cold drinks, including sodas, coffee, tea, fruit juices, flavored coffees, powerades, and water. They also sell snacks, cigarettes and beer. We don’t know how they control minors at vending machines!
Hase-dera is one of the most beautiful, and in a way saddest, temples in Japan.
 |
| Hase-dera main gate |
 |
| Stone images of Jizo |
Jizo is the savior of children, particularly the souls of the stillborn, the aborted, and the miscarried. Mothers of such children dress the Jizo statues in red bibs and leave offerings of food and toys as touching acts of prayer and penitence.
At the base of the steps were lovely rock gardens over pools filled with koi and iris islands.
At a landing on the stairway, was a sub-shrine to Jizo, with more stone, and even plastic, images of Jizo.
At the top level were the several buildings of this temple. The main shrine is Kannon-do, or Kannon Hall. It houses the Juichimen Kannon, the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, represented with eleven faces. It is the largest carved wooden statue in Japan, being 30 feet tall. Each of the eleven faces has a different expression, and represents eleven aspects of the bodhisattva, or the stages of enlightenment. Three each of the heads face forward, left, and right. One faces backwards, and one is above crowning them all. These symbolize Kannon’s ability to search in all directions for those in need. Unlike most images of Kannon, this one holds a monk’s staff in the right hand, and a lotus flower in the left. This pose is called the Hase-dera style, and it combines attributes associated with both Kannon and Jizo.
The Amida-do enshrined the image of a seated Amida Buddha who presides over the Western Paradise of Pure Land. Yoritomo Minamoto (1147-1199) ordered this statue made to avert the dangers of his 42nd, an unlucky, year. It gave him ten more years of life, but then he was thrown by a horse and died. This Buddha is known as Yakuyoke, or the Good-luck Amida. Worshippers offer prayers for luck, especially students for entrance exams and graduation.
The Kyozo, or Sutra Repository, contained a revolving set of wooden shelves. Worshippers reached up to assist in revolving the wooden structure. This is said to represent a symbolic reading of the entire Buddhist library, and thus gives equivalent merit!
 |
| Lamps on the Kyozo/Sutra Repository |
One hall had the image of Daikokuten, the god for success in worldly endeavors. This hall was one of the stations on the pilgrimage to the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. So that is why we only saw one god of good fortune at Jochi-ji!
We went out to an overlook to admire the view of Kamakura Beach and Sagami Bay. It was hazy, but the bay was filled with sailboats, or were they windsurfers?
We left the temple, and met Yuriko to walk back to the train station. At the station was another of a chain of stores we had seen: the 100 Yen Store.
 |
| 100 Yen Store |
It is like our Dollar Stores here in the U.S.!
We took the Enoden Electric Railway again, and stood in front to follow the winding narrow gauge tracks through small towns along the shore of the bay.
 |
| Enoden Electric Railway |
We viewed the narrow dark sandy beaches edged with bumper to bumper traffic on an even narrower road.
The Story of the Hase-dera Kannon
The traditional story is that the pious monk Shonin found a camphor tree, from which he carved two images of Kannon in 721. The Kannon from the lower half of the tree was enshrined in the province of Yamato (present-day Nara Prefecture). The image from the upper half was thrown into the sea with prayers that it would reach souls in need. Sixteen years later the image washed ashore at Nagai, and it was said it glowed upon the waters. It was transferred to Kamakura to be enshrined in a new temple to be established by the monk Tokudo.
In 1342, Takauji Ashikaga (1305-1358), the first of fifteen Ashikaga shoguns, had the statue covered in gold leaf. In 1392, Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga shogun, commissioned a halo for the statue.
Enoshima
As the train entered Enoshima, you could see the entrance to the Ryuko-ji, a temple of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism. This sect is native to Japan. The temple was built in 1337 on the hill where founding monk Nichiren (1222-82) was to be executed, but lightning struck the executioner’s sword, snapping it into two pieces. The messenger to Kamakura reporting the incident met a messenger carrying the order to commute the death sentence. Nichiren was exiled to Sado-go-shima. Nichiren rejected Zen and Jodo teachings, and remained in conflict with the shogunate. He was then exiled to the Izu peninsula. In 1262 he was allowed to return, but he continued preaching his own interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, calling other sects blasphemous. Finally in 1271 he was condemned to death (yet did not die until 11 years later?).
You could see the temple tower with a unique onion-shaped dome.
When we disembarked from the train, we headed the two miles to cross the causeway to Enoshima-jima, the island which is 2 and 1/2 miles around with a hill in the center.
We hiked halfway up the hill along a narrow street of shops with souvenirs and food. We then approached the torii to Enoshima-jinja, the shrine where local fishermen pray for a bountiful catch. Instead of climbing the steep stairs to the shrine, we paid a fee to ride an enclosed escalator (two “flights”).
 |
| Kent and Yuriko on the escalator |
 |
| View down from Enoshima-jinja |
We first saw a dragon-protected pool, where people rinsed coins in plastic baskets in a flowing current. They then tossed the clean coins towards a stone box as offerings. Most of the coins ended up in the pool.
 |
| Dragon pool at Enoshima-jinja |
On the hillside there was a natural shrine, marked with a large braided rope of rice straw. This rope, like the torii, signifies the boundary between the secular and the sacred. These ropes are often seen at the entrance to shrine buildings; Aunt Kyoko had one across her shrine in the dining room.
Also in this area was a wildflower garden, unusual in that it was truly wild.
We saw crows as big as cats, facing off with real cats.
It was too hazy for a view of Mount Fuji, which can be seen from here on a clear day.
We walked all the way back downhill and across the causeway. From the causeway, we saw three reckless young men on jet skis, racing towards each other, then veering away to cause water to spray up on each other.
 |
| Jet skier |
Shonan Monoreru
From the causeway, we also saw a single-ski water skier being unsuccessfully pulled by a jet ski.
The causeway also housed make-shift huts which appeared to be mini-beer halls.
 |
| Beer shack |
 |
| Pizza delivery scooters |
Just past the Enoden train station, we came to the Shonan Monoreru (Monorail) station. Our legs were fatigued and our feet were sore, but we had one more set of stairs to climb! We were grateful to be able to sit down for a scenic trip through the hills on a hanging monorail. For the most part we were suspended above a roadway, and it was fascinating to look out the front of the train, and feel like we were flying as the train swayed side to side.
 |
| Shonan Monorail |
 |
| Our Lady of Mercy |
We transferred to the Yokosuka JR Line, and traveled back to Tokyo, where it was pouring rain.
We ended up eating dinner at a local restaurant, having yakitori, an assortment of chicken, beef, chicken nuggets and green onions grilled on skewers. We also shared a couple of fried balls containing mashed potatoes and corn. Yuriko shared the vegetables from her yakisoba (a bowl of broth and vegetables with fried soba noodles in it).
The appetizers were strips of daikon and green beans marinated with huge garlic chunks. This is what you get instead of bread!
Kent ordered a beer, and received a 3/4 liter bottle of Yebisu.
Tamiko had to use the restroom, which had a Japanese-style toilet. It was up on a step, so she cheated and used it more like a Western toilet.
We walked the back streets to Aunt Kyoko’s house. It had stopped raining, but apparently we missed the heavy rain they had all day in Tokyo.
We were dead tired and went right to bed, but only after a dessert of ice cream!
No comments:
Post a Comment