Kamakura

Last fall, we went to Kamakura twice. The autumn changing of the leaves has always been a favorite time of year for me. I remember back at Western how beautiful the campus looked with the brick buildings and the fire red leaves everywhere. It was by far, my favorite time of year there. Here in Japan, this season is very special. People plan trips just to go enjoy the beautiful colors. To go on such a trip, I believe, is called Momijigari. It kind of means autumn leaf picking.

Kamakura is a very old and historic place in Japan. It was once the capital of Japan, for a short time, very long ago. It contains many old and beautiful temples that were unharmed by the war. The two seasons of O'hanami (cherry blossom season) and Momijigari (the red leaves season) are very VERY beautiful there. Almost two years ago, Jeremy and I were taken to Kamakura during hanami by our friends, Matt and Dori. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous! This year we decided we wanted to go during the Momijigari.

The first trip was okay. We saw a few nice looking trees, and a lot of neat temples. However, the weather was bad, and it wasn't quite yet time to really see the pretty trees. We decided we needed to go back. Kamakura is about 90 minutes from our house by train, so it isn't so far for us to travel on a Sunday.

One of the students that I correct blogs for lives near Kamakura and generously offered to show us around. We accepted her offer and brought Cody and Marta along to see it all with us. Masaho san was so kind. She showed us many places and talked to us about what they meant or why they were significant. We hustled to as many places as we could and even were able to enjoy a nice short hike up this beautiful mountainside. It was incredible. It was like being in a dream. It was the essence of what Jeremy and I both think of in regards to Japan. We don't think that Japan is the hustle and bustle that we see day to day through our jobs and teachings. We think of Japan as a very cultural and historical place filled with beauty, and overflowing nature. Sometimes I think it's a shame that we live so close to Tokyo. Sometimes I wish we lived in Hokkaido, or near Kyoto. The feeling of those places is really different.

Anyway, back to Kamakura; we had an amazing time that day with Masaho, Marta, and Cody. We rode the Enoden train, had sweet potato ice cream, saw the ginormous buddha, many different temples and hundreds and hundreds of beautiful trees, on the verge of shedding their leaves for the winter. I would really like to go back for Hanami this year.

One of the temples we visited, I believe its name was Hasedera, had all of these virgin mary like statues. Each one represents a child that died at birth. Apparently, this is a resting place for those souls, and people visit this temple to pray for those souls.

When we went to the Giant Buddha, it was after the sunset, so it was getting dark but the sky was still a nice blue. It was perfect for a nice picture. The Japanese really do appreciate nature, some places are so pretty.