Kamakura -- The Daibutsu (Giant Buddha)

This was probably the most spectacular visit of my sight-seeing tour. On the other side of Kamakura is the Giant Bronze Buddha located in one of their amazing Buddhist temples. It is considered a national treasure for Kamakura.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha that is located on the grounds of the Kotokuin Temple. With a height of 13.35 meters, it is the second largest Buddha statue in Japan (the largest is located in the Todaiji Temple in Nara).

The statue was cast in 1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall. However, the temple buildings were washed away by a tsunami tidal wave in the end of the 15th century, and since then the Buddha stands in the open air. I think part of the temple structure was also destroyed by an earthquake -- at least that's what one of the signs said.

Maybe if you click on this picture it will enlarge and you can actually read it. The story of the Buddha is quite interesting. I got the impression that Buddha wanted to be outside!!


Here I am, approaching the Great Buddha!! I tried to smile and look happy this time, even though I was taking a picture of myself. hehe.


You can't really tell from these pictures just how big it is, but the Buddha is really big!

And these are his slippers, just in case he gets the urge to get up and walk away!! Its difficult to tell from the picture, but each one of these slippers is longer than I am tall!!


While I was there, the sun set, and I got a couple last pictures of the Buddha. This one is a little dark but I'm sure if Aaron touches it up it will be beautiful! It was really cool to see the Buddha as the sun was setting -- they light up his face.

Kamakura -- Jufukuji Temple

Well, I had to be choosy about what to visit -- especially since I got such a late start leaving Tokyo, and then getting distracted by all the shops in Shopping Town! AFter I left shopping town it was time to get my bearings, so I sat down on some wall in front of a parking lot. I must have looked lost sitting there studying my map... because some nice old man came up to help me. He was dressed in a sort of uniform and looked as if he might be a city worker. He had a stack of touristy type maps with him and he opened one up for me. He asked me where i wanted to go, and I showed him on my map that I wanted to go see the Daibutsu, or Buddha. He told me it would take an hour to walk there, but if I walked back to the train station, and took the Enoden line, I could get there in much less time.

In any case -- it was getting late. I thanked him and began the long walk back to Kamakura Station. I decided to take an alternate route that would take me by Jufukuji Temple -- the closest site to where I was.

Jufukuji is the number three of Kamakura's five great Zen temples. It is a branch temple of the Rikai sect's Kenchoji school. Jufukuji was founded by Minamoto Yoritomo's wife Masako after her husband passed away, and by priest Eisai who introduced Zen Buddhism into Japan and is the founder of the Rikai sect. I think Minamoto's wife and father are actually buried in the cemetary there!! Because its still in operation, you can't really go inside -- you can visit the cemetary though. So that's what I did!

Here are some pictures of Jufukuji Temple:








Looks old doesn't it?? I thought so!! I took a movie of it too, but I can't post it here -- its too big. You will just have to wait until I get home to see it!

Kamakura-- Shopping Town!

Today I went to Kamakura. It was really a lot of fun!!

Kamakura is a VERY old city. It became the political center of Japan, when Minamoto Yoritomo chose the city as the seat of his new military government in 1192. The Kamakura government continued to rule Japan for over a century, first under the Minamoto shogun and then under the Hojo regents.

After the decline of the Kamakura government in the 14th century and the establishment of its successor, the Muromachi or Ashikaga government in Kyoto, Kamakura remained the political center of Eastern Japan for some time before losing its position to other cities.

I chose to go to Kamakura because it was relatively close to Tokyo (I could get ther by train), it had a lot of cool shopping, more than 17 Shinto Shrines and Temples, and best of all, the second largest bronze Buddha in Japan (maybe the world? not sure). Also, you Kamakura is relatively small, and you can see almost everything by walking. Obviously, there are too many things to see everything in one day -- but I was able to see one Shinto Shrine, the Buddha, and a place called "Shopping Town" -- lol!!

Here are some pictures from Kamakura Shopping Town:

Here you can see the sign that lets you know you are now in "Shopping Town" -- just in case you didn't know, or you were confused by so many shops! hehe.


Many of the shops have an old or rustic look to them. This street is one of the original streets dating back to the 1100s when the town was founded -- I can just imagine that these are the same or similar shops to those that have existed here for nearly 1000 years! Its crazy to think that -- but it could be so!


One of the cookie/cracker/candy making shops had these two animatronic robots that were pounding out cookies -- they were really neat! No -- these aren't real people -- they are ROBOTS.


I had to take a picture of this restaurant's sign -- who on earth names their restaurant "oxymoron"????? I have no idea....


This little girl was riding down the street in a rickshaw with her mother (?) in traditional dress. It seemed like maybe it was a special day for her, or her birthday or something, because even the Japanese people on the street were wishing her well and smiling and taking pictures. The little girl looked thrilled to have so much attention!

Toliets in Japan -- The Good, Bad, and Ugly!!!

The REALLY GOOD-- I don't know if you are aware but they have AMAZING toilets here. They have a very special kind of "western" toilet -- but of course it has its own Japanese spin on it. This special toilet has motion sensors so that the lid opens up to "greet" you when you enter the stall. It has a HEATED seat -- so that your bottom feels warm and toasty as you go potty. It also plays music, and it will play "flushing sounds" if you push a button, so that you can discretely cover up any "potty" noises that you are making. Its the craziest thing. It also has a sprayer, or a bidet to wash your bottom when you are done. AMAZING.

Here is a picture of this amazing toilet:

Here you can see this amazing toilet with the "control panel" on the side.



This is a close up of the control panel.



This is a chair to put your baby in while you go to the restroom.

Ok -- so most of these wonderful toilets are found in the hotels and the high traffic touristy areas. You know, the areas where a lot of westerners might be found.

Now -- on to the Bad and Ugly....
The more common toilet in Japan is nothing at all like the automated western toilets described above -- although, many of them do flush automatically. Here is a picture of the "japanese" style toilet:



This is a picture of one of the bathrooms at the train station. The toilet is set into the floor -- and i have to admit, I don't even know how to use it!!! I mean, do you just take your pants down and squat? How do you keep from getting your clothes soiled? Do you sit in the same position as you would on a toilet? I just dont get it. Needless to say, I tried to avoid going to the bathroom today. These same types of toilets were everywhere in Kamakura as well. It was an adventure for sure!!!

I Rode the Train Today!!!

Its been a very busy day. Today was our free day to just "explore Japan". That's actually what it said in our book! After sleeping in (which was quite nice), I decided I better get up and take advantage of the ONE day we have to just goof around. Previously in the week i had talked to several others and decided that a good, relatively nearby place to go was this city called Kamakura, which actually used to be the governmental seat for the Tokagawa Shogunate (The Samurai).

The train/subway/metro here is really neat. I was scared initially -- it can be overwhelming to figure out all the lines and schedules, etc. Especially when you are a native Californian, and you've never spent a minute of your life on public transit. But, after taking a risk here in Tokyo, I have to admit that I really liked it! It's so EASY EASY EASY!!! It makes me wonder why we dont have more public transit available in LA.

Anyway, here are some pictures from my public transit adventure:


I was amazed at just how CLEAN everything is! I'm not sure what subways in the states are like, but the subways here are exceptionally neat and tidy. In the picture above you can see some of the shops that are lining nearly all of the walls of the underground. Its kind of like being in a subterranean shopping mall, with a train running through the middle of it! Super cool!



Here's another shot -- can you believe how clean it is? Its amazing! How do they keep it so clean?


Here's a picture of me on the train. I took it myself!! I know I don't look happy but that's because it feels really weird to smile big when you are photographing yourself. I was afraid my fellow commuters might think I was a total dork! Trust me though, I was really happy -- I wasn't lost! That made me REALLY happy!


This is the inside of one of the trains that I rode today. I don't know how I managed to get a picture with almost no one in it. That's really strange because the trains are really really crowded. I guess I just got lucky. You can probably see that even the inside of the trains are really clean.


Here is another train we passed -- they pass so close to each other!! At one point on the trip, I think there were like four trains of different lines, all passin each other at once. It's quite efficient!

Anyway, I really liked my train experience. I am no longer afraid. I think I'm going to check out the trains in LA and see if there are cool ways to ride those trains. Tokyo has a great metro system. I loved it! You can go anywhere in the city on these trains, and its so much cheaper than a taxi! Just make sure you have a map!

Speaking Japanese -- LESSON ONE from MOM!!

Ok -- so here are the phrases that came in REALLY handy today:

to-i-de doko desuka? (where is the bathroom!)

Ohio Gozaimas (good morning politely)

Arigato Gozaimas (thank you politely)

Koreuwa ikura desuka (how much does this cost?)

SumimaseN (excuse me)


Now I need to learn to say, "how do you say ________ in Japanese"


I haven't had a chance to say it yet, but I've looking for a chance to say:

hajime mashite (how do you do)


Maybe tomorrow!

The Akasuka Buddhist Shrine

Here are some pictures of the shrine we went to today:







I don't really know much about it, other than it was surrounded by a lot of little shops (similar to little Tokyo in LA). And, there were a lot of school groups visiting. Here is a picture of some crazy hair dudes that were part of one of those school groups:

The Most Amazing Garden

My hotel has the most amazing garden -- supposedly its over 400 years old!! Originally it was part of the Imperial Palace Gardens, and when they built the hotel, they built it around the existing gardens. Take a look:





They also had the most giant koi I have every seen!!! maybe the Koi is actually 400 years old!!

You can't really tell how big it is -- I'm not kidding its like 4 FEET LONG!!!!!

Here are some more pictures:

Traditional Japanese Breakfast!!

Imagine having fish for breakfast? Well actually if my mom is reading this -- she sometimes made salmon for breakfast so that's not really all that crazy to think about!!

Ok, so what about having Rice and Seaweed for breakfast??? that is a little more strange right? Here is a picture of the breakfast we were served, our first full day in Japan:



It included: the most AMAZING SALMON, rice, seaweed, some sort of mushroom salad thing, some gelatinous egg thing, a HOT PEPPER, a meaty-ish dumpling, a sausagey meatball, ginger, miso soup (yum yum!), radishes and some green vegetable (chard maybe)? It was a LOT of food for breakfast!

And this is what it looked like when I was through:

So much too blog on, so little time!!!

We did SO MUCH today I don't even know how to talk about it all!! So I think I just throw up some pictures from today so you can see the neat things we did!



The day started with a traditional Japanese Breakfast -- it was delicious but I'll blog about that in a different post!



We visited the Japanese "Diet" -- which is like their Congress


And we spent part of the afternoon at a Buddhist Temple/Shrine in Akasuka!

I have a bazillion more pictures! I'll post them in another post!

Dinner at a Traditional Japanese Restaurant

On the first night our Fullbrighter Host took us to this really interesting restaurant. We walked a little bit downtown and then took the elevator to the fifth floor of some building. It was really strange because when we exited the elevator we were in a tiny little foyer that was the foyer for the restaurant. I wasn't expecting that -- I guess the restaurant is the only establishment on that floor!

We also had to take off our shoes -- we hadn't been warned before we left so I had no slippers with me. Even worse I had no socks! I was really embarassed, but I got over it. The waiter showed us to our own "room"-- fully enclosed with a low table and tatami mats -- but the interesting thing was that under the table there was a pit for you to put your legs down into. Another unexpected surprise!!

It was difficult for my group to order -- one guy was a strict vegetarian and everything on the menu involved some kind of sea creature. lol. They even had Horse Meat and Chicken Gristle!!! Imagine that????

I listend as our host tried to explain all the dishes so that we could make our choices. It took thirty minutes just to decide on what to order because everything sounded just a little too "exotic" for our group. I saw something that looked like tempura and she confirmed that it was, indeed, tempura. But, it was Eel. She told me that eel is really high in calories, so that was a perfect out -- I told her that I didn't want to eat something high in calories! She finally showed us a dish that was called "baked rice" with shrimp and vegetables. I said "I'll have that!". It sounded pretty tame.

It was actually a great dish -- I don't know what all was in it. Various gelatinous vegetables, etc. A couple of shrimp... but it was absolutely tasty. The best part was that they served it in this crazy hot bowl then poured the shrimp and veggies over the top and that's how they cooked. It smelled YUMMY! I think everyone else was jealous, especially my friend who ended up ordering sushi with sea anemone (she hated it). hehehe. The other two friends ate bean curd and buckwheat soba. But, they said that it was good. I was too chicken to try it. Aparently bean curd (fermented beans) is a really popular staple food here. I'm still afraid of it!!

It was a great time though. The atmosphere was amazing. I felt like I was in that Jackie Chan movie we just saw -- the one with the Monkey King? It was like the restaurant that kid is getting tea in. Anyway, it was really amazing. Loved it!

The Arrival!!!

Its hard to believe but I am here. The plane ride was incredibly long -- 10.5 hours -- even worse, we sat on the tarmac at San Francisco for an hour, because according to our Pilot Air Control "lost" our flight plan. ummm.... yah. =-)

I had a window seat, which was good and bad -- good because i could take pictures, and bad because I was crammed into the smallest imaginable seat!! Even worse, I was sitting next to a really nice old Japanese couple. This was bad because I had to inconvenience them every time I had to get up to go to the ladies room! I wouldn't have felt bad if it were some of my colleagues.

The flight was long -- REALLY long. You don't really know how long 10 hours is until you have to stay in the same spot and not move! Try it some time -- you'll know what i mean!

Once we arrived, guess what? We had a two hour bus ride into Tokyo!!! Wow -- I literally felt like I was travelling for 24 hours. It wasn't that bad, but I don't think I've ever traveled for that many hours in a row -- ever!'

We finally arrived at our hotel, got checked in, then met up with former Fullbrighters who would be our "hosts" for the evening. Their job was to take us to enjoy some of the local night life and food.