Click here to see all of the pictures I took on this day.
Along with the hotel and flight package to Tokyo that we purchased, we also bought a couple of guided tours: Kamakura and Mt. Fuji. Today was the day for Kamakura.
We had to walk about half a mile to the Keio Plaza Hotel to catch a bus at 7:55 AM, so we grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonalds on the way. In the lobby, a woman from the tour agency was attempting to corral all of the foreigners into their correct groups. We got on a bus that took us across town to the tour agency's main office. On the way, a woman got on the microphone and said what I actually thought was, "Prease rook out the window. Godzilla is coming." As it turned out, she was saying that we might want to see a tunnel we were driving through. Oh well.
Once we got to the main office we were once again sorted, and given fabric stickers to wear that indicated what tour we were with. We met our tour guide, a sweet little lady named Mariko. Her first task was to give us all train tickets and lead us while waving a yellow flag in the air (as she did anytime we were walking through a crowded area that day) to the train platform. Then we had about an hour and a half train ride south to Kamakura. Along the way she spoke to each of us where we were sitting on the train about the general plan for the day.
Kamakura is a rustic little beach-side town that for a short time about eight hundred years ago was actually the capital city of Japan. The first thing we had to do on arrival was switch to a smaller, local train to head down to Hase-dera, a temple containing the largest wooden statue in Japan: A huge image of the Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. Her seven heads supposedly allow her to look in all directions to help her find suffering people in need.
Near this shrine is an overwhelming place filled with literally thousands of tiny statues. Each one commemorates the soul of a stillborn or miscarried child.
There was also a low cavern carved through the hillside (only Erin didn't have to duck) and a statue that Japanese women were rubbing all over, believing it would bring them wealth.
Next we walked up the street to see the famous Daibutsu (Great Buddha). This giant bronze buddha was built 800 years ago, covered in gold leaf, and a temple was built over it. Two hundred years later a tsunami washed away the building and the buddha has been sitting out in the elements ever since. Only a small bit of his gold can be seen on his right cheek. There was an offering of grapefruit and flowers set in front of him, and a small gift shop to the side selling trinkets and buddhist literature. Erin and I paid an additional 20 yen each (20 cents) to walk inside the statue and see how it was put together.
I mentioned to the tour guide that there is a place very similar in purpose and style to the Daibutsu in America in the state of Arkansas, where a giant statue of Jesus is used as a pretext to tell people about Christianity as well as make a quick buck off tourists.
At all of these locations we were given some free time, and Erin and I often talked with the tour guide, asking her questions about things we've been puzzled by since we came here, and surprising her with news of some differences she didn't realize. She told us that most Japanese aren't really religious, but just come to these temples on special occasions or when they want to selfishly obtain some good fortune. I told her it was basically the same in the US. She asked if we were Christians, and we explained that we are, and that we take our belief seriously. I was wanting to explain to her how Christianity is all about purification just as the Shintoism she had been explaining to us is, except that we believe that no amount of ritual could ever make us even a little bit purer, so God became a man and paid the price for the sinfulness of his creation. Instead, this big oaf of a guy on our tour monopolized her time with the old "Why do you guys get your Rs and Ls messed up" question.
After the Daibutsu we had lunch at a restaurant on the second floor of a nearby building which seemed to cater exclusively to groups like this. Happily, it was not as weird as I had feared it would be. It was also handy to have someone present who could explain what each part of the set meal was.
Next we had some free time to shop before meeting back at the local station to ride the train to another part of town and see Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. On the way we passed a Catholic church, at which point she explained that only 1% of Japan is Christian.
Hachiman-gu is a huge shrine on a hill at the end of a long road. Along the road are many candy and treat vendors. I bought an ice-cold slice of pineapple on a stick for 200 yen from a woman, who played a round of Jan Ken Pon (Paper Rock Scissors) with me for a chance to win another for free. I won the practice round (scissors vs paper), but the actual match was a draw (rock vs rock), and the house wins on a draw. Still, it was fun and the pineapple was one of the best I've ever had.
Mariko explained many of the standard sights at a shinto or buddhist shrine to us. It was very informative. Erin and I bowed twice, throw a five yen coin each into the shrine, clapped twice, then bowed again.
We also saw a one month old baby being dedicated at the shrine. This ritual dates back to a time when a baby was hidden in drab clothing for the first month of their life to hide them from evil spirits (because the infant mortality rate was so high).
We had about 45 minutes of free time to shop on our way back to the train station. I saw a lady cooking big rice crackers on the street, and handed her a 50 yen coin. She grabbed a hot rice cracker with tongs, dunked it in soy sauce, then wrapped a piece of nori seaweed around the other end so I could grab it. It tasted great!
Erin looked in some shoe stores and we checked out some trinket shops, but with only about five minutes left before we were supposed to meet our group she found a Studio Ghibli store in the basement of a building. It was full of things she wanted to buy, so I went ahead and explained that she would be following shortly. Our train wasn't going to arrive for a few more minutes, so there was no problem.
On the way back toward Tokyo, the group slowly split up as our tour guide helped each member of our group get back to their own destination. We were part of the final group, and thanked her for all of her help. Then we rode the Chuo Line back to Shinjuku station and helped an Italian couple on our tour get pointed in the direction of their hotel.
After a rest and a trip to the Seven Eleven to withdraw more cash for tomorrow, I finally convinced Erin to go with me to the Metropolitan Government Building's 45th floor observatory that evening. We had to walk another half mile and had a bit of difficulty finding the entrance to the tower (it ended up being on the basement level), but we made it. It was -- like many places in Tokyo -- uncomfortably warm up there, and I wished the lights had been dimmer. As it was, I had to cover my camera with Erin's jacket to get any photos to turn out. I was honored to see a Japanese dude nudge his friend and point at my camera in envy, though.
The observation deck was basically a huge souvenir shop, but we saw what we came to see, bought a couple more gashapon, and headed back towards the hotel by a different route. We still hadn't eaten dinner and were getting pretty hungry, so we stopped into a convenience store. Erin got some mandarin oranges and I bought a "bigu furanku" ("big frank"...a hot-dog-on-a-stick), plus some other snacks. Then we headed back to the room and went to bed.
i can't tell you how much i'm enjoying these blogs, david! i love that you guys are having the time of your lives over there!
Posted by: AS | October 12, 2008 at 12:09 AM