Tromping around Kamakura with our Buddhism Professor

School's done! I'm in Japan for eleven more days (seven of which will involve running around the Tokyo metropolitan area with my dad), and then I'm heading home. It's kind of crazy to think how quickly this semester seems to have passed. Regardless, I am really looking forward to returning to the US and seeing my friends and family again soon.

Last Saturday our Japanese Buddhism professor invited the class to join him in running around Kamakura, a city with many old temples (among other things). Though I had a paper due that Monday, I decided to go, since it would be nice to get out of the house for the first time in over a month.

Kamakura, though only about 31 miles outside of downtown Tokyo, has a very different feel from the other towns surrounding the city. There's a lot of trees and greenery for one thing, and you can also hear birds that aren't crows, which is a really nice change from the more urban settings of Yokohama and Kawasaki.

Our first stop was Engakuji, one of the most important Zen temples in Japan.

The Mountain Gate

It was quite damp and mossy at Engakuji, which made me think of home. :)

The hydrangeas were in full bloom, too, making for a lovely scene.

The Great Bell. It's a national treasure!

Maintaining thatched roofs like the one seen here must be very difficult (and costly)!

That's not a triforce; it's the crest of the Hojo Clan, as the temple was built at the request of Hojo Tokimune.

A neat little set of stairs. Some of the biggest pill bugs I've ever seen were rolling around here.

A carving of the bodhisattva Kannon is carved into stones in one of the gardens.

There are over 100 of these Kannon sculptures in this area of the temple.

After Engakuji, we headed over to Jouchi-ji, another of the famous Zen temples of Kamakura. Jouchi-ji is much smaller than Engaku-ji, and as a result, there was not much to see in comparison.

Tanuki!

Creepy sign written in bad English. (It should read Hotei, rather than "Hotel," which makes it so much less creepy.)

Hotei. You're supposed to rub his belly, left earlobe, or his index finger. They've been rubbed smooth by generations of people coming to visit him.

After Jouchi-ji, we headed to one of the many hiking trails in the area and hiked to the main shopping street in Kamakura, where we had a snack of crepes. My classmates and professor decided to go on to the beach, but I was considerably tired by that point, and I wanted to put the finishing touches on my paper, so I decided it was time to head home. I had a really great time, though, and now I feel like I won't get terribly lost when I bring dad there next week! :)