Japan (October 2008)
From the top of the hill behind Hase-dera Temple, we could see the Pacific Ocean. There were many surfers and windsurfers out enjoying the fine weather.
When we climbed down to the street level, we noticed a small torii leading to a cave.
In the cave there was a statue of Benzaiten, the goddess of feminine beauty and wealth. It is interesting to note that Benzaiten is a Shinto goddess. In Japan it's not unusual to find a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine coexist at the same location as these different religions do not fight against each other.
We walked back to the train station and continued toward Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, but we first stopped for lunch at one of the "soba" noodle restaurant. It must have been a popular spot as there was a line outside the restaurant. Indeed, it was very good.
We resumed walking along a wide boulevard that dead ended at the "torii" gate to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine:
When we reached the shrine, there was a Shinto wedding ceremony taking place in a building which I think is the dance stage. The bride (in white kimono with a hood) and the groom (in black kimono) are facing toward the altar. The man in a dark suit is an ashier.
In the next photo, "Kannushi" (head priest) is at the altar. The bride is mostly obscured by the column on the right, and the groom is visible just to the right of the column:
After visiting the Main Hall, which was at the top of a steep stairs, we returned to the train station.
We then hopped on "Enoden", a street car, to visit Enoshima, an small island connected to the mainland by a bridge:
After crossing the bridge we walked up a narrow street to Enoshima Shrine which is locate near the highest point of the island.
It was getting dark very quickly, and the moon was high in the sky. We returned to Kamakura and then to Tokyo.
When we climbed down to the street level, we noticed a small torii leading to a cave.
In the cave there was a statue of Benzaiten, the goddess of feminine beauty and wealth. It is interesting to note that Benzaiten is a Shinto goddess. In Japan it's not unusual to find a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine coexist at the same location as these different religions do not fight against each other.
We walked back to the train station and continued toward Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, but we first stopped for lunch at one of the "soba" noodle restaurant. It must have been a popular spot as there was a line outside the restaurant. Indeed, it was very good.
We resumed walking along a wide boulevard that dead ended at the "torii" gate to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine:
When we reached the shrine, there was a Shinto wedding ceremony taking place in a building which I think is the dance stage. The bride (in white kimono with a hood) and the groom (in black kimono) are facing toward the altar. The man in a dark suit is an ashier.
In the next photo, "Kannushi" (head priest) is at the altar. The bride is mostly obscured by the column on the right, and the groom is visible just to the right of the column:
After visiting the Main Hall, which was at the top of a steep stairs, we returned to the train station.
We then hopped on "Enoden", a street car, to visit Enoshima, an small island connected to the mainland by a bridge:
After crossing the bridge we walked up a narrow street to Enoshima Shrine which is locate near the highest point of the island.
It was getting dark very quickly, and the moon was high in the sky. We returned to Kamakura and then to Tokyo.
Day 13:
We would leave Japan later today. We checked out of the hotel, made reservations for the airport bus, and left our luggage with the bell captain. Then we headed to Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, which has become a popular leisure spot. It's connected to the central city by Rainbow Bridge:
We reached Odaiba by monorail. We noticed a funky building. It turned out to be Fuji TV building. We had a nice tour of the building, including a nice view of the city from the observation area.
When we came out of the Fuji TV building we thought we saw two aliens who had just landed in a golden spaceship and were taking surveillance photos!
We gawked at them, but they eventually decided to move on!
Since my friend wanted to do some shopping at a "hyaku-en shop" (100-yen store), we went to Harajuku area, where there was a large hyaku-en shop. Since we were right next to Meiji Shrine, we decided to see it first. Meiji Shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji (current Emperor's great grandfather), and it is located in a huge forest in the middle of Tokyo. The grounds are about 700,000 sq. meters (175 acres).
We saw a cute girl dressed in kimono, going for the traditional Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) rite of passage ceremony at the shrine. What a difference to those aliens we saw at Odaiba! We got her to pose for us:
It is usual to see barrels of sake offered to a shrine, but we saw barrels of champagne, also! This must be a new tradition?
Since my plane back to SFO was leaving several hours earlier than my friend's plane to HNL, and since I didn't care to go shopping at the hyaku-en shop, we said good-bye at the subway station nearby, and I let her enjoy shopping. I returned to the hotel, took the airport bus to NRT, and eventually boarded my flight back to SFO.
My friend, after shopping, did manage to return to the hotel and caught her flight back to HNL with no problem.
Please visit the Photo Galleries and Video Galleries for more photo and videos from this trip as well as from other trips.
We would leave Japan later today. We checked out of the hotel, made reservations for the airport bus, and left our luggage with the bell captain. Then we headed to Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, which has become a popular leisure spot. It's connected to the central city by Rainbow Bridge:
We reached Odaiba by monorail. We noticed a funky building. It turned out to be Fuji TV building. We had a nice tour of the building, including a nice view of the city from the observation area.
When we came out of the Fuji TV building we thought we saw two aliens who had just landed in a golden spaceship and were taking surveillance photos!
We gawked at them, but they eventually decided to move on!
Since my friend wanted to do some shopping at a "hyaku-en shop" (100-yen store), we went to Harajuku area, where there was a large hyaku-en shop. Since we were right next to Meiji Shrine, we decided to see it first. Meiji Shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji (current Emperor's great grandfather), and it is located in a huge forest in the middle of Tokyo. The grounds are about 700,000 sq. meters (175 acres).
We saw a cute girl dressed in kimono, going for the traditional Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) rite of passage ceremony at the shrine. What a difference to those aliens we saw at Odaiba! We got her to pose for us:
It is usual to see barrels of sake offered to a shrine, but we saw barrels of champagne, also! This must be a new tradition?
Since my plane back to SFO was leaving several hours earlier than my friend's plane to HNL, and since I didn't care to go shopping at the hyaku-en shop, we said good-bye at the subway station nearby, and I let her enjoy shopping. I returned to the hotel, took the airport bus to NRT, and eventually boarded my flight back to SFO.
My friend, after shopping, did manage to return to the hotel and caught her flight back to HNL with no problem.
Please visit the Photo Galleries and Video Galleries for more photo and videos from this trip as well as from other trips.
