April 6, 2014

April 6, 2014

We checked out of our Tokyo Hotel and had our bags sent ahead to another hotel. This is a nice service in Japan. It doesn’t cost much and lets us navigate the trains and sites carrying only a small backpack.

We take the train 35 miles south to Kamakura. This coastal valley was the seat of the first Shogun after he seized power from the Emperor in 1185. It contains lots of historic and cultural sites. Because of this it was spared from bombing during WWII. Our first stop is at Kotoku-in Buddhist temple. This place is renowned for its Great Buddha. This 40-foot tall bronze statue is almost 1000 years old and big enough to climb inside. The hall that used to house it was washed away by tsunami several times, so now it sits outside.

Down the street is the Hase-dera Buddhist temple. Built on a hillside overlooking the ocean, it has beautiful gardens. It is famous for its thirty-foot wooden statue of Kannon, a Buddhist goddess.

From the Kamakura train station we walked up the main street to the Tsurugaoki Hachiman-gu shrine. Dedicated to a legendary emperor and guardian spirit of the Samurai, the shrine sits on a hillside at the end of a long promenade.

Shinto is the ancient religion of Japan where people venerate “kami”, the divine spirits of nature and ancestors. Fifteen hundred years ago, Buddhism and Chinese culture was introduced to Japan. The two religions became melded. Today the Japanese typically think of Shinto as governing everyday life and Buddhism, the afterworld. Thus, they get married at a shrine and buried at a temple.

And we saw several weddings today. They were held in a large gazebo-like structure on the promenade. Just as we have elaborate wedding dresses and tuxedos, the Japanese bridal party was decked out in fancy kimonos and sandals. The music was a traditional drum, three-stringed banjo, and wooden flute.

After a little window-shopping down the main street, we had a pizza lunch with a bottle of Kamakura dark beer.

After lunch we took the train thirty miles down the coast to Odawara. Around the corner from the station high on a hill is a Castle. Odawara was a typical castle town during Japan’s feudal era when local Daimyos (like an English lord) ruled the countryside and warfare was common.  The castle looks and functions like a European one except the top of the central keep is wooden with distinctive Oriental architecture. The castle is reconstructed because all castles were torn down with the Meiji Restoration and the overturning of feudalism. Inside is now a museum of artifacts, including Samurai armor and swords.

From Odawara we took a train up into the hills to the nearby resort town of Hakone. It sits in a steep river valley. We are spending the night at a ryokan. This is a type of traditional Japanese inn that used to serve travelers. After checking in, we are escorted to our room by a kimono-clad lady to a nearly empty tatami-matted room with sliding doors. After removing our shoes, she serves us green tea on a very short table.

Since Japan sits on volcanic land, hot springs abound and public bathing is a tradition. So we partake before dinner. Aimee and I put on our Yukatas and head to the “onsen”. There I find several Japanese sitting on little overturned tubs scrubbing themselves down. Only then do they enter the hot tub. It is a nice relaxing soak in very hot water with a great view of the river below. It would be awesome if only there were a few naked geishas with me. Alas separation of the sexes was a Western practice the Japanese adopted after WWII.

At six our room hostess returns with our Kaiseki dinner. It consists of many small beautifully displayed courses. I thought it was great. Aimee didn’t appreciate it. To her everything tastes like fish, raw fish. Duh, it is raw fish, mostly. We had sushi, cooked fish, a pot of boiled fish, and tempura fish. Along with it were tofu, rice, soba noodles (again), pickles, and lots of things we couldn’t identify. Aimee for the most part only ate the rice. For desert we had a small pastry filled with sweetened bean paste.

There is no bed in the room. After dinner a man comes in and sets up a futon on the floor. It is comfortable but the big comforter is way too hot. In the middle of the night, I find and turn down the thermostat.