Temples and Shrines

Since we were up at 3 this morning we had what felt like a long day.  We started by writing yesterday’s blog then when the hotel’s restaurant opened up we headed downstairs for breakfast.  Breakfast was interesting.  They did have traditional western breakfast (eggs, sausage, cereal, etc) but they also had Japanese breakfast which we mostly ate.  We each had a couple of bowls of rice, sometimes with curry sauce sometimes without, but we also had miso soup, salad (this was strange for breakfast as it was like a regular dinner salad), and Chris opted for the salmon and mackerel.  There were also pickled vegetables to go with all of this, which made for an interesting, but good, meal.  Despite it being called breakfast we thought this was all more like a lunch.

When we got back to our hotel room we noticed a pants press in the closet that we had not noticed the night before.  We had one of these the last time we were in Japan and it seemed very useful.  It is a little bit wider than an ironing board but much shorter.  We didn’t use it this time but we liked it because you put your pants in there, hit the button and they are pressed.  You don’t have to bother with an iron, this press does it much quicker.  We think our Uncle Timmy would like this press.  There was also an interesting water boiler for tea in the room, which seem pretty standard in hotels in Japan.  You tend to find these in Japan rather than coffee makers in the hotel rooms.

 

We left the hotel just before 8 this morning.  The plan for the day was to drop our luggage off in a locker near where we would be staying for the night then head out with just our backpack.  We took the train to Yokohama, a city a little south of Tokyo.  The most unusual thing about our trip to Yokohama was that the train was practically empty.  That is unheard of in Japan and later in the day they more than made up for it with large crowds on the other trains we took. 

When we got to Yokohama we immediately found lockers but unfortunately they did not take coins (even though they are called coin lockers).  They only took something called a Suica card.  We did not have a Suica card nor could we find a place to get one (we later found out you can get them in the vending machine…they are basically pre-paid debit cards you can use on subways, on trains and in convenience stores) but we thankfully found some real coin lockers nearby to store our stuff.  We inserted our 400 yen into the machine, stuffed our small carry-on/suitcase plus our duffle bag in, and we headed back toward the train to go towards a town southwest of Tokyo called Kamakura.  Again, our train was fairly empty, at least by Japanese standards. 

Kamakura was once the seat of a feudal government set up in 1192.  It is now known for its historical sites, its beaches, and its easy commuting distance to Tokyo.  The city has many popular temples and shrines, only a few of which we went to, as well as well-preserved historic treasures in a hilly, rustic setting.  The area was pretty crowded throughout the day as the New Years’ holiday is one of the most important holidays in Japan.  Most people are off for the first few days of the year (and most major attractions are closed) so that people can travel, visit family, and celebrate.  Many people do Hatsumode, which is their first visit to a temple or shrine in the new year.  Hatsumode festivities are held at practically every shrine and temple across Japan. At popular shrines and temples you can experience a festive atmosphere with food stands and many people lining up for a prayer at the main hall, purchasing lucky charms for a fortunate new year and disposing their lucky charms of the past year.  We would experience more of this later in the day.

We arrived at our first stop, Engakuji, while it was still relatively early in the day.  Engakuki Temple is one of the most celebrated ZenBuddhist temples in Japan and the buildings are all built in a grove of Japanese cedars.  The temple was founded in the year 1282 and while there have been fires over the years which required most of the buildings to be rebuilt at one time or another, the oldest thing on the site was the Ohgane, or the temple bell, which was donated in the year 1301.  The main gate, which was just a 2-3 minute walk from the train station, was built in the year 1783.  There were about a dozen or so other buildings and temples on the site but one of the most interesting is a shrine called Shari-den, which is where Budda’s tooth is enshrined.  Besides the age of some of these buildings we were also impressed by the intricate detail that was found carved into some of the buildings.

The stairs to the bell

After leaving Engakuji we walked across the street and up the hill towards another temple called Tokeiji Temple.  This was another Zen temple, this one founded in the year 1285. It was called a “divorce temple” in feudal days, as it was a place of refuge for wives mistreated by their husbands. 

 

After Tokeiji we headed up the road with the many other people who were out today, towards the next temple, Kenchoji  Temple.  This was about a 15 minute walk up the road from Tokeiji.  It was a little more crowded at this temple but it was also larger and more spread out.  One of the more interesting things here was a grove of juniper trees which were planted over 750 years ago.  The buildings at Kenchoji were built in the 1200’s.  There was also in impressive golden gate (we could not determine from any of the English paperwork we were given if it was made of gold or just looks that way) just outside of the Buddha Hall.  Both the gate and hall were moved here piece by piece in 1647.

 

 

At each of these temples there were numerous stone lanterns lining the pathways.  Japanese stone lanterns have been around since the 700’s.  They were originally placed only at Buddhist temples but today they are at most Buddhist and Shinto temples as well as in many gardens.  Each of the five elements in the Buddhist cosmology is represented by the stone lanterns: the piece touching the ground represents the earth; the next section water; the section where the light is held represents fire; and air and spirit are represented by the top two sections.

 

We then walked towards the main part of Kamakura where the crowds were.  We did not walk all the way up to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, which was next, because there were literally 10’s of thousands of people already there and the line to get in was about a dozen people wide and easily a quarter mile long.  It seemed to be moving fairly quickly but with that many people we figured you would not be able to get a good look at whatever was in there. 

The best part of having all of these people around and the New Years’ celebrations, were the many food vendors that were set up all along the way selling both strange and good stuff.  The food is probably best described as typical fair food, similar to what you would find at a fair back home but with a Japanese twist. 

We did not try everything but some of the more notable foods Takoyaki, which are ball shaped pancakes with a chunk of octopus in the middle(we did not try it),

Okonomiyaki, which are Japanese pancakes made with leftovers from the fridge which usually include pork, seafood and cheese.  The one we ate also had a sunny side up egg cracked right over the top. 

Ikayaki which is grilled squid on a stick, we did not try this. 

Jaga Bata, which was probably our favorite, the most interesting, and tastiest.  It is a deep fried potato with butter, they really put a lot of butter on it and then salted it to death but it tasted great!  We are pretty surprised to not have seen this at fairs back home because they seem to deep fry just about everything. 

Ringo Ame, which is a candy apple.  We ate the candy strawberry which was different but great.   

Dango which we have had before, is a Japanese rice dumpling made from rice flour.  The one they gave us was right out of the steamer and it took us a few minutes before we could bite into it without burning ourselves.

 

After getting our fill we headed down to the train station where we knew we would encounter a very crowded train.  This was the Japan we know and don’t really love, people invading your personal space, touching you, being pressed up against the glass, etc.  Luckily it was a short ride, only three stops, or just under 5 minutes. 

Chris thinks the guy in the window looks a little like Einstein

We got off at the Hase station and walked about 10 minutes up the hill towards a giant Buddha.  Near Nagoya we had seen another large Buddha the last time we were here but this one was even bigger.  This was built in the year 1252, it weighs 121 tons and is over 37 feet tall.  We spent some time here before heading back to the train, which this time was a little less crowded. 

We grabbed a spot (notice we didn’t say seat) at the back of the train where we could look out the back as we travelled down the tracks.  This train ran through narrow residential areas, at one point a woman was walking her scooter behind the slow moving train because it seemed that her sidewalk spilled right out onto the tracks and she had to walk a short distance down the tracks to get to the street.  The train also ran right along the beach area.  Despite it being winter there were quite a few people out surfing in the ocean.

 

We eventually made our way back to Yokohama, where we picked up our luggage from the locker and got on a subway for the short ride to our hotel for the night, the Intercontinental Yokohama Grand, which is a great place overlooking Yokohama Bay. When we were buying our subway tickets we took an interesting picture that most people reading this will think is just craziness.  When you buy your subway and train tickets you don’t pay a flat rate like you may in some cities but instead you pay by the distance you are going.  You pay in advance which means you have to look at a map and see what it costs to where you are travelling to.  If you don’t know you could always pay a minimum amount and on the way out you’d visit a fare adjustment machine where it would tell you what you owe.  Anyway, we took a picture of the subway map to give you an idea of how confusing it can be. Even when the signs are in English as many of the maps are it is still quite confusing trying to figure out how much you would pay, or even trying to figure out where you are going.

 

By the time we got there we were exhausted.  We were disappointed to have to wait in line for over a half hour to check in, the person at the desk told us that because of the New Year holiday it was much busier than normal.  After waiting for 30+ minutes Chris saw a sign for special check in for priority club members (members of the Holiday Inn chain’s frequent guest club).  The sign had been turned around when we first got there but once he saw the sign he jumped off of the line and was able to only wait 10 more minutes to check in.  We would have easily waited another half hour or more had we not gotten off of the line.  Finally after what seemed like a really long day we made it to our room with a view.