Kamakura & Familiar Faces

Today we visited the ancient city of Kamakura, which is about 50 km southwest from Tokyo.

In 1192 Shogun Minamoto-no-Yoritomo established his shogunate (centre of politics) in Kamakura, leading the samurai of the Kanto region.
Thanks to its many historical sites for sightseeing, mainly temples and shrines that are scattered around, Kamakura is a very popular day trip from Tokyo and is said to be packed on weekends.

a nice view of Kamakura

(as you might have noticed I love taking panoramic pictures...)

We made our first stop at the Hase-dera temple.
It is best known for its statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy.
Not knowing what was expecting us, we entered the temple's main building, the Kannon-do Hall, and were awestruck.
Standing in front of us was a 9 metre tall wooden statue, plated in a shimmering gold, its gaze calm and benevolent.
What a sight!
Like always in temples you weren't allowed to take any pictures. I'm sure you'll be able to find some on Google though.

the Hase-dera temple's main hall

the entrance to the Benten-Kutsu cave

more panoramic beauty:
this time of a Japanese stone garden

Later on we went to see Kamakura's main attraction: the Great Buddha, also known as the Kamakura Daibatsu.
With its height of 13.5 metres, the statue of the seated Buddha Amida Nyorai can be seen from afar.
The statue was cast in 1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall. However, the temple buildings were destroyed multiple times by typhoons and a tidal wave in the 14th and 15th centuries. So, since 1495, the Buddha has been standing in the open air.

Back in Shibuya we had supper with Alessio's mother and stepfather, who had arrived in Japan on this very day and will be staying for two weeks.