Tim from Oce was in Japan for a week, so we went to Kamakura together. It was really nice to talk in Dutch about Holland, work, food and how things are in Japan. Although Tim had been in Japan before, a business trip does not (always) give you a chance to visit some of the cultural heritage. Kamakura is one of the places where it is almost impossible to miss, since there are too many temples to visit in one day and each one more elaborate or larger than the other.

After a 15 minute walk from the station, we started with a visit to the Great Buddha (Kamakura Daibutsu) at the Kotokuin Shrine. It's a really big bronze statue of more than 13 meters high, which has been standing in the open air since 1500. It is amazingly well preserved and you can go inside to see how it was cast. Surprisingly, some of the methods invited at that time are still used nowadays.

With a snack (dango) we went to the Hasedera Temple. We hadn't visited this one before and it was a lot bigger than expected. The temple structures were nicely placed along a small hill with a pond at the base. Uphill we had a nice view of the city but most spectacular were the hakws that were circling the area. At least 10 of them were visible and two of them came very close by. At a terrace nearby we saw a sign indicating that we should take not to eat food too openly, since they might take a bite of it. Not something you would like if you prefer your hand to stay intact. The main hall of the Temple features a 9 meter tall gilded wooden statue, carved from a single piece of wood, but the Temple is also known for the hundreds of small Jizo statues. Placing one such statue there is done by parents who have lost their child and want the deity to look over it for them. Long ago Jizo was a monk at the Temple and the Temple complex also had some (cute) statues smiling good luck at you (Nagomi Jizo is a big statue, Ryoen Jizo is a set of three small ones). The Temple also had an underground area (Bentenkutsu) where there were tunnels and caves with statues carved from the stone walls featuring the Shinto sea goddess of feminine beauty and wealth Benzaiten. Apparently the custom was to put a very small figure (3 cm's) somewhere in one of the caves since there were hundreds placed everywhere. It's not uncommon to see a Buddhist Temple and Shinto Shrine next to each other like this.

Enjoying some midday sun we took the hiking course over some hills. Since Kamakura is placed in a valley with mountains on three sides and the sea on the other side, there is not much room for the expanding city. Nature is on one hand preserved (a lot of forest) but hiking trails go from temple to temple (or shrine to shrine), serving as a quick repose from the city but also reminiscing the route monks took in the days of old.

The Zeniarai Benten Shrine is a bit secluded since its entrance starts with a tunnel and ends in a clearing not easily accessible from any other direction. It is originally a temple where luck shone on its visitors, particularly on business people. The ritual for good business fortune and 'doubling your money' (figuratively) is to (literally) wash it in the temple's water stream and dry it in the fumes of the incense pots scattered over the temple premises. When asked, Japanese people think they are not overly religious, but it doesn't hurt to wash some money while you're there, right?

Since most temples close at around 16:30, we made for the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine for the final stop of our tour. It is the biggest Shrine in the area, located in the center of the city. Temples are mostly serene, quiet and not very festive, while Shrines often have food stalls near the entrance and are more likely to be visited dressed in kimono. The same here, since the lane towards the first Shrine building had some stalls selling sweets, in Japanese style: roasted chestnuts, yakisoba, glaced fruit and baby-castella. The Shrine itself is very nice with a smaller building for ceremonies at the base of the big stairway and the actual Shrine at the top. It's always bustling with activity here and even when it is almost closing time people keep coming in. This time there was a bonfire where the 'good luck arrows' that people bought during New Year were burned.

Between the Hachimangu Shrine and the station is a shopping street which is always busy as well. The shops are nice to see, though sometimes a bit touristic, and stalls are selling some traditional Japanese sweets like osenbe and dango. There are restaurants aplenty and we picked what we think is the best place for okonomiyaki around Tokyo. With the hot plate in the center of the table, you can show off your cooking skills to make your own diner. Not that it's hard to make a vegetable-and-meat-egg-pancake. Tired from walking, talking and all the impressions we went home for some well-deserved relaxation afterwards.