Today we took the train about an hour outside Tokyo to met Mr. Ashihara’s cousin in Kamakura. She lives one town over from Kamakura and as a gift to Ichiro and I, offered us an all inclusive tour!
We started with lunch at this very nice restaurant. Ichiro was impressed with the fact that I tried everything (I even impressed myself!)
Here we are outside the restaurant, the gardens were beautiful.
We had a nice private room where we looked over the town and ocean.
Next she took us to Daibutsu or Great Buddha. The Buddha is the Amida Buddha which is worshiped by the Jodo School, as a figure of salvation. It was build in 1252 and sits approximately 13.35 m tall.
Right in front of the Great Buddha is this large incense holder. You wave the smoke near you and make a wish asking something of the Great Buddha.
Here I am, doing my Japanese Photo Pose!
Next we went to the Great Kannon Kamakura Hasedera Temple. The Hase Temple is famous for its statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The statue shows Kannon with eleven heads, each representing a characteristic of goddess. We were not allowed to take pictures of Kannon however below is the building she was housed in.
The main building.
The grounds had beautiful gardens with smaller Buddha tucked away throughout. Here are a few pictures of my favorites.
Also there was this cool cave that you could walk (almost crawl) through. Inside were many statues that represented different
things. Many people would light candles and make wishes in front of the statue that corresponded with their wish.
Lastly, you could write a message on the back of these mini Buddha and leave them in the cave. My mini Buddha is the one right in the front.
We have taken so many pictures. To may to post here. You can check them out on Ichiro’s website’s photo album!!!
Heading to bed, it was a long day!!!!