First, Kamakura Great Buddha. The picture doesn't do it justice. One needs to stand under it to be in awe of its heavy presence. Entrance fee is ¥300/adult, but for additional ¥20, one could enter the Great Buddha and see it is empty inside. It is held up by all kinds of bars (steel or bronze? I don't remember.) Personally I prefer the bronze lotus sculptures in front of the Buddha.
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| Tickets, front |
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| Tickets, back |
Then, Hasedera Temple (¥400/adult). It's got a beautiful garden to walk around. The most fun is the cave where they put some buddha statues inside. It was dark, wet, and low. One could easily trip and hit the head in there.
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| Ticket, front & back |
We took the streetcar to Kamakura JR Train Station. This is such a cute streetcar.
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| Enoden Streetcar |
From Kamakura JR Station, we walked to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. The name is a mouthful, but it's got two of my favorite things: red bridges and lotus flower pond. We wandered to an older smaller shrine called Inari Shrine. Nobody was there, just us. We walked through the red torii gates, and it rained on us. We stood in front of the shrine with four fox stone sculptures as protectors. We listened to the rain drops pa-da pa-da pa-da on the umbrella. It felt serene, peaceful, and poetic.
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| 鶴岡八幡宮 |
Kamakura is far; 2.5 hours train ride one way, with four transfers! We recommend it, but ourselves will probably not go again.