A busy weekend around Tokyo

Upon arriving in Japan, we somehow figured we would have time to do everything we wanted. But alas, as reality is starting to kick in, we realized that we don't actually have that many weekends in Japan (especially as we are planning a weed in Hong Kong), so best make the best of them!

One of the places we loved visiting on our first visit to Japan was Kamakura. As it's easily done as a day trip from Tokyo, we decided to head there on Saturday. Although, actually, we ended up catching a train to the island of Enoshima from Kamakura upon arrival - Enoshima had been recommended to us by one of our teachers.

The train station took us to Fuhiwara, a small town which is connected to Enoshima by means of a bridge. We marched straight across to Enoshima, eager to explore. But first thing is first - we were hungry - and those street stands selling fried cuttlefish just looked to enticing, so we decided to have one of them for an early lunch.

The main reason to go to Enoshima is to visit the Enoshima shrine - of course, this is after all Japan! (well, the main reason might actually be to go to the beach, but the beaches are on the mainland side). The shrine (which is composed of quite a few building scattered on a grassy hilltop, only accessible on foot) is dedicated to the goddess of good fortune, Benten, who according to local legend created Enoshima after subduing a 5-headed dragon!

We joined the crowds (I suppose we weren't the only ones who wanted to make the best of the sunny weather...),and hiked up to explore the shrine, which was picturesque (of course!). There were some pretty nice views towards the mainland coastline and the surrounding sea as well from various well signposted viewpoints (where they even had the courtesy to place small stands where one could place ones camera to take that perfect selfie - they really think about everything, those Japanese!)

The best view was to be had from the Sea Candle (a 60 meter tall observation tower, located at the highest point of the island, in Samuel Cocking Garden) - which we checked out, of course. Apparently, on a bright day, one can see Mount Fuji, but alas, in spite of the sun being out, the sky just wasn't bright enough, apparently... But the views were nice, anyways.

We then carried on walking around, finishing at the southern tip of the island, where the coastline just looks stunning. We were tempted to just go and lie down on the flat rockbeds found just beneath the footpaths, as many people were doing, but decided to first check out the famous Iwaya caves. There are two caves to explore - the first contains a collection of buddha statues (not quite sure how they ended up in there?) whereas the second one is dedicated to the mysterious 5-headed dragon mentioned earlier in the post.

We then spent a fair bit of time just lying down on the rockbed, enjoying the stunning view, the sea, and the beautiful sunshine... Also, we were quite simply rather nackered after all the walking about... Anyway, eventually, it was time to get off our bums, and head off back towards the mainland. After all, we still had Kamakura to visit! It quickly became obvious we would need to be very selective about what to do in Kamakura, as it was past 3 o'clock...

Kamakura played a very important role in Japanese history, as Japan was ruled from here for over 100 years (the Kamakura Shogunate was established here in 1192 by Minamoto Yorimoto). So there is obviously a lot to see - as is often the case in Japan, mainly temples and shrines.

The main sight to see here is probably the Daibutsu - big Buddha - the second biggest in Japan. So in spite of us having already seen it during our first trip to Japan with our good friend Andy, we decided to check it out again, mainly since it was close to one of the train stations conveniently located on the way into Kamakura from Enoshima. The impressive statue was made in 1252, and measures an impressive 13 meters in height. Even today, it's a sight to behold. Unfortunately, we arrived a bit late, so couldn't visit the inside of the statue.

The plan was then to check out Hase-Dera, a temple near the train station, and then head for dinner. Unfortunately, we were too late, though, the temple was closed... There were some nice Japanese ladies who left the temples wearing traditional kimonos, which made for a very nice photo ;)

Time for dinner then! We jumped on the train back to Kamakura, where we started looking for a restaurant in one of the main shopping streets (Komachi Street) near the train station. I was rather keen to try shirashi, which is the local culinary speciality in Kamakura and Enoshima. Shirashi is basically raw baby sardines, usually eaten with a bowl of rice. Pretty much every restaurant in Kamakura serves them, so we needn't have worried. We both had set menus that included this little delicacy - and we did indeed enjoy the shirashi!

The next day, the weather forecast promised rain, so we decided to check out a museum. But before that - SPORT! We decided to go to the local swimming pool. But actually, we stumbled upon the Kitasenju matsuri before that, so things got a bit delayed as we checked out the local festivities. It as all pretty cool in a very family-friendly way.

There were floats (wagons carrying musicians playing various instruments), Mikoshis being carried around (like we had done just 2 days ago - a fact my shoulders could still feel very vividly!). There was even a small mikoshi being carried around by kids. All good fun!

We decided to check out the Tokyo National Musuem, the granddaddy of Japanese museums. It's quite conveniently located in Ueno, which is not far from Kitasenju, so we jumped on the Metro and headed down to Ueno.

First thing was first - lunch. We ended up in Wendy's of all places! Big mistakes - the burger I ordered looked nothing like the picture, and Mathilde's meal was quite a letdown too. That figures, eating American food in Japan...

Tokyo National museum is located in Ueno Park, which is a very nice place to stroll around, so we did that to start with, checking out the street performers for a bit, and a troupe that was practicing their number for some Tokyo Olympics 2020-related big event that was being held in the park.

The museum, then. It's a pretty big place! This huge place, the oldest museum in Japan (opened in 1872), takes several visits to fully explore, I reckon. There are 5 or 6 buildings to explore, each with a dedicated theme. We started with the Honkan (which is the original museum building), or Japanese gallery.  The place, as the name suggests, traces Japanese arts in its various forms. Part of the exhibition tackles the art forms one by one, and part of the exhibition takes a historic time line approach. All in all, interesting stuff. I naturally preferred the samurai weapons and armor, goes without saying...

We then checked out one of the other buildings, which contains a huge collection of items from Horyu-ji (a famous temple from Ikaruga in Nara prefecture). There was a quite impressive collection of Buddha statues, but to be honest, we did't stay for that long (huge collections of religious items can hold our interest for only so long...). The building itself, modern, is very nice, with its rectangular shapes, located next to a reflecting pool.

By now, Mathilde had had enough, so I continued to the Asian collection on my own. I had only about 40 minutes to check out all the art in there, which clearly isn't enough. (after all, there was China, Korea, South-East Asia, Egypt and the Middle-East to cover) But it was a nice introduction to Asian art, I suppose one could say. I probably preferred the collection of Chinese statues at the beginning of the exhibition.

Then, it was time to call it a day. After all, we had to get a bit of rest before what was promising to be a busy week: Janne & Katja visiting Tokyo, attending a sumo tournament, Japanese sword cutting, and finally a trip to Kyoto!