Day 17: Kamakura (November 27th)

I decided to go it alone to Kamakura to see the daibutsu and the area around it. After lunch I took a train from Shinjuku out to Kamakura's Hase. From the train, I managed to see the best view of Mount Fuji I had during the whole trip. One summer, I'll return to Japan and climb it. After riding the train for more than an hour I arrived in Kamakura and took the local subway out to Hase. From Hase station I walked to the Great Buddha. In the area with the Great Buddha, there were monks praying, artists painting, and of course many tourists.

After visiting Kamakura's Great Buddha, I went to the local temple, Hasederaji. It has a walkway that takes visitors to the top of a small mountain. The view was great, I managed to see the ocean and much of Kamakura. The temple has many of the same fixtures and features of the previous temples I visited, but it also had a unique cave. My height didn't allow me to fully explore the cave.

The temple-cave I could barely walk in

A sign that I couldn't but take a picture of

As I was leaving Kamakura, I bumped into an American exchange student named Carlos. He told me about the Ofuna, which I only got to see from the train. He thanked me for the conversation in English before he got off the train in Totsuka. I rode the train back to Shinjuku and after arriving at the station I decided to explore around the station before meeting up with Matt and Troy for dinner.

Christmas Decorations near the station

The "hot" sign was on

Christmas in Japan is romantic