Japan 2017 Redux: Day 6 "Money laundering"
Day 6: 2017-05-03 Wednesday
This is around the part of the holiday where I’d kind of started to run out of structured ideas, so I have fewer pre-prepared notes about things. This means I’m relying a little more on memory, which will inevitably make these blog posts a little fuzzier.
Today we took a trip to Kamakura, which is a popular day-tripper coastal location south of Tokyo.
It’s fairly easy to get to, and has some fabulous hilly walks and great sights, so I’d highly recommend it.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Kamakura+Station/@35.3202436,139.5484246,17.08z
8.04 nakamurabashi to Yokohama 9.21 Yokohama to Kamakura
— Google Keep note
I was checking whether this route was actually correct, and it actually was. For me, this was the most confusing thing about trains in Tokyo—the fact that trains morph and change into different services. You can never guarantee that a train will terminate at the end of the line, even if the service is a “private” one. This is how it looks:
And I guess it’s pretty good, as otherwise one would need to change trains countless times, but it does make the service pattern a bit complicated.
After walking around and seeing the Hachiman-gu shrine, then we walked through the Yuigahama area.
Brief stroll through Yuigahama. Lots of nice antiques places and cafes here.
— My notebook
At this point, I thought it was just a coincidence that two characters from My Teenage Romcom SNAFU were featured in the geography. Needless to say, I was 100% sure when I noticed that Yukinoshita was the next area over.
https://goo.gl/maps/hF1mdUogSafJBcJR8
Hokokuji Temple is notable for its incredible bamboo garden. This is the view from there when having a cup of green tea from the cafe. It’s a great place to visit.
https://goo.gl/maps/weZNjVcsmqpTTNUn6
The Zeniarai Benten shrine is known as a place where washing your money will increase its wealth. Money laundering is encouraged here!
They have little baskets you can put your money in to wash it with, but since there was a crowd I just stuck mine straight under the water. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, mostly because no-one else was.
https://goo.gl/maps/1Rkrf83qVd3aXFeX6
The Great Buddha is another great attraction in Kamakura. The picture doesn’t really do justice to how large and impressive it is.
At the time of our visit, you could go up the Buddha for only ¥20, which feels like an incredible bargain to me. Apparently you can look out his eyeholes!
One of the really great things about Kamakura is how mountainous it is. It has many hiking trails nestled inside the town, and they felt rural, green, and isolated despite it even being Golden Week. They’re literally not a walk in the park, but if you’re good with doing a lot of walking, it’s a great place to go.
https://goo.gl/maps/zhm8f9MHSocCp3ev6
Hasedera is another temple with impressive grounds—a huge fish pond, a sea view path, and a massive golden buddha.