Kamakura
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Today I had my first visit to a Japanese shrine outside of the city, and my first to a site with a giant Buddha statue. Mari from the office had suggested that we make a trip of it, as I wanted to go but have so far been unable to reach escape velocity from the city due to... unforseen circumstances. Making me promise not to get hungover, she agreed to meet me at the train station (the one in my neighbourhood, as it turns out, because it's a secondary central transport hub), and plotted a route out to this sea-side town that's full of cultural sites.
The shrine was first, and she showed me how to pray (or 'wish' as she put it). I don't know who was supposed to be hearing my prayers, but it involved some bowing and clapping one's hands. And of course a coin into the base of the shrine's inner raised area - just like a wishing well, really.
Next was lunch. I don't know if the sea-side locale helped, but the place had an excellent selection of fish and other sushi that I hadn't tried before - even natto!
Then we took a rickety train over to the Buddha. The buddha statue was enourmous. It was really impressive, and far larger than the photos had made it out to be. From the inside (where the sun-heated bronze kept the air at about 40C) it was interesting to see that people had left coins wedged into the small gaps of the inner surface, possibly to make donations/sacrifices for their prayers. So I found a spot out of reach of most and left a coin in there in the name of health and happiness for all who entered.
From the Buddha statue, we went down to a long beach that was packed with about ten thousand people. We made our way along it and found a spot to sit on a towel I'd pilfered from the hotel. We gossiped about the people in the office, and I asked about phrases in Japanese that I wanted to learn. Such as 'where is the bathroom, please!' and 'do you have decaf coffee?'
It was nice to get out of Tokyo and take my bearings. This was the first time I could figure out where north was - Tokyo can be incredibly bewildering.