Japan Day 2: Day trip to Kamakura

​Today we took a day tour from Tokyo to visit some temples and sites in the Kamakura area.   (To be clear - this is our first post from Japan, as we just walked around on our first day.  We’ll post on that later this week just before we join the OAT tour).

Our first adventure today was to get to the tour meet-up.  We had to travel across the city at rush- hour.  Fortunately, we had been on the subway the day before - it was super easy - except we took the wrong exit - which meant we had to walk FAST for 10 minutes to catch the bus!!

As we headed out of town, we enjoyed the views of the harbors (many of them) along the coast. Miles of ports and containers.  Wow!

Around 11, we  arrived at the Shinto temple honoring Tsurugaoka Hachiman, a shogun in the 13th Century.  In addition to the temple, there were smaller shrines,lots of big red gates, ponds, bridges, etc., on the temple grounds.  We learned the proper way to wash your hands at the temple entrance, and walked all the way to the top (many stairs!)

We spent an hour wandering around the shopping area of Kamakura town - a brush shop, a wood shop, a pastry shop, a pigeon cookie shop and a long lovely wooded path down the middle of the Main Street.  Then back to the bus.

Next we visited the Hasedera Buddhist temple. This site had many beautiful gardens, with lush foliage, small ponds, lovely trees and flowers, which were a joy. There was also a cool cave, some koi ponds and lots of other stuff.  This place was the highlight of the trip for us.

We also visited the Great Buddha - supposedly the biggest Buddha in Japan - built in the 12th century.  It is bronze, and really big, and hollow (you can go inside - but I’m not sure why you would want to).

Our last stop was the Island of Enoshima, home to lots of restaurants and shopping as well as a famous Shinto shrine perched so high up the mountain that we were too tired to climb all the way up.  We exhausted ourselves reaching one of the many other shrines half way up, and enjoyed wonderful views back towards the mainland.

We had a long ride back to Tokyo to rest.  Then we stopped and picked up some dinner - and headed into the Shibuya subway station at the peak of evening rush hour.  Wow - that was intense!   We got to our stop without a hitch and only got a little bit wet in the rain on the way to our hotel. 

What a great day!

Japan Day 1 to 4: A few days in Tokyo

​Our first day in Tokyo was a big success - we managed to visit two major attractions, get some errands done and learn how to navigate the subway.

Our hotel is located in the Tsukiji District, so naturally, after breakfast, we made our way down to the famous fish market.  The big morning rush was over, but there were still a lot of people around, shopping, tasting, snacking and dining.  It was really fun wandering up and down the different alleyways.  We returned to one of the restaurants for dinner in the evening and the food was delish!

After a bit of a rest (still recovering from the long flight yesterday), we headed out to test our subway navigation skills.  We only needed professional help once!  We got ourselves to the Imperial Palace gardens relatively easily.

While we liked the huge stone walls and impressive trees around the former palace, we loved the Nimamora pond and garden.  We passed a quiet hour there listening to the babbling brook and falls.  Then headed back home.

Our next free day we  successfully mailed a package from the post office.  Then we headed to the upscale Azabudai Hills neighborhood to see the TeamLab Borderless digital Art Exhibit. https://www.teamlab.art/e/tokyo/.  It was really fun seeing all the beautiful colors and creativity.  Pictures do not do it justice.

From there we walked around  the Tokyo Tower and took a photo from the Maple Waterfall (which was a bit disappointing).  Back on the subway, we went back to our Tsukiji neighborhood to visit the large Hogan-Ji Shinto Shrine nearby.  It was under renovation, so we couldn’t go it, but were still impressed by the building.  This neighborhood was where a lot of wealthy samurai and Shoguns lived in the 12th century - and the Shrine dates originally to that period.

On our last day in the Tsukiji area, we continued to explore local culture.  We started out the day going to one Act of a Kabuki play, at one of the most famous Kabuki theaters which was just blocks from our hotel.  We got the translation tablet, which was really helpful, and thoroughly enjoyed the drama and the performance.

From there we continued down the street to the famous Ginza shopping area.  We shopped in the Seiko Mall, visited the ArtAquarium (soooo many types of goldfish in arty, watery containers) and enjoyed a wonderful “Japanese set lunch”.

For dinner we went to a ramen place around the corner.  We weren’t sure it was open, but they let us in.  The place was beautifully decorated, with raw wood tables and a bonsai tree in the middle.  We had a wonderful meal with Waygu beef sliders and ramen - so good.  After we ate, the chefs came to talk to us - they said today is the soft-opening, and the resto doesn’t open til Monday.  Then they said it was Members Only - but they gave us member buttons since we were the first customers.  When we walked out, there were several camera men taking pictures.  It was all very fun and surreal!