Monday 8/4/02
This is from my diary from when we first relocated to Japan – pre-blog. Other entries can be found here.
Cameron has left for his first proper day of work – don’t expect him back for 12 hours! It’s a grey and misty morning – but it started grey and misty yesterday, too, and turned out lovely. We went and looked at a house first thing, then back to look at the one we’d liked best on Saturday, which we have decided to try for. Then we got a very busy train to Kamakura, which is on the coast south of Yokohama. Buying the tickets was slightly traumatic as Kamakura didn’t seem to be on any signs, but we asked a man and it was ok.
At Kamakura we walked about for ages trying to find the Daibutsu – big Buddha. We eventually did – it is big – and you can go inside it! Saw a man feeding some very tame squirrels and got shouted at by a small man who thought C had gone inside the Buddha without paying.
After a chinese lunch (sweet and sour chicken) we went to another temple, hasedera or something like that. Very beautiful grounds – arum lily ponds and koi, and a sea view. Saw some big birds of prey (must buy a book of Japanese birds) and thousands of statues of jizu, for dead children. Saw a young couple having a statue blessed by a monk (much chanting and banging of gongs), which was sad. Also a cave with statues carved in the roof and a little grotto with tiny statues in all the crevices.
We then wandered back up the tree-lined path in the middle of the main street to the main shrine, the name of which I forget but it has a famous tree – saw a wedding and a very large turtle. Poor bride looked most uncomfortable! Then back to the station and home, sharing a carriage with a band of kimono ladies, one of whom had blue hair to match her outfit.