Kamakura in a Word: Green

This is the last in my unofficial Golden Week Adventure Series (#GW2018? Anyone?).
I sort of got lost, walked amongst some history, and felt very, very small.

For the last day of Golden Week I returned to someplace I'd already been before: Kamakura. I was last there in January of 2011 (also with Troy, come to think of it--I'm sure there's an old blog post about the experience buried in the archives somewhere) but was excited to return with fresh eyes and new perspectives.

Kamakura is perhaps best known, nowadays, for its own Daibutsu, albeit one that is minuscule in scale compared to the one at Ushiku. Since Troy and I visited that statue the last time, we elected to see some of Kamakura's other sites, taking advantage of the weather to walk the streets of the city and truly get a feel for its flavor.

Our first stop was Hokokuji Temple, a zen temple built in 1334 and known for its bamboo garden, where there are apparently over 2,000 shoots!

As you walked along the path, the wind rustled through the thin branches of the bamboo and, if the breeze was strong enough, the main trucks clacked together almost like wind chimes.

Not bamboo, but still pretty.

From Hokokuji Temple, we meandered over to Meigetsu-in Temple, also known as the "Hydrangea Temple" (Ajisai-dera). But its original given name, which means "Bright Moon Hermitage," is just as lovely in my opinion. 

Artistic temple sand. 

In late May- mid-June this would all be blooming.

Originally a subsidiary of the larger Zenkoji Temple, Meigetsu-in Temple was built by Uesugi Norikata. Zenkoji Temple apparently "didn't survive" the anti-Buddhist sentiment of the Meiji Period and so Meigetsu-in is all that remains.

My personal highlight was, of course, the perfectly round window set into the back of the temple building. Through it you had a perfect view into the garden beyond, and I can only imagine how much more lovely this must be in the autumn or even winter. (Troy's highlight was clearly all the semi-domestic squirrels running around.)

There was also a surprising bit of history to discover. Tucked off to the side of the main temple building was a yagura, or a Kamakura grotto grave or cenotaph. I didn't even know Japan had grotto-esque cave tombs! The grave in the center is thought to be Uesugi Norikata's. 

Towards the end of our day, I had my own enjoyable animal photographic experience, however, when we stumbled upon a heron lurking near the banks of a pond near Hachimangu Shrine:

Saw it spear several fish right out of the water. Remind me not to get on the bad side of any birds in the near future.

And with that GW shenanigans are all over. Back to regularly-scheduled programming from here on out, which means, more museums?! Let's see if I manage to diversify...