Kamakura (temples everywhere) and Yokohama (big city, bright lights)
Wanting to get some use out of my JapanRail pass, I took a day-trip yesterday to a nearby city called Kamakura. The name apparently refers to the resting place of a dagger that once guaranteed victory to its owner. Although there's a popular beach in Kamakura, it is largely known for its temples. I visited four of these and, based on my observations, Japanese temples follow a similar pattern. At the front entrance is a large gateway and immediately within that is a booth where visitors must pay a small fee (generally a couple of hundred yen). Beyond the booth lies the temple grounds, filled with lush foliage and a network of paths. Some of these paths just lead to the homes of the monks but one main path will lead to the bottom of a series of stairs. The temple itself lies at the top of these stairs and is not accessible to the public, although visitors may leave token offerings outside it and ring the large bell that hangs there. Over to the side, accessible through another path, is the graveyard of the monks who have tended to the temple in years bygone. These graves are nearly always very ornate, although a few of them are merely holes in the side of a cliff with earthenware artifacts within them.
On my way back from Kamakura I stopped in Yokohama for dinner. After eating, I walked through the Chinatown and was very impressed by its size. I used to think San Francisco had a fairly large Chinatown but this one goes on for much longer. I noted that there seems to be perfect competition in effect amongst the street vendors, as all snacks were priced identically. I was even able to satisfy my craving for bubble-tea, although they call it "tapioca drink" here. On the far side of the Chinatown is Yamashita park, a popular hangout for the locals. I walked through it along the waterfront and then across the city to the train station. Along the way were the most beautiful sidewalks I've ever seen: wider than the streets they sandwiched, with hand-inscribed tiles inlaid at frequent intervals and a strip of saplings running down the centre.
