Kamakura

Cherry tree procession

On Saturday we visited Kamakura during the day. Kamakura is about an hours train ride outside of Tokyo and is on the coast. It was a beautiful day; hot enough to get sun burnt. Kamakura was Japan's capital during medieval times and as a legacy it has loads of shrines (Shinto) and temples (Buddhist.) The picture above is a cherry tree path which leads up to one of the Shrines where a wedding was taking place, pictured below.

At the shrine there was a particularly interesting looking character, maybe every shrine has one

After visiting the shrine and making a Shinto prayer, which involves hand clapping and bowing we decided to head to the beach. Whilst on the beach Jase took some pictures of some birds of prey that were hovering above us. When we tried to identify the birds later they appear to be Japanese Golden Eagles that are very rare.

Me on Kamakura beach
Jason's picture of what we think is a Golden Eagle

After the beach I nearly got us lost in the Kamakura hills, we'd still be there if Jase hadn't insisted that we turn back, we went to see the Great Buddha. The Great Buddha is truly great in size and beauty and the cherry blossom (sakura) just topped it all.

Daibutsu, The Great Buddha