Kamakura

An hour away from my dorm in Minamishinagawa is Kamakura, a small town with a lot of history and culture. The city of Kamakura first became important in 1192 when the Kamakura Shogunate came to power in Japan and with this Kamakura was named the capital of Japan for 140 years. The main points of interest in Kamakura are the many shrines and temples that it has to show, but also tasty food and the beautiful beach making it a perfect one day trip destination away from Tokyo.

The great Buddha of Kamakura

The Kamakura Great Buddha is part of the Kotokuin Temple and is also named one of Japan's national treasures. At the inside, you can learn about how the statue was constructed about 800 years ago and about it's turbulent history of being destroyed by natural phenomena such as earthquakes and tsunamis and the process of it being repaired and the processes of restoration it sustained over the years.

There is also some interesting data about the size and dimensions of the statue such as the weight of the statue 121T and the height of it 13.35m.

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is Kamakura's most important shrine. It was founded built in 1063, and enlarged and moved to its current site in 1180 by the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura government. The shrine houses the Hachiman kami a god for warriors.

A former one thousand year old ginkgo tree near its entrance was uprooted by a storm on 10 March 2010. The shrine continues to serve as one of the Important Cultural Properties of Japan.

Tips for when visiting Kamakura

1. Bring money in cash since Japan still is a cash based society.
2. Beware of the hawks that are near the beach (I was attacked, but got away with a few scratches).
3. Bring a power-bank, Kamakura has a lot of fun things to do, you will use it for taking pictures and using the translator app and google maps.
4. See if there are any express trains that you can take to Kamakura, the express train ride takes around 40 min while the regular train can be around an hour with transfers.
5. Enjoy your trip 😀.