We’ve been having a recent string of fantastic weather during the weekends, so it’s been quite conducive to travel. The lighting has also been lovely as well–the only problem is that once the sun begins to set it turns chilly very quickly.
A local favorite spot of ours is Kamakura, which is littered with shrines and temples. During the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), it was the former de facto capital of Japan, and the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency. The center of the city is the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine, but there are a smattering of other spiritual landmarks. Plum blossom season is upon us here in Japan, but it’s still a bit early to see fully blossomed trees. The buds are still in their early stages, but most likely within a few weeks we’ll see some beautiful pinks and reds filling the grounds of these complexes.
The first stop on our “Temple Tour” as we dubbed it (there was a senior citizen walking tour we inadvertently ended up joining at one point), was Egara Tenjin-sha. One of Japan’s three famous shrines dedicated to the deified spirit of Sugawara Michizane, god of scholarship. In 1104 legend has it that this shrine was built because a picture of the Tenjin god, or the deified spirit of Sugawara Michizane, fell to this place from the sky during a rain storm. As a result, much like Yushima Tenjin in Tokyo, students from all around flock to pray for success on their school examinations, as hundreds of wooden ema hang with wishes inscribed on them.
Omikuji, “fortunes,” tied and offered up
I can’t wait until the trees are filled with these. Following the Egara Tenjin-sha we made stop number two, at another small shrine, although I can not remember the name. But pictures to follow:
We made our way towards Zuisen-ji Temple, which was the site we had ultimately been going to see. Because it is so early, the plum blossoms were still just buds, so we need to come back in a few weeks, but a few flowers had already bloomed.
Our final stop brought us to a temple up a considerable amount of stairs. Again I will have to look up the name of the temple, but we had a clear view of Mount Fuji at the top. This was yet another temple dedicated to the goddess Kannon.
The goddess, Kannon
Kinpatsu Oneesan 