O Great Buddha!

On our last day in Tokyo, o so many weeks ago, Bridget and I decided to leave Tokyo and take the train to Kamkura. Kamkura is located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 31 mi south-south-west of Tokyo. It is a small town but has a lot of shrines and restaurants. We also had some fantastic Chinese and sweet potato ice cream, a speciality of Kamkura and to be honest I was only partially brave and had half vanilla half sweet potato.

When in Kakura Bridget and I saw something that had me speechless, yes I know me speechless?!?!?! We saw a bunch of little kids, I am talking 5 year olds, just leaving their school friends and taking the train by themselves! They were so cute and so tiny, the boys had on little uniforms with tiny shorts and little boat hats but seriously, taking the train by themselves was normal! I couldn't imagine that being okay in the U.S.; nobody blinked an eye or even seemed to notice that they little kids were by themselves!!

Also something else that had us slightly disturbed was the map symbol for Buddhist Temples. Scroll on down to see what it is!!!

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine : This is Kamkura's most important shrine.




The Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu): a bronze statue of Amida Buddha, which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. With a height of 13.35 meters, it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan. The statue was cast in 1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall. However, the temple buildings were destroyed multiple times by typhoons and a tidal wave in the 14th and 15th centuries. So, since 1495, the Buddha has been standing in the open air. Bridget and I went inside the Buddha, it was amazing to be inside it and look at the inner details.







Throughout the week in Tokyo we were bombarded by school groups EVERYWHERE. Only fitting that we finally got a picture of them!



These school kids bought some bird seed and then would freak out when the pigeons came, it was very entertaining!