Autumn in Kamakura

Posted on June 23, 2007 by Nene

Last year, I witnessed the breathtaking panorama of red and yellow leaves in KamakuraAncient capital of Japan during the Kamakura shogunate, from 1185 to 1333. One hour from Tokyo. Very cultural city where best of traditional Japan is still alive..

From the Odakyu line, we got on Enoden, half-train/half-streetcar line. When we reached Kamakura, we walked down the road to the cemetery where my husband’s relative’s cremated remains were buried. While we were walking I noticed there was a heavy traffic jam at that time and I thought maybe all of them are visitors to Kamakura who would like to witness the beauty of the place. When we crossed a bridge, I happened to see a school of fish under the bridge. They were so colorful that it seemed that they were also following the color of the autumn.

When we got to the cemetery, my husband brought me to the graves of his relatives. He introduced me to them, he lit some incense and we prayed for their souls. Then, we cleaned up the surroundings of the grave. As I looked around, I noticed it was an old graveyard and I imagined many remains were buried here for many generations. When we were done, we went for a walk around the cemetery and we entered a bamboo grove. Then, a Japanese Garden was concealed, where trees and plants were neatly trimmed and some statues of gods were on display.

While we were on our way to western Kamakura, because we were already hungry we stopped at a small but elegant restaurant. The foods were great and the brewed coffee was really delicious. After our lunch, we proceeded to Kōtokuin where the famous Great Buddha or Daibutsu, a bronze statue of Amida, can be found. There were a lot of visitors gathered in the place and the maple trees were enticing. We took many pictures.

We climbed the stairs, and entered the statue but it was dark inside. When we entered the gate of a temple, my husband told me I should not have stepped on the slightly-raised cemented block at the gate, because according to him, there is some belief about it. But when I observed other visitors, they stepped on it too.

We looked around at some of the souvenir shops and we bought ‘natto’ or fermented soy beans, because they said Kamakura is popular for its delicious ‘natto’. At night time, we went to another part of Kamakura where the maple trees were lightened up. It was dark and I could only see colorful trees.