Enoshima and Kamakura

Last weekend two of the women who work in the office at the dojo took me on a sight seeing tour of Enoshima and Kamakura.  These are located about 30 miles SSW of Tokyo.  Enoshima is a small island that contains a shrine to Benzaiten, the goddess of music and entertainment. The island is dedicated to the goddess, who is said to have made it rise from the bottom of the sea in sixth century.  Here are some pictures of us walking up to and visiting the shrine. 

My companions, Yumiko and Kaori, had little books that the monks wrote calligraphy in and stamped to commemorate their visit:

After exploring Enoshima, we went on to visit some sights in nearby Kamakura, which was the largest city in Japan and the fouth largest city in the world ca. 1250. My favorite by far was the enormous bronze statue of Amida Buddha. It is said that a 15th century tsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since.