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LESSONS LEARNED IN KAMAKURA:
Kamakura, Japan.
October 14th, 2013, 10:05pm.
Today was fantastic!!! I learned so much! We met up with Barry Nishikawa and his wife, and they took us around almost all of Kamakura! (Kamakura is a small city about 40 minutes outside of Tokyo by train.) But before I tell you all about that, I just wanted to mention one quick thing that I think I forgot to mention before. Way back at the Chinzan-so Hotel, I decided to go to the Hot Springs! Real was sleeping, so I went by myself. Going together would have been pointless anyways, because it's separated between men and women. This is because, well, you have to go in completely naked! You can't wear ANYTHING! Not even tattoos are permitted in the Hot Springs. It was sort of funny... Well, not for me. But I'm sure if it was feature on some kind of TV show it would be funny to everyone watching. First off I had no idea where I was going. I was lost. And I walked through a door, saw a lady's naked bum, tripped on a nearly hidden step on the way in, and caused a huge scene. So great, now everyone knows I'm here... and I'm standing here in a bathing suit... I didn't even know what to do! Now, this is one of those situations where watching someone as an example, is NOT a good idea to learn things. So I just kind of went with common sense. There was a shower, or a row of benches with little cubicles to wash yourself. There was no way my naked butt was touching a bench where someone else's naked butt had been. Nuh uh. No way. So I took the obvious option and showered. There was only one other lady in the room with me. She looked really uncomfortable, which kind of set me at ease a little... But one glance at her, and I got one of my questions answered. Are you supposed to shave... you know... down there... to go into the Hot Springs? This lady screamed, "NO," loud and clear without even saying a word.
I sat in the water for no longer than 15 minutes. I rinsed off, got dressed, and left. I later found out from Real that it seems to be like a ritual of some sort. That you clean yourself from head to toe right before entering the Hot Springs. He said he saw a man shower and shave before going in! Good thing he didn't do all three S's before going in!!! Unlike me, Real learned from watching... I thought it was kind of creepy but, you know my uncle! Always full of surprises!
Anyways, that was my first experience with a nude Hot Spring... It was... Touching... No but seriously, it was very interesting to experience. It makes you feel more aware of your body and almost more comfortable in it. I don't know... We'll have to decide later if we're going to go to any more of those things, though.
Okay! Back to the story of today! We woke up really early in our hostel. And after such a energy-depleting day yesterday, waking up that early was not on my list of things I wanted to do. I even had a migraine... I'm not sure if it was from dehydration, lack of rest, or the uncomfortable mattress we slept on. Either way, we got up and got ready for our day. It was funny because just as we were leaving, all the other people who were sleeping there were just getting back from the night out and were going to bed. Drunk out of their minds, obviously, but it was still funny. We walked to the new-found closer station, and headed to the Shinjuku Station. This was where we met Barry and his wife. hey took us on a train to Kamakura. We went to many Temples and Shrines, and walked through tons of little streets with shops on them. They were all so beautiful.
The first one we went to was "The Great Buddha of Kamakura." Its a massive sculpture of a Buddha that has been there since around 1252. It used to be under a Temple, but it was blown away by a storm about 120 years ago. Barry was doing such a great job giving us a tour- he speaks perfect Japanese and perfect English. Listening to him switch between the two was amazing to me. He had to translate for his wife, but it was all good anyways! We walked to a second area, where the Temple was actually on a hill. The stairs and trees- you can imagine how beautiful that was. You can also imagine how excited Real was. He was just gushing with amazement. He probably snapped about 1000 pictures, just in this one spot!
As I was talking to Barry and his wife, the situation with my mom came up. Barry had lost his older brother to Leukaemia, and his wife had a scare with cervical cancer. So he knew all about that. His story is really amazing, actually. Barry was born when his brother was 5, which was also when he died of Leukaemia. He was 5! Taken back from what he a had just told me, he told me that it's not all sad. More bittersweet. November 23rd, 1969, his brother passed away. November 23rd, 1970, his sister was born. He told me they celebrate both his sister's birthday and his brother's life. Isn't that beautiful? I loved that story. Once he was done telling me this, I noticed that his wife had disappeared. She was over at one of the shops buying something. She ran back over and handed what she had bought to me. Mom, I know you're reading this, so I'll just tell you directly. They bought you a Japanese good luck charm (I forget what they called it) but it's for good health and for fast recovery. It's a prayer/wish in a tiny Japanese sack. You aren't supposed to open it, though. He said its like blowing out a candle- you aren't supposed to tell anyone what your wish was. So when I get home, I'll give it to you and you can keep it wherever you like, he said! Isn't that sweet? They also took me across the hall to another place to buy a candle. Written in vertical Kanji, the candle read, "I pray from recovery from illness." There was a place on the back to write your name, so I wrote, "Roma," on it. We carried it over to the Buddha of that temple, lit the candle, placed it on a stand amongst the other candles, and prayed. It was all really calming and humbling, especially since the room was dimly lit strictly by candle light, and some sunlight.
Moving onward, we climbed the giant flight of stairs that led to the top of the Temple. The view was awesome! We could see all the way to the far side of the valley, along with all the houses between us. We could also see the entire strip of beach, and the Pacific Ocean. It was way cool!
We continued down and eventually ended up at a restaurant for lunch. I had soup, rice, and tempura! It was filling, but the best part was that we got to sit on the floor, cross-legged, and on pillows. It felt very traditional and Japanese.
We walked along the street, and found ourselves at the third temple. I forget the name... But it was just as amazing as the past two that we had seen! This one actually had a Japanese wedding happening, right in the middle of it! Everyone could see and watch the ceremony. My wish had come true! Yesterday, in Harajuku, when I saw the bride and groom, I had wished that I could witness a traditional Shinto wedding ceremony- and here we were! Just my luck! And even luckier, was that we had Barry to explain everything to us as it was happening! He told me tons of cool things, and answer every single question I had. He even gave me extra information and facts about things that he knew I'd find interesting.
For example, walking up towards a Temple, you aren't supposed to walk in the middle, because that's where the Gods walk. You're supposed to walk along the sides. There's a bunch of tiny pieces of paper tied to a wall beside the Temple. I've seen this at basically every other temple we've been to, too. He explained to me that they are all fortunes. You can get one at the stands that are nearby. If it's a good fortune, great! But if it's a bad fortune, people usually tie it to the wall to ask the gods for assistance in eliminating their bad fortune. Apparently the fortune you receive is like karma though, so you're supposed to get what you deserve. I guess there's been a lot of bad behaviour in Japan then! Because that wall was full of those papers!
Barry also explained the different between Shinto and Buddhism to the best he could. Basically, Shinto is native to Japan and revolves more around spirituality than anything, and Buddhism started in India, and was adopted all throughout Asia. In Japan, however, a lot of the traditions from both have been merged together. Shrines are Shinto, and Temple are Buddhist, but you can usually find the two together. Both have the cleansing stations, even though that was originally Shinto. He also explained the hanging papers above the gates. I noticed that there are usually broom-like papers hanging down from the gateways of a temple or a shrine, and Barry explained to me that it's supposed to brush away any bad spirits upon entering the temple/shrine. Cool, huh?
I just learned so much from him. And I was so thankful that he took us around like he did. Especially his English! I know Michiko and Sohsuke tried to explain things to us like Barry, and they did a good job and I appreciated it, but I usually only got about 2/3 out of what they were saying. Today was like, better than getting a tour guide! I loved it!
Once we were done at the Temples and Shrines, we headed back towards the train station. On the way there, we found a Ghibli store!!! Ghibli was the mad that created all these wonderful anime shows for kids. He made "Spirit Away," "Totoro," and "Ponyo," to name a few. Totoro and Spirit Away are my two favourites, and there was everything you could possible find in that store! I found out that Barry's wife loved it too, so we spent a while in there singing along to the themes songs and playing with all the knickknacks there were.
It was a tiring day, but we made it through! We got back to the hostel, and took a shower... It was like showering in an outhouse, but without the toilet. Ugh. Oh well, at least I feel clean! And Thank Goodness I had my flip flops! I didn't have to stand bare-foot in that gross place.
Well, I'm off to bed for the night! I'll keep updating you all on our trip! Like I said before, I'm sorry I fell behind a little there- I just got so tired, I couldn't do it anymore. I had to pass out! Hopefully I can fall asleep just as fast as I did last night though... This bed is awful!
Good night Japan!
Good morning Canada!
I'll talk to you all soon!
Love always,
Lindsay Lehr
- comments
Roma I'm looking forward to my charm and thanks for lighting me candle all the way over in Japan. Interesting how you met someone who speaks a different language and you end up in a store singing with them. So did you wear your bathing suit in the Hot Springs?
shirley Another really great visual, and documentation. I think you must be a natural born writer, Lindsay. The hot springs will be something you'll remember for awhile:) Sure hope your migraines don't start up again. Looking forward to more posts.
barbara wow that was a lot to take in! Maybe you and Real need some "slow down time".....make sure you drink enough water Lindsay. You seem to have a lot of energy. That was really nice of Barry and his wife to take the two of you around. It sounded like you had a very memorable day. Rest up! Love, Barbara