For the first time in many years, we actually had a day post training that we could play tourist. Our choice was the city of Kamakura.
The city itself is about 36 miles from Tokyo, located on a bay (called Kamakura Bay). Originally a small fishing village, it became a farming community and administrative outpost. The change in the city came when Minamoto no Yoritomo made it the capital of his newly founded Shogunate; from 1185 to 1333 it served as the effective capital of Japan (while the Emperor remained in Kyoto) under the Minamoto rule and then Hojo Regency. In the Ashikaga Shougnate (1336-1573), the city held importance as a controlling center of the Kanto region but was at odds with the Ashikaga Shogun, who had moved to Kyoto. Retaken by force in 1485, it began to fade back to a fishing village after the establishment of the Tokugawa capital of Edo (Tokyo) in 1603. The city was further damaged by the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, which killed over 2000 people.
As a result of all of this, Kamakura has a great many temples (it was the early seat of Nichiren Zen Buddhism). And being away (physically and geographically from Tokyo), it has a sort of funky small town feel.
Very nice to see someplace that's not Tokyo. Vending machines at the train station and utility poles so close to driving lanes TB, wonder how often they get hit?
ReplyDeleteNylon12, although Tokyo is by far the major metropolitan center, it is simply not all of Japan. I have tend to focus heavily on Tokyo because that is where we were, but in point of fact there are all kinds of different regions and cities and towns with their culture.
DeleteI have no statistics on accidents, but I suspect that - given everything else I know about Japanese culture - they are not many. Smaller cars as well, if nothing else.
A good selection of photos TB. It feels more everyday and less touristy, which is nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leigh! To be clear, there were touristy parts of Kamakura as well, but it is definitely not to the level of Tokyo.
DeleteI know I have said it many times already but I still struggle to understand how it can be so clean when any urban center in my neck of the woods would have trash all around. It says a lot about their culture versus ours.
ReplyDeleteEd, it really is both amazing and - at least as Americans - hard to understand. There are theories of course: the religious nature of Shinto and Buddhism, which encourage respect for nature, or a cultural aspect of group responsibility.
DeleteI will say that coming back from this trip, I am even more attuned to the litter I find in small amounts almost everywhere. And the thing is, I think it is very much a "self policed" activity there.
W. in CA
ReplyDelete"Self policed", I agree. In Old City Jerusalem, divided into 4 quarters by faith, you abruptly notice the difference in each one. Very distinct. Neighborhoods around the country are the same. What is clean and acceptable. Beauty in the eye of the beholder.