Japan Day 3 (Ben ver.)

On the morning of Friday, June 21st, Rachel and I boarded the Hibiya line at Higashi-Ginza station.  We rode to Hatchobori station and switched to the JR keiyo line bound for Maihama station.  It was not very crowded and was a smooth ride!  Rachel bought an umbrella at the Maihama station Newdays store and then I walked to the entrance to the Tokyo Disney loop train and said goodbye for the day.

I realized that the unicorn Gundam statue was on the way to Kamakura city, so I found a route there.  I took the JR Keiyo line back to Shin-kiba station.  It was very crowded!  I began to be concerned that I would be causing problems for commuting people and started looking for routes to Kamakura city that would not be used by commuters.  From Shin-kiba, I took the Rinkai line to Tokyo teleport station, which was also busy, but not commute level crowded 😀

From there, I walked to see the unicorn Gundam statue!  I was very impressed 😀. It was still early, so no shops were open.  I was hungry, so I walked across a long pedestrian bridge to eat at Yoshinoya.  I had a breakfast set with raw egg and natto 😉

From there, I took the Rinkai line to Osaka station and switched to the JR Shonan-Shinjuku line bound for Ofuna station.  By now, it was raining a lot, but the train was quiet and I had a nice seat to watch the city pass by!

I saw train pressers with boards on the opposite platform when stopped at Yokohama station.  Honestly, I was afraid of experiencing that while in Japan, but I didn’t.  Having spent so much time on Japanese trains, I am a lot less afraid, but I still imagine it is unpleasant!

I arrived at Ofuna and switched to the Yokosuka line for Kamakura.  When I arrived, I was happy and amazed to see a giant Torii over the city!  I walked down the street a little, then moved over a street because I liked the look of an alley I passed 😅. I’m glad I did because I found another large Torii gating a beautiful tree lined walking path toward Tsurugaroka Hachimangu.  Even though the rain was heavy, I was amazed at the shrine.  It was very beautiful and peaceful despite many people being there.  I climbed the stairs and offered gratitude at the shrine!

I then wanted to eat しらす/whitebait since I heard it was a Kamakura specialty, so I started walking to “わさいやくら” (wasaiyakura).  Before I got there, I saw a shop selling small ceramic dishes, so I stopped to buy one for Amanda 😀

わさいやくら had a small line, so I chose to wait.  My meal was very good!  I had しらす and miso soup.  I also had a type of pudding I didn’t know.  My friend Akiko later told me that it was called “Chawan-Mushi”.

After lunch, I wanted to ride the enoden train,  and decided to visit the 大仏 (big buddha) at Kotoku-in temple.  The enoden was cute and fun!!!  But the walk to the temple took a lot of energy.  The narrow sidewalks were very crowded and I often had to move my umbrella and I got very wet.  I enjoyed visiting 大仏!  I thought it was very impressive and beautiful, as were the temple grounds.  

By the time I got back to the enoden, I knew I was too wet to continue my adventure in Kamakura city… I expected I would get a blister since my socks were wet. I had one last mini adventure as I loaded onto an enoden car with dozens of elementary school students. I was impressed how well behaved they were, as I only saw one potential “minder” for all of them.

I took the JR Shonan-Shinjuku line to totsuka station, transfered to the ueno-tokyo line for shimbashi station (where I saw a beard papa store) and finally took the ginza line to ginza station and walked back to the hotel.

I changed clothes and dried off and let my feet rest while the rain died down a bit.  Once the rain was lighter, I went out to explore Hibiya park. I was still tired, but it was a neat park and I saw lots of interesting plants. It was also nicely empty and peaceful.

From there, I explored Ginza some more and I found Yasuhira shrine in a small alcove.  It seemed to be a popular shrine for worship!  

From there I walked to the Hatchobori neighborhood and enjoyed the quiet neighborhood feel.  I also found a small shrine there called Hatchobori Tenso.  I liked the tan colored Torii there.  

I met Rachel at Hatchobori station, and I honestly can’t remember what we did after that, but I think we got a simple meal at a Lawson.

I was disappointed that I didn’t do as much in Kamakura city as I had planned, but writing it out, I see I did a lot! And I enjoyed my time exploring the quieter areas of Chuo city!