Tokyo April 7-10 – day 3

Rushing out of the hotel at 5am after almost oversleeping, we hurried back to Chidorigafuchi Moat for early morning pictures. Because the light is best and blah blah blah… Cherry blossom season in Tokyo was coming to an end, the trees were already less lush with flowers and the floor covered in petals. But not to despair, there were more flowers to come in Kanazawa 🌸🌸🌸🌸Today’s activity was riding the metro with all the commuters, only easing up after we left the main Tokyo area, on a day trip to Kamakura. Kamakura is a small coastal town about an hour out from Tokyo, popular for its many temples and shrines. Careful not to temple-out too quickly, we visited the beautiful Hasedera – one of my favorites, as well as the great(ish) 11.4 meters bronze buddha in Daibutsu and the Zen temple Kenchoji. Hasedera has a beautiful main temple, a very pretty garden and best, those famous three small jizo statues, helping the souls of deceased children to reach paradise. From the Hasedera and Daibutsu temples we took a nice one hour hike to the Kamakura-Kita train station, to visit Kenchoji. This is the oldest Zen temple in the area, founded 1253, with a massive wooden gate and a beautiful wooden buddha hall. Back at Tokyo, we found a great sushi restaurant in Kitchen street within the massive station, Numazu Uogashizushi, with nigiri where there is fish surplus vs. rice.