Kamakura 鎌倉市: Chocolate and Incense (1/3)

On a cloudy, cold, drizzly Tokyo morning, I made my way to Tokyo Station where I bought a round trip on the local train to the nearby seaside town of Kamakura. The trip took about one hour.

tickets from Tokyo Station

Kamakura is just southwest of Tokyo on Japan's coast. Once, it was the de facto capital of the Japanese Shogunate during the Kamakura Period (1185–1333), but today it's a quiet small town that is packed with historic Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.

Kamakura Station

I arrived in Kamakura early in the morning. It was cold, rainy, and windy, and I regretted not having brought a jacket or umbrella on my trip to Japan. In fact, I was wearing shorts and sandals! I didn't have a map of the city, and the tourist information office wouldn't open for a half hour, so I headed to Dandelion Chocolate, a little cafe just outside of the station.

the famous chocolate shop

As the name suggests, Dandelion is famous for their chocolate drinks! They roast small batches of rich, delicious chocolate.

inside the chocolate shop

I ordered a chocolate espresso, which was amazingly good! It was warm and creamy, and the coffee taste blended with the strong, rich dark chocolate. I stayed at the cafe for a while to warm up and to log on to their wifi to see where I should be going.

chocolate and espresso... oishi!

After leaving the cafe, I gave up on trying to find a map, and set out on foot through the fairly small town. I just followed the street signs from place to place. Fortunately, everything was very clearly marked, and it was easy enough to make my way from spot to spot.

First, I came upon the ancient wooden gates of the historic Jufukuj Temple.

the gates to Jufukuji Temple

Jufukuji Temple is the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, dating back to 1200. It was once one of the most important Zen Buddhist temples in Japan, made up of a sprawling temple complex. Today, it's fairly small, but still of profound historical significance.

it was a damp, green morning

It was so early in the morning, and the weather was poor. Nobody was at the temple except for me and an older man taking photos of the temple and its forested grounds. It was quiet. It's no wonder that the Zen priests found so much peace and inspiration here.

the main temple hall

The big wooden gates to the temple were closed, and after a exploring the grounds for a while, I walked on to the nearby Hokokuju Temple. This one was more popular, and there were a few visitors there already.

I got an umbrella!

By this time, rain was falling pretty moderately, and I was starting to get soaked in icy water. When I bought my ticket at the gates of the temple, the woman working there took pity on me and offered me an umbrella to use.

at Hokokuji Temple

Hokokuji is also known as the "Bamboo Temple" and for good reason! A narrow path snakes through a beautiful green bamboo grove.

the Hokokuji bamboo grove

I started by taking a walk in the small bamboo forest. At points, the trail became so narrow that my umbrella didn't fit between the sharp vertical shoots of bamboo on either side!

the path through the forest

The sheer cliff walls of the surrounding mountains rise up to the sky behind the bamboo grove, and the cliff itself is carved with niches holding statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattva.

Buddha statues carved into the mountainside

Hokokuji was founded in 1334. Although parts of the temple were destroyed in an earthquake in 1923, it's still a beautiful place to visit, and set in an incredible landscape.

one of the temple buildings

The cliffs are carved with a series of short, narrow tunnels. These hold ancient graves of famous Buddhist priests and Japanese warlords from the Kamakura Period. I came across one, but at first wasn't sure about going in. I watched as an older Japanese man climbed into the hole. Curious, I watched to see where he would reappear.

the mysterious tunnel..

Well, the mysterious tunnel wasn't as mysterious as it had looked at the start. It just went a few feet and came out just to the other side. The older man reappeared, and I went into the tunnel myself.

the other side

There was a little statue inside, but not much else. I think I read that it was some sort of medieval tomb, or maybe just a little shrine.

mossy stones at the temple

The rain was getting heavier, and when I left, I went to return the umbrella to the woman at the front gate. She laughed and told me to keep it. It wasn't the best day to be spending outside!