During my time here in the Land of the Rising Sun, I have already traveled and visited quite a few places, and in the process I have been able to discover this great country from many different angles. Looking back and comparing my travels and trips so far, I have probably seen more of Japan than most of my local and foreign acquaintances. In the last few years, it was mostly places in the immediate and intermediate vicinity, but before that, I had also made my way to the east and south of the country a few times. And some of these interesting places I even visited and checked out more than once, and on every subsequent visit I felt almost exactly the same as I did the first time. The excitement and anticipation was there again and each time I was in the best mood for adventure.
It is precisely this curiosity and desire for discovery that I have retained to this day, as it has taken me a number of times to places that I would otherwise never have passed. And where most other people also tend not to go. But of course I've also found that sometimes it's not a bad idea to follow the lead and head off on a pilgrimage to the well-known and popular destinations. Because usually there is a good reason why everyone wants to go there and why those places are a bit more crowded.
And so it happened that during our last stay in Tokyo we took the chance to make a day trip to Kamakura. Located in Kanagawa Prefecture, about 800 years ago this small town was once the center of Japan, when the shoguns of that time ruled their empire from their new capital in Kamakura. In today's cityscape, there is not much to remind us of this bygone era, but there are still several temples and shrines, which have become popular destinations for the many visitors.
The most famous shrine is Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, whose origins date back almost 1000 years. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate moved the shrine to its present location in 1191, where since then the kami hachiman has been worshipped, who at that time was given the task of protecting the shogun's government. Well, eventually the Minamoto shoguns did not last, but the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū has survived to this day and is now one of Kamakura's great attractions for visitors.
Coming from the train station, there are two main ways to the shrine. Either you can drift through an extremely busy shopping street, in which there are various stores to discover on the left and right. Or you can walk along the main street, in whose center there is a path lined with cherry trees, which during our visit were just in full bloom.
At the beginning of this path is a large red torii, which points to the shrine at the very end. Right behind it you can already spot the first cherry trees, which stretch the whole way and at to which I was really looking forward at this point.
Of course, we were not the only ones who took this path. But in the end, our rather random choice had turned out to be a wonderful decision that I'm still raving about.
After just a few steps, we were soon in the middle of all the beauty and were captivated by this so wonderful and unique atmosphere that was prevailing around us. The bright blue sky did the rest and I could not have been in a better mood.
And so did the many other people around us, who just like us enjoyed this spectacle and stopped over and over again to take photos and to take a closer look.
Of course I was doing the same. But when taking photos I was always trying to fade out the other people around me, which was sometimes more and sometimes less successful.
At some points, it almost felt like I was in a tunnel of cherry blossoms, and I wasn't in a hurry at all to get to my actual destination. I rather stopped once more and looked back, and just took more photos.
But eventually we reached the end of this cherry blossom path and stood in front of another red torii, which marked the entrance to the actual shrine area. In the background on a hill you can already see the main building, where we were heading next.
In front of us there was now a busy street, where we waited until the traffic light allowed us to cross. But I turned around again and again and took another look at the canopy of flowers behind me, under which I had walked here. And I decided to walk exactly the same way back again later, and to lose myself once more under the cherry trees.
But now it was time for the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, which was right in front of us. I came here once before, a few years ago, but as I stood here waiting at the traffic light, I felt the same as I did the first time. Curious and excited and full of anticipation for what was now waiting there in front of us.
I will tell you more about what it looks like in the shrine itself next time. So please check back here again if you want to see new pictures and impressions from the land of the rising sun. Even for me, there is still a lot to discover here.
またね matane
[//]:# (!pinmapple 35.31976 lat 139.55253 long Approaching Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan d3scr)
