In the 12th Century, the Taira family and the Minamoto family, both offshoots of the imperial line, had come to dominate the affairs of the Heian court. They were quite literally at each others throats in a battle for supremecy. In 1160, the Taira won a major battle, killing the Minamoto leader Yoshitomo in the process. This should have secured their control over Japan, it didn't. After the battle, they spared his 13 year old son, Yoritomo and sent him into exile, in doing this they made a serious mistake.
Yoritomo had 20 years to gather support against the Taira, and plan his revenge. In 1180, he launched a rebellion and chose Kamakura, a natural fortress as his base of operations.
Within 5 years, Yoritomo had completely destroyed the Taira, and the Minamoto had control of Japan. In 1192, Yoritomo forced the imperial court to name him shogun, effectively making him the head of state. He left the emperor in Kyoto as a figurehead, but ran Japan's first shogunate government from Kamakura, where it stayed for 141 years.
We had an early start from Wado, but not too early to hit the rush hour on the trains. We arrived in Kita-Kamakura at 11.00am and headed straight to the closest temple we could find, which was opposite the station.
Engaku-ji
Founded in 1282, this is the second most important Zen monastery in town and the biggest. For us, this was our first taste of Japanese temples, and we weren't let down. The photo's do enough talking, but it was very relaxing walking around the complex, especially when you can smell the insence burning.
Kencho-ji
This is the most important temple in Kamakura, and established in 1250, claims to be the oldest in Japan. Despite this temple being smaller than Engaku-ji, there is still plenty to see. The only problem was with the sheer amount of steps to climb. We climbed all the way to the top of mountain for some great panoramic views of Sagami bay and Fuji-san.
The Minatomo Shrine, Tsuru-ga-oka Hachiman-gu
This temple is dedicated to Emperor Ojin, his wife and his mother - from whom Minamoto no Yoritomo claimed descent.
Daibutsu - The great Buddha
The 37ft bronze figure was cast in 1292, and was originally housed in a huge temple. In 1495, the temple was washed away in a tidal wave. For over 500 years, the buddha has faced all the extremes of the seasons from freezing winters to scorching summers.
It's a very impressive place, and you instantly feel at peace in the presence of such a huge (literally) symbol of Buddhism.
After spending most of the day seaking spiritual enlightenment, there was only really one thing to do next. We headed for the beach.
Off to the beach...
The weather was settling down by the time we got to Sagami bay, so it was a good time to just sit down on the dirty grey sand and chill out. There was quite a lot of litter on the beach, which was disappointing but no doubt the beach had been filled to bursting by thousands of Tokyo-ites eager to catch some rays.
It was great watching all the surfers and windsurfers in action, and the best part? there was still plenty of eye candy around.
We walked back along the beach towards Kamakura-eki, walking past lots of bars, some of which had pretty good dance music playing. One place in particular had a great beat that Gaijin and local's alike were dancing too. We will definately be coming back here...
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