![\"Breakfast\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/fzBmUM5.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Breakfast<\/br>Frozen food from convenience store.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Since we lived near Shinjuku Station, so for transportation it’s a easy choice of Enoshima Kamakura Pass by Odakyu. <\/br>Streets of Shinjuku<\/p><\/div>\n I was standing idly in line at Odakyu Travel Agency for quite some time before realizing that I can purchase this pass from the ticket machine. So I rushed through my purchase and through the gates and boarded the train, and it’s less than two minutes till departure by Google Maps. <\/br>Fujisawa Streets<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Katase-Enoshima Station Building<\/br>In rather Japanese style.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n After arriving by train at Katase-Enoshima Station, I decided to visit the nearby Enoshima island first, so that my friends on a later train can join me. <\/br>Sakai River<\/p><\/div>\n Enoshima (\u6c5f\u306e\u5cf6) is a small offshore island and tourist destination, about 4 km in circumference and 60 meters in height. Benzaiten as a goddess of music and entertainment was being worshipped on the island. She’s also one of the Seven Gods of Fortune.<\/p>\n Since it’s Japanese Golden Week, there were quite many visitors to Enoshima Island.<\/p>\n <\/br>Enoshima Island<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Torii on Benzaiten Avenue<\/br>Lots of visitors on that day.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Gate to Enoshima Shrine<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n There were escalators on Enoshima Island for those that didn’t want to take the stairs. <\/br>Torii of Enoshima Shrine and Enoshima Bridge<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pavilion of Enoshima Shrine<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Money-Washing White Dragon<\/br>King White Dragon would help you do money-laundering, transforming all your illegal income into the temple’s legal income. (wrong)<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pavilion of Enoshima Shrine<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Flowers<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Entrance to Pavilion of Enoshima Shrine<\/br>“\u30a4\u30c1\u30ad\u30b7\u30de\u30d2\u30e1\u30ce\u30df\u30b3\u30c8” was worshipped here.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Not long after that I was at the top of the island. Probably because it’s Japanese Golden Week, it seemed that all the country’s juggling artists were at work.<\/p>\n <\/br>Juggling Artist<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Enoshima Island Observation Deck<\/br>The weather’s not cooperating, and I couldn’t see Mount Fuji from here.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n There were many viewing platforms at the summit of the mountain with views of outer sea. But it was a windy day and there’s no sight of Mount Fuji, so I didn’t stay there for long.<\/p>\n <\/br>Sea outside Fujisawa<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Enoshima<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Stained Glasses in Enoshimadaishi Temple<\/br>This borrowed from churches’ stained glasses in the West, and used simple geometry to represent Eastern abstraction.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Palm Reading Machine<\/br>The high labor costs in Japan are driving automation in the industry of fortune telling… amazing.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>\u5c71\u4e8c\u3064<\/br>This is where the island was divided in half. It’s said that waves eroded the rocks to create this landscape, and lava from Mount Fuji created these layers of earth.<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Turtle-Shaped Stone<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dragon Temple<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Solutional cave from sea erosion, a holy ground for Benzaiten in Edo period. It’s a downhill trail to reach the Rock Temple (but uphill for the return). I saw it offered candle-lending service and decided to give it a try, envisioning some nice romantic experiences. <\/br>Origin of Enoshima Shrine<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Poem Plaque in Enoshima Island Rock Temple<\/p><\/div> \nWind from the sea, <\/br>Octopus on Display<\/br>In the passage connecting the first and the second cave there’s this exhibition of local species, among which were this rather relaxed octopus.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dragon Statue in Enoshima Island Rock Temple<\/br>It’s said that if one claps his hands twice before this dragon and the dragon eye blinks twice, then his wishes would come true. Probably because I didn’t have many wishes in my mind, it blinked only once.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Turtle-Shaped Rock<\/br>Without looking at the nearby information board I thought nobody would notice this rock.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n After standing for nearly an hour in line, I visited the entire Enoshima Island Rock Temple in about 20 minutes. After which I joined my friends and walked back to the shores of Fujisawa, planning to take Enoshima Electric Railway next.<\/p>\n <\/br>Ejima Shrine Okutsumiya<\/br>“\u30bf\u30ad\u30ea\u30d3\u30e1” worshipped here.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Cat<\/br>Her highness didn\u2019t bother to attend to the crowds eagerly taking photo of her.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bridge onto Enoshima Shrine<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Railway connecting Fujisawa and Kamakura, the majority of which were single-track railway. Part of the line was along the coastline (but not as close to ocean as Sri Lanka’s coastal railway I experienced later in July). Nice scenery along the way.<\/p>\n Based on the timetable, my friends and I then rushed from the Island towards the railway station, and found the trains were late. <\/br>Jelly Drink<\/br>This doesn’t taste as nice as the previous Calpis, but anyway it’s jelly drink (and I had been having a hard time finding a vending machine that sold them), so I decided to give it a try.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Enoshima Electric Train Arriving<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Enoshima Electric Railway Train Passing through Residential Houses<\/p><\/div> There were posters along Enoshima Electric Railway line that the railway company is hosting a town hall discussing noise from the trains, and its timetable didn’t quite extend into the night by Japanese standards, which must be a compromise of both sides. <\/br>Enoshima Electric Railway Passing Each Other<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Enoshima Electric Railway Passing Loop<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n That afternoon I got off the train early at Hase Station, hoping to visit the giant Buddha Statue of K\u014dtoku-in Temple before it closed, (I had given up on Hase-dera Temple). Unfortunately I followed Google Maps, which led me to the back door of K\u014dtoku-in Temple. So it’s just a couple of minutes and I missed the final admission time of K\u014dtoku-in. <\/br>Enoshima Electric Train Arriving<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Toad(\u86e4)?<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Enoshima Electric Railway Train at Kamakura Station<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n After reaching Kamakura and having experienced most of Enoshima Electric Railway, my friends and I had a lengthy discussion about where to had dinner, and settled on a local gourmet restaurant in downtown Kamakura which would be their last proper meal in Japan during our visit. <\/br>Clock by Kamakura Station West Exit<\/br>Where we discussed about our dinner.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>JR Yokosuka Line Rail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Side Dish: Grilling<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dinner: Fried Shrimp and Egg with Rice<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Set Dinner by My Friend<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Head of Kamakura Shogunate, the guardian gods of Kamakura warriors were worshipped here.<\/p>\n After dinner, I found that the nearby Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b temple seemed open all day around, so I suggested that we pay it a visit before heading back to Tokyo, helping us digest from overeating. <\/br>Passage<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Passage<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hand Wash<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n By the worshipper passage of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b there’s a public bathroom, which was the dirtiest we’d seen during our visit in Japan. (Janitor: Not my working hour.) <\/br>Entrance to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b Main Hall<\/br>Late in the night and it’s closed.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Overlooking Dancing Hall<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Shinto Shrine by Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b Main Hall and Stairs<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Wakamiya \u014cji<\/br>This road leading to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b has a pedestrian lane in its middle with lights, which was a quite natural extension of sando of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b Torii<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Yokohama City Firefighter Enrollment Ad<\/br>A nation so good at animation that such ads could be painted in animation style.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The same railway crossing as in Slam Dunk. It’s just that we arrived in the evening, which was quite different than the scenes in the animation. <\/br>Kamakurakoko-Mae Crossing<\/p><\/div> It’s past 9pm in the evening, so after that we took the train back to Shinjuku. <\/br>Odakyu Train at Sagami-Ono Station<\/br>Here Odakyu Line branched into Odawara and Fujisawa Line. As we approached (Rapid Express) approached the station, there’s another train (Express) coming in from Odawara, then passengers interchanged between these two trains on the same platform. Which was quite a sight of Japanese train’s punctuality.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/br>Since this is a public post, usual components of graduation trip such as poker games, pillow fights, ghost stories won’t be part of the post.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nUnfortunately, we played card games late into the night last night, so it was almost noon by the time we woke up today. After finishing a brief breakfast\/lunch made of convenience store stuff we headed for the nearby Shinjuku Station.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nOnly to find that our departure was delayed by three minutes.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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\nWhich was a mistake.I should have taken Enoshima Electric Railway to Fujisawa to visit its temples, which had closing times.<\/del><\/p>\n<\/a>Enoshima Island<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\nThis historic torii made of bronze is Fujisawa’s designated cultural heritage.
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\nWhich weren’t many, and most people took the stairs so as to display their sincerity in worshipping the island’s goddess<\/del>.
\nAnd the OCD-infested Japanese people set ticket gates before each of the escalator, with ticket price decreasing as one climbed up the altitude. This kept me in awes.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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\nProbably because all my income was legal, I threw a one-yen coin at very close distance, and it bounced off.
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Fujisawa Harbor<\/p><\/div>
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\nThen I paid a brief visit to Enoshimadaishi Temple, a Shingon Buddhism temple with six-meter height Statue of Acala being worshipped.
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\n<\/a>Enoshima Island Rock Temple<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\nThe fact was that, the Rock Temple put a strict limit on the number of visitors allowed inside the cave out of stupidity<\/del> safety, so there were long lines outside the cave. When it’s finally my turn, I found that since it’s Japanese Golden Week, for reasons only known to the management<\/del> of safety they suspended the candle-lending program.
\nWhich dealt great damage to my morale.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Shores of Enoshima Island<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Passage in Enoshima Island Rock Temple<\/p><\/div>
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\nThere’s English translation of the poem<\/p>\n
\nThe shimmering candle light,
\nA drop spread,
\nThe cave of Enoshima\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/a>
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\n<\/a>Enoshima Electric Railway<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/br>Enoshima Electric Railway Enoshima Station<\/p><\/div>\n
\nOh my God, how could Japanese trains be late…
\nThen we came to the conclusion that Japanese single-track railways were perpetually late, while dual-track railways were punctual to the second, which was further proven during the rest of our visit.
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\nI had never seen a railway line so close to residential life.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Coastal Enoshima Electric Railway<\/p><\/div>
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\nIn hindsight, even if I made it into the temple, I won’t be able to see the giant Buddha Statue, which closed earlier than the rest of the temple.
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Hase Streets<\/p><\/div>
\nSo I headed back to Hasa Station in disappointment and took the next train to Kamakura.
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\nAnd in this way we visited the quaint little town of Kamakura.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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\n<\/a>Tsurugaoka Hachiman-g\u016b<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nVisiting haunted<\/del> temples at night turned out to be an exciting experience to my friends and I.
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\nBut, that’s also where I found a vending machine that sold the Calpis jelly drink that I so desperately desired. I immediately bought three of them and began my feast.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Dancing Hall<\/p><\/div>
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\nThen we were back at Kamakura Station, ready to take Enoshima Electric Railway back to Fujisawa, and then Odakyu train back to Shinjuku.
\n<\/a>Kamakurakoko-Mae Crossing<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/a><\/br>Enoshima Electric Railway Train Passing Kamakurakoko-Mae Crossing<\/p><\/div>
\nSince here Enoshima Electric Railway was still single tracked, so we got off the train, waited for a train in opposite direction to arrive to take these photos, walked back to the station and took the next train to Fujisawa, which didn’t cost us much time.<\/p>\n
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