They say day three is the day that you write a blog post about day three. Well it turns out they’re right!

A Trip On The Train

The big item of the day was travelling to a more remote Japanese location on the train. The destination was Kamakura, a place known for it’s many temples and shrines, and most iconically, its’ giant statue of Buddha.

An hour train ride from Tokyo, past Yokohama, the scenery was a joy to watch as urban sprawl slowly transitioned to grove and forest. Also home to many sakuras, Kamakura is definitely a beautiful place for a day trip from Tokyo, proved by the many Japanese couples we saw having their own getaways.

Family Matters

A quick aside, travelling with my family has been a great experience. However, it’s also been quite interesting balancing everyone’s needs while trying to translate in a foreign country. Lu and I came up with “The Three Principles” as a guide to this process.

  1. Principle of Grandma’s Walking

    First off, mad props to Grandma for keeping up with us young’uns for the entire trip. She’s in great shape, and always positive and flexible for whatever the plan is. But of course, naturally there will be tiredness and soreness after a full day of walking and traversing stairs. Mostly planning and ensuring adequate rests at cafes is good for this.

  2. Principle of Dad’s Waiting

    This could be described as either a dislike of waiting, or perhaps a strong urge to go as fast as possible. This includes if a crosswalk is blinking, or if a train is about to leave. Applicable story: my dad ended up on a train that the rest of us didn’t get on, and we got laughed at by nearby Japanese people. It takes a lot to get openly laughed at in Japan!

  3. Principle of Mom’s Worry

    My mom’s anxiety during travel is primarly associated with eating too much, and/or my grandma not eating enough. Similarly for walking off too much food, while worrying about too much walking for my grandma.


Obviously none of these are that rough on their own, but combined they do make for a fun time trying to unravel a path through. All that being said, so far so good!

The Shrining

Arriving on the train, there’s a large map that shows multiple tours of the city for varying lengths of time you’d like to devote. From the quick Kamakura tour at two hours, to the full tour that includes the Great Buddha.

Starting off, we opted for the mid-range shrine and temple tour. The first temple was closed, but the second temple, one of the first nunneries and dedicated to one of the first Shogun’s closest companions, was beautiful, serene, and, most importantly, quiet. We nearly had the grounds to ourselves, to appreciate the craftmanship and devotion shown. It helped that the front desk was manned by a very cute dog named Sakuras well.

Next, we realized doing the full tour was a non-starter due to Principle #1, so we pivoted to the larger shrine of Kamakura. As a contrast to the first temple, this was huge, crowded, and awe-inspiring. Hordes of people poured through the Tori gate, and made their way up to offer their blessings and prayers.

The Transition To Zen

At this point, the need for a rest was strong, and we ended up in a little Hawaiian style cafe. While the lack of actual Japanese food was plain, their offerings were delicious, and it gave everyone a chance to rest their legs.

Then the three principles all collided for whether we’d visit the Great Buddha, and how. This transitional period took quite a while and quite a lot of stress, but eventually we ended up taking the train there, and making the trek up. In my opinion the stress was worth it, as the serene Great Buddha statue really evoked what it must be like to simply believe in something greater than yourself.

Finally

By the time we made it back to Tokyo, everyone was pretty exhausted. For the young’uns though, an hour of rest gave us the energy to go back down to Shimbashi station to enjoy the post-work dinner rush. Alongside salarymen, we enjoyed machine-ordered ramen. The greatness of Japan is that the ramen quality seems incredibly consistent no matter where you go. Additionally, at only 800 yen and with two free noodle refills, it’s incredible bang for the buck.

Unfortunately, the ramen place didn’t have beer, so we followed up by going to a serendipitous place next door that had beer, butayaki, and allowed smoking. Great environs, great conversation with Lu and my brother, and a great relaxation altogether.