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25 posts tagged Kamakura
Inside the giant Daibutsu at Kamakura, Kanagawa. The top photo is a view looking up into the head of the Daibutsu. Notice the thick brown fibre glass repairs that have been applied. The bottom photo shows the rear of the statue with the ventilation windows open.
Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture on Flickr.
Amish Cooking (?) I took this photo in Kamakura a couple of years ago. I have always wondered what Amish Cooking is?
Do they cook using kerosene?
Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Senju Kannon bosatsu (Avalokiteśvara) at Hase temple, Hase Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture.
Senju Kannon bosatsu is a Buddhist god from the mixed Hindu-Buddhist cult of Mahayana Buddhism. He has many arms (supposedly 1,000 arms) each holding it’s own special representative attribute or forming a magical hand gesture.
On his head he has a Brahmin crown with 28 heads which represent the 28 protective genii who assist Senju Kannon in his task of teaching compassion.
The circular halos behind are of Greek origin and represent a holy person or god. The Greeks added halos to icons to infer supernatural status, just as they added them to representations of Jesus. The whole body aureole of clouds is to suggest that Senju Kannon is in heaven looking down.
In India he was always depicted as a male god, in China and Japan he later become an androgynous god with the features of a female, but with a moustache and adopting masculine stances.
Kannon bosatsu in any of the 33 forms in which he is depicted is primarily a god of compassion and his Indian name Avalokiteśvara means “one who looks down and listens.” So basically this is a god you can pray to because he/she/it listens.
The monk Kũkai (founder of the Shingon sect of magical Buddhism) claimed a form of this god visited him on his ship while travelling to China. He had a conversation with this god about taking the teachings of China back to Japan!
The face is all shiny because people touch and kiss it! To the Japanese this is an actual supernatural being, not just a statue. The god is living in the statue and the statue serves as a conduit to the god.
The giant 1000 year old Ginkgo tree to the left of the steps of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. Known as kakure-ichō (hiding Ginkgo) because in 1219 it was where Minamoto no Yoshinari hid before jumping out to assassinate the Shõgun Minamoto no Sanetomo, it
was ripped from the ground by a severe storm last year (March 10, 2010). I took this photograph on September 9th 2009.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangū (鶴岡八幡宮) Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Moved here in 1191 by Minamoto no Yoritomo from it’s original location in Zaimokuza, it was originally both a Buddhist temple and a Shintõ shrine. The giant 1000 year old Ginkgo tree to the left of the steps was ripped from the ground by a severe storm last year (March 10, 2010). It was known as kakure-ichō (hiding Ginkgo) because in 1219 it was where Minamoto no Yoshinari hid before jumping out to assassinate the Shõgun Minamoto no Sanetomo, which ended the Minamoto clan and their rule in Kamakura.
A train crossing in Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture.
Kamakura beach.
Surfers on Kamakura beach. Kamakura as you won’t see it in the tour guide books!
Jizõ bosatsu. Hase dera, Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture.
Photo taken with an iPhone 3G.
Daibutsu (big Buddha) Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The Daibutsu, a huge bronze statue cast in 1252 from a wooden original was originally housed within the Kõtoku-in temple. The temple was washed away during a severe tsunami in 1498. The entire statue was once coated in gold leaf.
It is 13.35 metres tall and weighs around 93 tons.
Surfers on Kamakura beach, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Moss garden at the Kōtoku-in, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
