Ever since I entered teenage-hood, I had an interest in Japan. I watched anime, I learned basic Japanese, I convinced my parents to eat at the first sushi chain restaurant in Turkey for my 15th birthday. So when my dad told me when I was 17, that we are going to have a family trip to Japan, I was ecstatic.
In 2010, we flew from Atatürk Airport to Narita and spent a week in the greater Tokyo area. We visited Shinjuku, Harajuku, Akihabara as well as Yokohama and Kamakura. I remember few things from the first time I had ever been in Kamakura 10 years ago. I remember plenty hat stores, tourists, us climbing up a hill to see the big Buddha sculpture. Below is a photo of me (in colorful hat), my family and our Japanese friend in front of the Big Buddha.
The moment I saw the giant Buddha sculpture, I remember being in awe. It was the biggest sculpture I had ever seen in my life at that point. Not only it is great in size but also in detail: his head has individually crafted curls, his clothes drip in such elegance…
A decade later, life took an unexpected turn, and I find myself living in Yokohama for my grad school at age 27. And people who have been to around Tokyo would know: Yokohama is super close to Kamakura! I hop on a train to visit Kamakura again.
But to my surprise I find Kamakura a lot different than how I remembered. This small seaside town is now not just popular among tourists but also among young folks living in the region. There are so many cute cafes, bars, restaurants, galleries, shops! Here are some photos from my favorite cafe in Kamakura called Verve: https://g.page/verve-coffee-kamakura?share Their seasonal rosemary latte and locally grown fresh mushroom toast were really tasty!
After having a snack at a cafe and walking on the beach by the ocean, I head to the big old Buddha to pay a visit.
This part might sound funny to people reading this post… but as soon as I see the big Buddha again, I think to myself ‘Did he get smaller?!’ The big Buddha in Kamakura is one of the three biggest Buddha sculptures in Japan but my memories of the Buddha sculpture from age 17 were twice the size of the real height of the big Buddha that I saw. I realized, of course Buddha didn’t shrink over night, but I got bigger in the last ten years. I grew up.
This time, I fell in awe again when I entered the inside of the metal Buddha sculpture for the first time. I didn’t take any photos because I thought photos wouldn’t do justice to how it felt like to be inside that structure. The giant statue is made out of metal pieces stuck together by hand, and the inside is almost completely empty. There is a window on the Buddha’s back for light to enter, when you look up you can see the details of his curls from inside out. I could feel the dense energy of the empty space around us, powered by prayers, wishes and thoughts.
Photos from the surroundings of the Buddha sculpture, incense and giant slippers:
From this story I learned two points. One, is that places change like humans. They can grow up, grow old or just transform. This can be a good or bad depending on the conditions. I cannot speak for the locals but as a visitor I am happy to see Kamakura blossom into such an interesting town every time I make a visit. Two, is that a place or a city may no longer arise the same kind of excitement in you as it did back in the days. Because you change too. It could be disappointing to realize you don’t feel as curious as you once did when you are visiting there. The only thing we can do is to keep looking for that excitement. For my case, I was lucky to find it at the same place with a tiny shift of context.
If anyone has already been to Kamakura, please let me know what you thought! And if anyone is planning to visit Tokyo area in the future (when the travel ban is lifted perhaps) please make a day trip to Kamakura and share your photos here!
Thank you for reading.
Japan has so much to offer! I am sure it will not disappoint!