Kamakura | Kotoku-in Buddha
Part two of our trip to Kamakura. The second half of our day trip was thankfully without the flock of Navy westerners. We parted ways after visiting the shrine and so with quite a bit of daylight left Anson and I decided to see Daibutsu (the Big Buddha). To get there we traveled by bus. Our first public transportation bus since arriving here in Japan. It was easy to use, though we had to ask the guy at the station ticket counter which spot in the station of over a dozen possible spots our bus would arrive. The buses here conveniently share the same pass cards as the trains, either a Suica or Pasmo card, or just a plain ticket purchased for your specific destination.
Our first glimpse of the the Buddha after paying about 200 yen to enter the area.
We walked around him and at the back you could apparently go in. This is what it looks like inside. Below the stairs that lead back out.
His head (above) and the air vent holes in his back (below).
Near the statue was this amazing stone. It was pretty set back from the hustle and bustle of all the school kids and tourists. A feeling of quiet mystery about it.
I had wanted to photograph one of these at the shrine but couldn't get a clear shot since it was so busy. This is a fountain for purification. The ritual is to dip the ladle and fill it with fresh water. With it rinse both hands and mouth over the stones, not back into to the clean water. With the remaining water tip the ladle up and let it fall down your arm. I noticed many rinsing hands and only a few rinsing their mouths.
