Kamakura, Home of the Samurai

At least, that's what the welcome sign said when we arrived. We had to ride the train for almost 2 hours to get here from Baraki Nakayama. To give you a general idea of how far that is, here is a screenshot of the google map.

It cost over 2000 yen for the round trip, totaling about 85 or so miles. Good thing the program reimburses for school trips. But imagine trying to drive that. Gas prices in Japan are averaging over $6 a gallon. Suddenly $3 a gallon doesn't seem so bad. And on the train, you just sit and relax til you get to your next stop. No concern about watching where you're driving and no traffic (unless you count people).

Anyway, I have had my fair share of odd looks from the locals when they get a good look at me and realize I am not Japanese. However, the strangest by far was today, when we got on the train and I took an empty seat next to an older lady (around her 40s I am guessing) and felt a slight bit of tension as the train began to make its way to the next stop. Once we got to that stop, she promptly got up, initially looked as if she was going to get off, but then sat down in another seat across the way. Something about sitting next to me made her so uncomfortable that she had to find another seat.

One of the things that seems to be common here is the blatant stares that you get for looking different. There is no attempt whatsoever to hide it from you. You could look right back at them and they will still continue to stare. I don't get it as often as my fellow IES friends, but it is a bit unnerving when I do. I am sure they are more motivated by curiosity and surprise than they are judging or thinking something negative, but it is certainly something I could do without.

But let's get back to the samurai! Once most of the class had gathered at the Kamakura station, we headed down the beautiful streets of Kamakura to the temple grounds where the event was held. We were to see their biannual (I think...) festival showcasing yabusame, the art of mounted archery practiced by the ancient samurai. It was pretty awesome. I have never really ridden a horse, nor have I shot many bows, but doing both at the same time is quite impressive. Hard to lead a horse or even balance on one when you need both your hands to shoot the bow. And then to hit the target while bouncing up and down on an animal running very fast past the target....amazing. It's no wonder the art is still celebrated in present day.

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures I will be posting. My camera was acting up today (I think maybe from the bright sun and the heavy humid air) so not many shots came out very clearly. I missed my Nikon a lot today. It would have given me some amazing shots, especially with the telephoto lens. :/ However, Ramsey, at over 6 feet tall, was kind enough to record a couple of videos for me from his own vantage point.

I also managed near the end to get right up to the gate to get some pretty good videos (other than some lens flares that would make J.J. Abbrams proud). I had trouble getting the sumo video to load last time, so check my Facebook if you don't see them at the end of this post.

One of the gates leading up to the temple. And another funny look photo-bombing my shot. -_-

Getting closer to the temple.

Crossing the bridge over this gorgeous pond.

Walking down the runway to the end to enter the spectator area. You can see the track where the horses will be running.

After getting introduced, they had a procession that went all the way to the end of the course. Here they are getting ready to turn back around and come back the other way.

Sorry for the giant head on the left. We actually saw a lot of Western tourists coming to watch as well.

And of course, the camera decides to finally focus as the last guy is leaving. But the ribbon thing on his back there is kinda cool.

Go, samurai, go!

Heading back after watching up to the third tier perform (the first tier being the best). At this point we were hot, sweaty, and tired. Time to find something to eat and go home.

Loved this tree near the entrance.

More pond views from the bridge.

Posing in front of the cool tree. Left to right: Raymond, LoLo, Liz, me, and Elisabeth.

Ramsey is not here as he had taken the picture for us. We ended up following him through a few alleys to find what he called this cheap, hole in the wall restaurant that had some delicious food. Unfortunately, he had not only forgotten the name of the restaurant, he also forgot where it was. Still tired and still hungry, we decided to just head back to the train station, but not before stopping inside the Studio Ghibli store nearby. Yup, just like the Disney store, except that it's all stuff from Miyazaki films. Very awesome, but also very expensive. 20 dollars for a fan of the same quality as the one I got at the 100 yen store? No thank you. I still haven't found anything else nice to buy for people that I can actually afford, but I still have three months to go. I may just find it all at Tokyo Disneyland. We plan to go during Halloween when they do their special Halloween events. So excited!

Loved watching these traditional looking houses zoom by on our way back to the dorm.

The sun, preparing to set in the distance.

After returning to the dorm, we had dinner with Lauren at the konbini (no meals from the dorm on Sundays) and she and Liz had a special moment sharing their dessert.

And tomorrow is a holiday for Japan, so no class! Woo!

I got the videos to work!

Here is a short video of some drummers near the entrance to the festival.

Here is another with drummers. Sorry if it's a bit wobbly. I was walking while recording.

Here's the one that Ramsey took of the procession before the performances started.

Ramsey also took this one. Because our first spot was behind the platform used by the camera crew, we couldn't see much before the rider shoots his arrow. However, you can just barely see him hit his target.

After the first tier finished, many people left, so we took advantage of the opportunity to find a spot closer to the edge of the course and in front of the annoying camera platform. Eventually, we managed to get right up to the fence. This is when the lens flares started to show up and I didn't know how to prevent it, so sorry for the poor quality. :/ Anyway, this particular rider unfortunately misses his last target.

This guy was more successful with the final target.

And lastly, the procession of the last tier we watched coming back down the course after their performance.

PS: After reviewing the videos on the blog, it seems that blogger has drastically reduced the quality of these videos. -_- So sorry for that. I will post the best one on Facebook for any who would like to see it with slightly better quality.