2 days ago, i left snowy hokkaido. my first stop on my backpacking tour of japan (although you could hardly call my luggage that of a backpacker) was kamakura.
kamakura is a beautiful old seaside town about an hour outside of central tokyo. it was like nothing i have ever seen before. the local trains ran through such narrow spaces, like it was literally running through backyards and even front yards of old wooden houses perched along the sea.
i stayed with my mother's cousin sachiko-san and her husband. their daughter aya and i went out friday night together to a place where people go to eat and drink- my first time being out alone as a young person in japan. the place we went to was mostly men, and older men at that, all going out for drinks with their co-oworkers after a long day's work. it seems that women generally go to cuter places, like cafes, but i liked that we went to the type of place aya normally goes to- in the company of men, and the smell of cigarettes and whiskey, we were right at home just the two of us at our little table, not paying much attention to anyone else or feeling particularly out of place ourselves. women don't always have to be cute.
yesterday all day sachiko-san took me all around kamakura, and we saw temples and old villages galore. i drank real, frothy matcha out of a ceramic bowl nearly the size of my face. it was so deeply green it tasted almost grassy, yet not bitter.
today aya and i went to enoshima, an island near kamakura that is popular among the surfer / sailor type it seems. i've never been on a japanese island before, but it was beautiful, island-y like other places but very japanese at the same time. we climbed to the very top of the lighthouse and went to the temple there, the only temple i will go to that is right on the sea!
i left kamakura today and came to takahata, also in tokyo but about an hour and a half today. i am staying with the suzuki family, and am waiting right now for ayako-chan to come home. we are going cherry blossom viewing tomorrow.
after takahata, i will be staying in asakusa (yet another part of tokyo) alone. asakusa supposedly has a great local flavor of old japan and also a good nightlife. let the adventure begin.
kamakura is a beautiful old seaside town about an hour outside of central tokyo. it was like nothing i have ever seen before. the local trains ran through such narrow spaces, like it was literally running through backyards and even front yards of old wooden houses perched along the sea.
i stayed with my mother's cousin sachiko-san and her husband. their daughter aya and i went out friday night together to a place where people go to eat and drink- my first time being out alone as a young person in japan. the place we went to was mostly men, and older men at that, all going out for drinks with their co-oworkers after a long day's work. it seems that women generally go to cuter places, like cafes, but i liked that we went to the type of place aya normally goes to- in the company of men, and the smell of cigarettes and whiskey, we were right at home just the two of us at our little table, not paying much attention to anyone else or feeling particularly out of place ourselves. women don't always have to be cute.
yesterday all day sachiko-san took me all around kamakura, and we saw temples and old villages galore. i drank real, frothy matcha out of a ceramic bowl nearly the size of my face. it was so deeply green it tasted almost grassy, yet not bitter.
today aya and i went to enoshima, an island near kamakura that is popular among the surfer / sailor type it seems. i've never been on a japanese island before, but it was beautiful, island-y like other places but very japanese at the same time. we climbed to the very top of the lighthouse and went to the temple there, the only temple i will go to that is right on the sea!
i left kamakura today and came to takahata, also in tokyo but about an hour and a half today. i am staying with the suzuki family, and am waiting right now for ayako-chan to come home. we are going cherry blossom viewing tomorrow.
after takahata, i will be staying in asakusa (yet another part of tokyo) alone. asakusa supposedly has a great local flavor of old japan and also a good nightlife. let the adventure begin.
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