Tokyo's Mystery Deepens by Michael Pronko

Author:Michael Pronko
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three

Seasons in the Labyrinth

So Close Yet So Far

The first day I ever went to Kamakura was Seijin no Hi Coming-of-Age Day. The Big Buddha, great small temples and Hachiman Shrine were amazing, but not as amazing as the bright red flowers, purple butterflies, blue clouds and stunning patterns of all the young girls’ kimonos. That first time for me, Kamakura was alive with elegant, soaring beauty.

That evening, though, I found another side of Kamakura. After drinking at a local izakaya, my friend and I had to run to catch the last bus back to Zushi. Ahead of us in the bus line, though, were four just-turned-20 women in kimonos, talking excitedly. However, the unfamiliarity of alcohol, tight kimono and wobbly slippers kept them from being able to get up the stairs. They could not even get their first foot up, and dissolved into giggles.

Finally the bus driver, now smiling himself, reached down for the first girl’s hands and my friend and I put out our arms to help lift them, one by one, up onto the bus. We scrambled on after them, with their laughter and shouts of “Oh, thank you!” and “That’s so embarrassing!” echoing in the bus. The stately beauty of daytime Kamakura turned out to have relaxed human warmth to it in the evening. That combination defines Kamakura’s special character for me even now.

Whenever friends or family come to visit from abroad, I always take them to Kamakura, which is closer geographically than psychically to Tokyo. From the station, I pack everyone into a taxi rented for half a day. Kamakura is very walkable, of course, that’s part of its charm, but when my parents come with jetlag and culture shock, a taxi is the easier option. One driver was so kind and lively he helped arrange our itinerary of outlying temples in the quickest order, and then took my parents and I to his favorite inari zushi restaurant for one of the most unassuming and delightful lunches my parents had in Japan.

In just that same way, Kamakura has kept its human scale. Half a year or so after my parents visited, I met friends who live in Kamakura for the summer fireworks. Those fireworks are some of the very best, shooting up out of the water so that you see them twice: once in the sky and again in the reflection on the water. The entire bay becomes a colorful spectacle. Running late and with huge crowds, we hopped in a taxi, and amazingly, it was the same taxi driver that had taken my parents and me around! I asked him if he remembered, and he said, “Yes, your parents came from Kansas, right?” We laughed. “To meet again, that’s en,” he said, as if it was an everyday thing, and in Kamakura maybe it is.

The temples in Kamakura, each with its own special character, generate a unique atmosphere. Near the Big Buddha, lies on of my favorites, Hase Temple, with thousands of Jizo statues. When a college friend visited, she wanted to buy one of the statues to take home to a friend.

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