Kanazawa - Zushi

On this overcast but not rainy Sunday I set out for a true Sunday ramble.

Starting from Kanazawa-bunko station I decided to walk to the zoo instead of taking the bus. This was not the wisest idea in the world, as I got lost and wandered in the complete opposite direction for half an hour, and then had to climb a huge hill just to get to the zoo gate. Next time I will take the bus, as it's no fun having to make a pause before you even get to the hiking course.

I had in mind to take the hiking course towards Kamakura, and look for a shortcut down to Zushi, or possibly even Jimmuji station. Well if there was one I completely missed it, and ended up taking the same road as always down to Kamakura. But the hike was well worth it for all the fall colours which are comming on well. Although I can do without the ginko tree nuts...

This Sunday was a festival day where parents dress the children in traditional costume and take them to the shrines, so it was fun seeing all the cute little costumes.

From the Kamakura beach I took a new path up the hills between Kamakura and Zushi. And so it was quite a suprise to see the beach at Zushi, black with people and with loudspeakers. And it was even more puzzling to see the total absence of regatta or surfboard competition.

So, intrigued, I went off to investigate!

And to my wonder and suprise, I found an equestrian archery event in full swing! There were about 6 horses, all with colours and ribbons, and 10 riders. There were extremely smooth, and their costumes were excellent! They also had a panel of judges, in traditional court dresses, and all the helpers were wearing what I assume were traditional groom clothes. Even the starting signal was traditional, as they had a young boy at each end of the track who would turn the red-with-a-gold-circle side of their huge fan to the gold-with-a-red-circle side.

I had read that there archery contests happen now and then, but was very happy to have been able to see that one, and you couldn't have had a more beautiful backdrop as Sagami Bay!

Jimmuji

Well well, one lives and learns!

It turns out there is a quite large, if not actually giant, Buddha statue just 25 minutes from Oppama station (15 coming back down)! Now who would have thought!

I found out about this by hunting around on Internet for interesting things to do in the area. There is a blog that talks about this trail that goes from Jimmuji station to Oppama station where one sees this large Buddha. So I first set off to the nearest shop to get myself some maps, and then set off early this morning to investigate this trail.

And it was absolutely 100% worth it!

I took the train to Jimmuji station, and the blog clearly explained how to get onto the trail. From there on it was easy to follow, as I have now learned enough Katakana to read the signs that said "hikingu coosu" this way.

Garden of the home.

The beginning of the trail goes past a school and then the most wonderful old-people's home I have ever seen. The pictures are of the rear garden of the home, which is not bad at all! But they also had some chicken coops and other bird cages, and a little cosy house, probably for a cat. Very very nice place.

After that the path winds slowly up the hill following a small stream, with tons of vines and ferns and liverwarts. Then at the top of the hill it gets into the dryer forests, with japanese cypress and bamboo. I took a little detour path to where some cherry trees grow to see if they had fall colours, but they had already lost all their leaves.

So back onto the main path, and through a large temple complex. Here too, some worderful gardens.

From there, the path meandered along the crest of the hill, with a few autumn colours starting, but an unfortunate number of high tension lines right across the view.

Then after a bit of rough path (but with chains and cords to help you), you get to the lookout tower, and the climbing rocks. From the look-out tower you can see everything from Yokohama in the distance to the North, Oppama and JAMSTEC straight East, Yokosuka and the lighthouse at Uraga to the South-East.

And then Zushi and Sagami Bay to the West, and Mt Fuji in the distance, barely visible though the clowds and the power lines. (between the 2nd and 3rd group of cables from the top)

And of course, right in front of Oppama, you can clearly see the Buddha, rising out of the nice orange and yellow chestnut trees. (to the left in the photo)

It's a couple minutes to the Buddha from the lookout tower, passing by all the different climbing rocks.

The statue itself is very impressive, both from the tower and up close, and is, indeed, very big. Standing on some rocks I still could not even reach it's feet!

And all that, right behind the house, almost! I shalll definitely be going back that way again!

And I promise I will be buying new batteries for my camera soon, so that I can show you photos that are in focus next time!