On Thursday, I made a day trip on my own to Kamakura -- the others had either already been or didn't feel like going. I'd heard about the giant Buddha and interesting temples from them and from my parents (who went in 2003 after I flew home) and was also planning on tracking down Akira Kurosawa's grave.

Unfortunately, it was a gray, drizzly day. Though it didn't rain too much, it was sort of depressing and not very good for photos. Anyway, I started off by walking up to the Hachiman Shrine, a large, much-visited shrine pretty much in the middle of the city. It's perched dramatically on a hill, with a great view of Kamakura. What really caught my eye though was a bunch of flags on a little island by the side of the main path.

Next I wandered around a bit, bought some ceramics, and eventually stumbled into a more out-of-the-way temple with a beautiful cemetary. Where I also petted a cat.

After that I went looking for the obscure little temple that holds Kurosawa's grave. I had a few wrong turns and mistakes (amazing how many cemetaries you can stumble across in parts of Kamakura), but I eventually found it. I asked a temple worker where the grave was (actually, I said "Kurosawa Akira?" and she said some stuff in Japanese, and then drew me a map and wrote out the Kanji so I could find it). I eventually found it (or hope so) and left an offering.

Finally, I hopped a bus and went and saw the big Buddha who, it turns out, is really big.

Only one more set of photos to go!