Engakuji - Kita Kamakura

A carving on a door to one of the buildings at Engakuji, and some yummy iced green tea.

Jizo Statues at Hasedera

Rather than continue this long dry spell of no posts, no news, and no pictures, I figured I could at least pop off a picture.

These are Jizo statues. Jizo are bodhisattva who are considered to be guardians of unborn, aborted, and miscarried children, and also they generally protect and are merciful to those in need. All around they're a good deity for most general purposes and are among the most widely visible icons in Japan.

It is common for people to put a red bib on the statues, or to dress them somehow (usually the color is red) when they mean to thank the deity for services rendered, or to mourn someone's loss and pray for their guidance through to the next life.

These ones here have been given baby clothes and toys, most likely for a child who died young or was aborted.

Asakusa

Melissa and Laurie in front of the famous (and huge) lantern at the entrance to Asakusa Shrine.

A Bug's Life

We met this big little guy on our way home today.

We took our time getting out of the apartment this morning, and made it to Onjuku by this afternoon. At about five or six o'clock, we were waiting at the station for our train home. Sitting on a bench, reading, Laurie and I were surprised to find this beetle bumming around. And bumming he was. You'd call it moping except he didn't seem depressed. At first I was afraid he'd scare Laurie, since the first I saw him, he was maybe three feet from her feet. But she wasn't scared. Then we took some film and pictures of him as he went on his merry way, antennae wiggling, towards the far end of the platform by the smoking section (I didn't see him light up, though).

It was either that or more pictures of Onjuku, in which case I may as well rename the blog. We've been there six or seven times, now. More than almost any other destination. But that's not a complaint! This time we got me a bright pink inner tube and I went out to catch some waves with the surfers!