Epic Kamakura Day Hike

Combine three trails into an epic day-long hike around the city

Kannon-sama Pilgrimage: Jochi-ji and Tokei-ji

At the end of the Daibutsu-Kuzuharaoka hiking trail, in Kita-Kamakura, sits Jochi-ji, temple number 31 of the Kamakura Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage. Not far down the road is Tokei-ji, temple number 32. In Japan, Thirty-Three Kannon pilgrimages are fairly common. According to Kamakura City's webpage on its Kannon-sama pilgrimage, the first Thirty-Three Kannon pilgrimage — the … Continue reading Kannon-sama Pilgrimage: Jochi-ji and Tokei-ji

Tanuki of Nightmares

Tanuki statues are usually fairly cute, but this one is the thing of nightmares. A wild animal native to Japan, tanuki are called raccoon dogs in English, (though they're not related to raccoons). In Japanese folklore, they're mischevious shape-shifters. Statues of them are all over the place, but the ones in this post are from … Continue reading Tanuki of Nightmares