Japanese summers are hot. And humid. And loooong. It's hard work getting through those months. Luckily, the Japanese have designed a few different outfits to help things stay cool. The first, yukata, is a summer kimono of light cotton. While men's yukata are fairly plain and subdued, women's yukata burst with colour—floral patterns abound, with … Continue reading Photo of the Day: Summertime is Jimbei Time
Photo of the Day: Full’a Beans
Two words: free samples. This shop is called Mameya, and while it isn't a Kamakura-only shop—it's a country-wide chain—it's one of our favourites on the road between us and the Daibutsu. I enjoy the colours, Kaede enjoys the flavours, which are quite nice.
Photo of the Day: Bubble Buddha
The road to the Daibutsu at Kotoku-in is lined with souvenir shops, a few of which have large gum ball machines full of bouncy balls. These are no ordinary bouncy balls, however. No—these are Buddha balls (and Enoden train balls). Seems a bit sacrilegious to me, but that's just the way Kamakura rolls.
Photo of the Day: Mini Melons, Blue Sky
These are honest-to-goodness real melons. Teeny tiny ones. They're called "uri" (pronounced "uli"), and come in several different varieties. I love these because they look like watermelons for tiny people. Maybe the Borrowers eat melons such as these...
Photo of the Day: Happy Hoppy
Hoppy (ホッピー), an almost non-alcoholic beer-like drink, is advertised on a red lantern at a bar just down the street from the inn. Red lanterns signify drinking establishments in Japan, giving nights in the city a warm red glow.
Photo of the Day: Daruma Stacking
They look pretty fierce, but stacked up like that takes a bit of their bite away. These guys are another one of the fabulous window displays along Yuigahama Road. They're not always obvious—more often than not, they're just tiny embellishments–so you'll need a sharp eye (or someone whose eye level is considerably lower than your … Continue reading Photo of the Day: Daruma Stacking
Photo of the Day: All Buttoned Up
Kamakura has a fair few whimsical, fantastical shops, but not a one has drawn my eye quite so curiously as the Fuji Button shop. Maybe it's the card stock button displays on the shop's outer walls. Maybe it's the promise of wonderful and fun notions inside for sewing projects I'll probably never finish. I'm not … Continue reading Photo of the Day: All Buttoned Up
鎌倉ペンション・Inn By The Sea Kamakura 