Around The World In 80 Waves

Kamakura where I have been based for a few days, is an historic city from which the whole of Japan was ruled for over a hundred years by the Shogun until the Mongol invasion in the fourteenth century.

In a blast from the past these Jinrikisya human powered taxis are still in use but are largely for the tourists and Japanese who come to visit the city’s shrines. I thought it would be unfair to get a small Japanese man to drag my big lump and my surfboard around the town.

I have been staying in the New Kamakura Hotel that you see here, but cannot get used to all the slipper changes I am supposed to make as I move about the building, which are quite commonplace in Japan.

You take your shoes off and put slippers on as you step through the door. This footwear change process is repeated as you enter either toilets or bathrooms, and failing to do so will cause great offence. The hotel is lovely though and I’m glad of the air conditioning in my room because it is so humid.

It is my last morning in town and I start the day by checking out a number of temples and then decide to take the footpath to see the statue of Buddha, known as Daibutsu. This was a mistake because it was a 4 mile round trip over the top of a mountain that was not even close to flat at any stage and incredibly hot and sticky the whole way.

By the time I arrived to pay my respects to the giant bronze statue that overlooks the town I was drenched in perspiration and could only slump down on a plinth near to the big man.

Whilst there I couldn’t help meditating on what he would have made of the longboard surf manoeuvre that is named after him. (You sit cross legged on your board facing forward whilst riding the wave in.) I think it was meditating but it may have actually been the onset of a coma after near killing myself on the hike. I was seeing stars!

The town is also laced with a huge number of Zen temples, many of which are marked on the local guide maps with swastikas.

I should point out that this is not some throw back to the Axis powers during the second world war, but somewhat ironically is because a swastika has been a symbol of auspiciousness in Buddhism and Hinduism. It comes from Sanskrit, literally meaning ‘it is good.’

There are too many other shrines and temples here to document them all so here are a few pictures: