After being in the US for a while, I finally returned to Kamakura, Japan.
Three years ago when we moved partially to Kamakura, we were just in time to see some “Sakura” and the Spring parade. It was a wonderful start to enter Japan. Now again, after making the decision that I’m going to start a studio here, I feel really blessed by all those falling Sakura leaves and joy of spring!

We went to the Hachimangu Shrine with the big pond. Incredibly beautiful.

And then of course, we went to our favorite neighborhood Komiyoji Temple. The path toward the main temple is adorned with “Sakura”.

All those falling leaves!!!!

Many women celebrate this day by wearing a “furisode”:a style of kimono with long sleeves that drape down. Since most are unable to put on a kimono by themselves due to the intricacies involved in putting one on, many choose to visit a beauty salon to dress and to set their hair. A full set of formal clothing is expensive, so it is usually either inherited or rented rather than being bought specially for the occasion. Men sometimes also wear traditional dress: dark kimono with hakama.

So, on Sunday we went to the Hachimangu Shrine and saw some beautifully dressed women. They go there to ask for blessings. But because still of the New Year a lot of people visited Kamakura that day.

A nice sunny cold day for this Coming-of-Age day.

The back with the sash “Obi” and the front of the dress.

Three beautiful women/girls with their handbags and “Zori” slippers.

Everywhere you see “kadomatsu” (Gate Pine). This is a traditional Japanese decoration of the New Year placed in pairs in front of homes supposedly to welcome ancestral spirits or “kami” of the harvest. They are placed after Christmas until January 7 and are considered temporary housing for kami. Designs for kadomatsu vary depending on region but are typically made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes tree sprigs which represent longevity, prosperity and steadfastness, respectively.

Kadomatsu in Kamakura.

Celebrating the new year in Japan also means paying special attention to the “first” time something is done in the new year. “Hatsumode” is the first trip to a shrine or temple. Many people visit a shrine after midnight on December 31 or sometime during the day on January 1.

That evening we had an early Happy New Year celebration at our house and then we left to go to the Tsurugoaka Hachimangu Shrine to be there at 12 o’clock. The first shogun Minamoto Yoritomo built this shrine in Kamakura, the ancient samurai city. (Look under my category of Kamakura for more information about Kamakura and the 1st shogun on April 12, 2006 and May 10, 2006).

There were so many people waiting to go up the stairs of the shrine.

Maarten and Roland found their friends.

They are ready to go up the stairs to the shrine in groups controlled by the police at 12 o’clock sharp.

On the top of the shrine people pray and make their wishes.

This is a fortune board. You pay 100 yen ($1.00) and shake a wooden box out of which a wooden stick falls with a certain number. Then you get this special piece of paper and you read your fortune for the coming year and attach it on a rope.

Then there are very festive food stands allover with delicious treats!

Lots of people come to Kamakura during the first 3 days of the New Year. Don’t try to take the train the first day, because the station will be packed.
And the inner city is completely blocked off: only taxis, busses and authorized cars are able to drive there.

Kamakura blocked off and people can walk everywhere.

On that day, when I bicycled on the Hachimangu grounds, I discovered eight installations of Japanese gardens along a path.

In Japanese culture, garden-making is a high art.Though often thought of as tranquil sanctuaries that allow individuals to escape from the stresses of daily life, Japanese gardens are designed for a variety of purposes. Some gardens invite quiet contemplation, but may have also been intended for recreation, the display of rare plant specimens, or the exhibition of unusual rocks.
Strolling Gardens require the observer to walk through the garden to fully appreciate it. A premeditated path takes observers through each unique area of a Japanese garden. Uneven surfaces are placed in specific spaces to prompt people to look down at particular points. When the observer looks up, they will see an eye-catching ornamentation which is intended to enlighten and revive the spirit of the observer. This type of design is known as the Japanese landscape principle of “hide and reveal”.

Stones are used to construct the garden’s paths, bridges, and walkways. Stones can also represent a geological presence where actual mountains are not viewable or present.
The raked gravel or sand simulates the feeling of water in Karesansui gardens. The rocks/gravel used are chosen for their artistic shapes, and mosses as well as small shrubs are used to further garnish the Karesansui style (Japanese Lifestyle). All in all, the rocks and moss are used to represent ponds, islands, boats, seas, rivers, and mountains in an abstract way.

A water source in a Japanese garden should appear to be part of the natural surroundings; this is why one will not find fountains in traditional gardens. Man-made streams are built with curves and irregularities to create a serene and natural appearance. Lanterns are often placed beside some of the most prominent water basins (either a pond or a stream) in a garden. In some gardens one will find a dry pond or stream. Dry ponds and streams have as much impact as do the ones filled with water.

Green plants are another element of Japanese gardens. Japanese traditions prefer subtle green tones, but flowering trees and shrubs are also used. In addition, bamboos and related plants, evergreens including Japanese black pine, and such deciduous trees as maples grow above a carpet of ferns and mosses, which give a broader palette of seasonal color.

The tradition of the Tea masters has produced highly refined Japanese gardens of evoking rural simplicity. Chaniwa Gardens are built for holding tea ceremonies. There is usually a tea house where the ceremonies occur, and the styles of both the hut and garden are based off the simple concepts of the tea ceremony. Usually, there are stepping stones leading to the tea house, stone lanterns, and stone basins “tsukubai” where guests purify themselves before a ceremony.
After the tea ceremony was refined by Sen Rikyu, the historical figure with the most profound influence on the Japanese tea ceremony, the tea garden, house, and utensils all served as a way to “awaken consciousness and to realize with humility our relationship with all that is around us and with the universe itself(Miller).” Also, tea ceremonies were partly designed to teach participants how to gain absolute control over body and mind. As a result, “it emphasizes not disconnection but connection between body movement and mind. Culturally, the Japanese followed the five Confucian virtues (loyalty, righteousness, politeness, wisdom, and trust) to ground these tea ceremony ideals off of. In short, the tea ceremonies were a cultural activity to teach Japanese/Confucian virtues that were important for life.

In the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1573), a great many gardens were created during these two time periods due to improved garden techniques and the development of Zen beliefs and the refinement of the tea ceremony. Another factor that allowed gardens to flourish stems from the fact that the shoguns simply enjoyed gardens.

It was a wonderful treat.

The “Torii” of the Dankatsura street, going all the way to the Hachimango Shrine.

Dankatsura by night!

The pond at the Tsurugoaka Hachimangu Shrine looks magnificent and wonderful with those big water Lotus-lily plants.

Do you see the coy fish and the turtle?

Unfortunately, they don’t have flowers yet and tomorrow I leave for Holland and America. So, flower pictures have to wait until next year.

Completely filled up with the leaves and beautiful green color.

The ceremony starts by walking down the stairs of the Prietst and invited guests as the bean throwers at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

Also, symbolically shooting away the evil spirits.

The beans are thought to purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them.
Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat soybeans, one for each year of one’s life, and in some areas, one for each year of one’s life, plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come. In the Heian era, a famous Buddhist monk was said to have driven away oni by throwing beans.

Getting ready to throw the packages filled with soy beans.

The packages with an additional stamp wins you a goody bag. We were out of luck. Ours just had the phoenix stamp.

The throwing of the packages.

The catching of the beans. Adriaan was well above the others, but they were difficult to catch.
There were many people , and the event turned wild, with everyone pushing and shoving to get the beans tossed from above. People fell and the police blew their whistle and they waited until everybody was standing again and they continued throwing.

Just so beautiful with the little umbrellas for protection of the sun and the skirt protection and mats on the ground for the cold.

The peony is the Chinese famous traditional flower. It represents the characteristic temperament and the cultural features of the Chinese nation, the prosperity of the country, and the diligence of the people.

The peony flower is the symbol of happiness and good luck.

The flower became know in China in the period of the Qin and Han Dynasties, 221BC – 220AD.
Since the Tang dynasty the peony was ranked “the first flower of the world”.

There are now more than 300 kinds of peonies.

Some of them grow for hundreds of years.

Famous names are: “the Green Dragon in the dark pond”, “the Green Pea”, and the “Drunken Beauty”.

It was still raining heavily, but by noon we went out anyway to go watch the “Yabusame”, archery on horseback demonstration at the Tsurugoaka Hachimangu shrine and luckily the weather cleared.

The “Yabusame” shows the inherited Samurai culture of today. The samurai political administration that took place in the city of Kamakura developed a unique culture that actively incorporated Zen Buddhism and other cultural elements of the Song dynasty and reflected Kamakura’s natural environment. This led to a heightening of the spirit and beliefs of the samurai that would play an extremely inportant role in shaping Japanese culture and making Kamakura unique among mediaval cities in East Asia.

The evenement started with a procession of

first the samurai archers, and

the judges with the targets.

The Shogun.

In one run the Samurai had to shoot three targets in a row along a long path.

Preparing his horse to make the run.

There were lots of people, but we were still able to see some nice shots.

The horses ran very fast.

Right on the the target!

It was a wonderful event.