Hokokuji Temple in Kamakura

The Hokokuji Temple is one of the Zen temples which belong to Kenchoji  Temple  of  Rinzai Sect.
It was built by Shogun, Ietoki Ashikaga in  the year 1334.
This temple is famous for its lovely bamboo garden behind the main temple.

We  can have a  walk on the alley among the 1000 bamboo trees  and also rest  to have powdered green tea and Japanese sweets at the tea house  in the very garden . It was very hot this Sunday, but we felt cool as it was  breezing...It's a 10 minutes bus  trip from JR  Kamakura station .

                                                            belfry

                                                          caves to accommodate tombs of Ashikagas

old sakura tree

Buddhist Temples in Kamakura （鎌倉）

’Kamakura',Home of the Samurai is about 50 km southwest of Tokyo.From the end of the 12th century till the 14th century, it was the seat of the bakufu of feudal military government.It consists of the moutainous area characterized by defensive topograpy .The city has many historical and cultural sites, incduding 11shinto shrines and Buddhist temples that were built at the foot of the mountain and the velly beds, along with Kyoto and Nara which draws visitors from all over the world.

Engakuji Temple（円覚寺） is just 1 minitue walk from JR Kita(north)- Kamakura station. It was built to mourn for the victims who died during the invasion by Mongolians without distingushing friends and enemies.Together with Kenchoji Temple （建長寺）,it played a big role in the establishment of the Zen Buddhism in Japan.

Kenchoji Temple is the first ashram dedicated to the Zen Buddhism in Japan .It was built , receiving a Chinese high Buddhist priest,Rankei Doryu (蘭渓道隆）.It made a great contribution as the largest facility for the introduction of Chinese culture to the the establishment and development of the Samurai culture.

You may experience Zazen(座禅）,Zen meditation and Shakyo(写経）, hand -copying of the sutra in the temples,carving (kamakura bori 鎌倉彫)and also hiking there!
Kamakura has a possibility to be a World Heritage .

Engakuji Temple

Engakuji Temple

Kenchoji Temple

Kenchoji Temple

Tokeiji Temple

Tokeiji Temple

The hydrangeas  haven't  started to bloom in this temple.

The Sakura leaves- now

Now the leaves of  Sakura have become big and dark green in color..
The leaves of the double Sakura have a special aroma after they are salted.
We can use it for preparing for the  Japanese traditional dessert of  Sakura mochi in this season.
We wrap boiled sticky rice stuffed with red bean paste with the Sakura leaves.
They are a bit salty but  other part is sweet so,they have a  very good combination.
During our life in Singapore for more than 5 years,I prepared Sakura mochies around 500-600 pieces  by myself  as the most popular dessert for my husband's company parties.

                                                       The nearby park in May.

                                                     The leaves of the normal Sakura

                                                  The leaves of double Sakura

                                                                   
                                                   Sakura Mochi

The most populat Electric fan in Japan

This electric fan is now very hot in Japan as it can be  charged  itself in daytime ..After 6-7 hours storage,  it may work  around 15 hours so  during night time it does not use electricity.It can cut around 90% of  elrctricity consumption even during daytime compared to normal fans . It cost 40000 yen at this shop  but some people have been already  waiting for the arrival of the new ones.
One of my friend (30) told me, that she is interested in new one because of saving on electricity   but she has have old ones  and its price 40000yen  is 4times of the normal one.She said "What to do!!"

Solar Annular Eclipse

We had a Solar Eclipse yestaday morning.
The photo published in the news paper was  taken just next to the new tower ,Tokyo Sky Tree which opens from today .The track of it  seems to have crosssed the tower .
It was after  932 years  later that  people had seen  it at most of the places in Japan.
At 0730 AM, it was cloudy and dark, luckily we could see the beautiful silver ring  without sunglasses.My friend sent me the photo below  which were taken by her son (15)as I had overslept！

Fuki no to蕗の薹 Butterbur Scape and Fuki 蕗 Stem (willd edible plant 5)

In the early spring we can find the scapes  of the butterburs on  the ground in the countryside.They have strong bitterness so we deep fry  or after boiling we fry with Miso and Mirin(sweet Sake)　 . 'Fuki Miso" goes  well with white rice .

After they grow in late April or  May  , we eat their  stems after boiling .We peel the skin and season them with soy sauce , salt, Mirin (sweet sake ) and soup stock.
We do appreciate these kinds of vernal  wild edible plants, which show how we welcome spring after the cold winter in Japan.

This technique is Ao-ni(青煮） which　is  still  green  even after boiling.

Ashitaba 明日葉 Wild edible plant 4

In Kansai district ,we don't have this plant so I have not seen　it  before we moved  to Kanto district  in 2009, I only knew the unique  name of Ashitaba.
Originally they grow at the seaside of Izu, in Shizuoka Prefecture. Ashita means tomorrow in Japanese and ba(ha) means leaf.
The growth of this plant is very fast so  after　picking  them up, new leaves come out the very next day.Actually they look like Tapioca leaves in the Southeast Asia ! Normally we deep -fry after we dip them into  the batter. We believe that  this plant has strong energy.