Kamakura is a coastal town located near Tokyo and Yokohama, less than one hour of road from the capital. It is a nice location to see historical culture from Japan. In fact the city was a political center few centuries ago. As a result it is a popular place to visit, because of its temples, monuments, gardens, without to forget the beach which is a paradise for the surfer during all seasons, and a holiday place for people during the summer. Moreover the place stays relatively peaceful. At least in february.

I started by probably the best place of interest to see, which was the great Buddha ofg Kamakura. The architecture of Buddha and temples in Japan are definitely great with high quality. One more time this buddha was impressive by his size and texture. I is a bronze statute  with a height of 11 meters, the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan. It was built in the thirteen century.

 

One of the second main attraction that i saw, was to visit the garden of hokokuji temple. Hokokuji is a small temple but he is surrounding by a beautiful japanese garden first, and also a great small bamboo forest. Just behind the temple we can enter in the bamboo grove, which lies around 2000 dark green bamboo. You make the turn of the small forest before to come back and to arrive on a perfect garden with ponds, shrubs and rocks, in a zen attitude. I saw before the bamboo forest in Kyoto which was very big and impressive. In comparaison this bamboo grove is smaller but the bamboo are beautiful and the environment is definitely good. It is a place to not miss if you go near Kamakura.

 

For the rest we can walk throught the streets of Kamakura to stop in different typical shops, or to stop for a nice meal in one of their restaurant.

More Information here about Kamakura.