Kamakura

Kamakura & Ofuna
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HISTORICAL KAMAKURA & NEARBY AREAS (KAT AVILA'S NOTE: The older photos were taken by my dad when he was stationed in Japan post-WWII.)
Daibutsu (Great Buddha), 1953 The first Buddha in 1238 was wooden. The second was cast in bronze in 1252.		Daibutsu, 1958	Daibutsu, 1958	Dad & Japanese boys at sandbag filling detail out of Totsuka Radio Facilities at Shichiragahama Beach, Kamakura, 1952.
Dad in uniform on the way to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu (Hachiman Shrine), 1950s.		Same place in 1967, but there are now lion-dog shrine guardians.		Enoshima Island in the background, 1952
Mikasa Street Ginza, Yokosuka, 1952		ox and "honeybuckets," Chuo Station, Yokosuka, 1952		Looking toward military patrol station from hill near Minato Circle, USN Yokosuka, 1953.
KAMAKURA (March 2006)
youth hostel sign	seashore near the hostel		tsunami caution sign
in front of Kamakura train station		on the way to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu		koma-inu (Korean Dog)
Walking to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, a shrine to Hachiman, Shinto god of war. Soldiers would pray for good luck before going into battle.		early morning sweeping of grounds

			casks of sake	casks of sake
temizusha wash basin	Kamakura Museum, est. 1928

Kenchō-ji in the Rain, by Alfred Avila, 1972
Founded in 1253, it is the foremost temple of the Rinzai sect.

The rain pouring down,
the muddy puddles vibrating from the drops falling on its surface,
the leafless trees standing beside the cobblestone path
with arms beseeching the skies to cease the dropping rain,
the stone lanterns standing like rigid sentinels guarding the pathway,
and in the distance the ancient wet beauty of the Kencho-ji structure,
so aged but yet inspiring.
Such worn stanchions with their simple joints and smooth wood,
the beauty of simplicity, so serene and majestic
as cold, miserable me stands small under its guardian structure
protecting me from the falling, drizzling rain.
Across the belfry with its ancient green bell
and a small plum tree beginning to pour forth its glory
of small delicate blossoms and buds,
opposite an ancient tree with its demon locked within
old and silent waiting for night to fall.
The temple structure waiting for its unceasing worshippers.

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