Kamakura (March 2006)
youth hostel
youth hostel sign		 fishing boats
seashore near the hostel		 tsunami warning
tsunami warning sign		 neighborhood shrine
neighborhood shrine		 at train station
in front of
Kamakura train station
on the street
on the way to
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu		 guardian dog
koma-inu
(Korean Dog)		 shrine entrance
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, a shrine to Hachiman,
Shinto god of war. Soldiers prayed here
before going into battle.		 shrine grounds
early morning sweeping
of shrine grounds
ema stairs to shrine
main shrine stairs next to
1000-year-old gingko tree		 statue statue statue
altar drum sake
casks of sake		 sake
casks of sake		 wash basin
temizusha wash basin
Kamakura Museum
Kamakura Museum, est. 1928		 cherry blossoms bridge shrine entrance
Historical Kamakura and Nearby Areas
(KAT'S NOTE: The older photos were taken by my dad when he was stationed in Japan post-WWII.)
Daibutsu 1953
Daibutsu (Great Buddha), 1953

The first Buddha in 1238 was wooden.
The second was cast in bronze in 1252.		 Daibutsu 1958
Daibutsu, 1958		 Daibutsu 1958
Daibutsu, 1958		 Alfred with Japanese boys at Totsuka Radio Facilities
Dad & Japanese boys at sandbag filling
detail out of Totsuka Radio Facilities at
Shichiragahama Beach, Kamakura, 1952.
Kamakura torii
Dad in uniform on the way to
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu
(Hachiman Shrine), 1950s.		 Kamakura torii
Same place in 1967, but there are
now lion-dog shrine guardians.		 Enoshima Island 1952
Enoshima Island in the background, 1952
Enoshima Island 1952
Mikasa Street Ginza, Yokosuka, 1952		 ox and honeybuckets
ox and "honeybuckets,"
Chuo Station, Yokosuka, 1952		 USN Yokosuka
Looking toward military patrol station
from hill near Minato Circle,
USN Yokosuka, 1953.
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.
Meigetsu-in Temple in Kita-Kamakura (2004)
rock garden round window room jizo jizo ema
ema tablet
with hydrangeas		 coin box
Ōfuna Kannon (2004)
The site of the Ōfuna Kannon has stones from ground zero of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A flame from the atomic fires of Hiroshima still burns and is preserved at the site. Bundles of 1000 paper cranes each are left at Ōfuna for world peace, as they are also left at Sadako Sasaki's monument in Hiroshima Peace Park.
Ofuna Kannon
Ōfuna Kannon		 Ofuna Kannon Ofuna Kannon Ofuna Kannon Ofuna Kannon Ofuna Kannon
Ofuna Kannon Ofuna Kannon Ofuna Kannon Jizo
Jizō		 Jizo
small Jizō statues		 Flame of Peace
Flame of Peace
origami paper cranes
origami paper cranes		 daruma
daruma doll		 priest statue
Jizō