I had an absolutely fantastic day today! One of my friends invited me on a hike around Kamakura, Japan, that is guided by Japanese volunteers and done every other month! I had NO idea what to expect but didn't have much else on my planner for today so I agreed to go. Yesterday was a really nasty, cold, rainy day but today the sun was shining and it was a little brisk but all in all a pretty perfect day for December 7th! It was so wonderful to be out in the fresh air all day and soak in all that nature! Kamakura is just a short train ride away from the base with a few transfers and a short walk. We met the whole group (about 12 of us + the guides) around 1000 this AM and then started on our way. The foliage around us was all so beautiful and I don't think the pictures even do it justice! I kept seeing really pretty red trees and then realized it looked just like the Japanese Maple I had in my front yard when I was growing up. I commented to one of the other women on the tour that I thought it was a Japanese Maple and she told me that here they call it just a Maple tree.... (pause for laughter).... I guess I didn't think of that.... HAHAHAHA I'm still laughing about it 8 hours later sitting on the couch blogging while Damian plays video games. I told him about it when I got home and he thought it was pretty funny too!The first temple we stopped at on our hike was the Tokei-ji Temple and is also known as the "divorce temple." This temple was very interesting and was also founded by a woman. During the time it was founded, women were not allowed to cut marital ties without a letter of divorce from their husbands.
This temple was used as an asylum for women to escape to while divorcing their husbands as asking for a divorce could lead to physical abuse and an unpleasant living situation. Eventually when it no longer became necessary for the women to get a letter from their husband for a divorce this temple became a Zen temple as it is today. It is very beautiful and is surrounded by plum blossoms and other blooming trees and flowers. This picture was just an example of one of the funny names of the cars here that I happened upon on our hike today... this was a Honda and obviously ready for success!
We hiked for awhile through beautiful (but muddy because of the rain yesterday) trails all through the forest and came out near Kuzuharagaoka Park. At this park was an area with a big rock, a stack full of clay dishes, and all around the rock were broken dishes... I had never seen anything like this and was obviously intrigued (it really doesn't take much)! It was a "Masaruishi" which if you break it down: ma: negative factors in life, saru: leave/depart, and ishi: rock... so throwing the dish at the rock symbolizes the overcoming of obstacles in your life. Negativity in life disrupts the flow of life energy so by throwing the dish against the rock you are breaking the negativity and allowing the positive energy to flow... and all for only 100 Yen (about $1.30). It was shockingly fun to break a dish against a rock... don't worry Damian I won't be throwing dishes at home when my life energy is disturbed. 
You could see Mt Fuji (barely) from the park on our hike today... of course there was a sign that said "Mt Fuji viewing point" or else we would have missed it (and so would you if I didn't add the arrow)! You can see Mt Fuji from the base on a clear day, but not from our apartment so sometimes I forget to look for it when I am out and about. When my Mom lived in Seattle she used to tell me "the mountain is out today" and she of course was talking about Mt Rainier, but I am going to steal it and tell you that not only was the sun out today but so was "the" mountain! The hike was a lot of up and down and even though there was a trail it wasn't completely cleared and you really had to watch your step because of all the tree roots and of course the slippery mud and wet leaves. Next stop on this awesome hike was the Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine (don't worry I can't say it either)... also known as the "money washing shrine." Legend has it that than person who constructed the shrine received a message in his dreams saying "use the water here to offer prayers to god, and all the world will be at peace."
Later it is said that he washed money with this spring water and prayed for the prosperity of his family. Word got out that if you wash your money here your money might be doubled, and since the year 1257 people have been coming here hoping to get rich. So, now you go to this shrine and wash your money and then you are supposed to get financial success... I emptied my whole darn wallet into the basket (not the paper money though)!!!!! Anyway, this was one of the coolest shrines I have been to and cannot wait to take Damian to see it. It is literally in a cave!!! How cool is that?!?! You walk through a cave tunnel to get into this beautiful serene shrine and then in the back is where you do the money washing and it is in a cave.... prettiest cave I have ever seen. So, basically I put my money into the basket and then used one of the ladles to wash the money by pouring the water over the money... at the end all I had was really cold and wet money, but then I went and spent some of it because I was hoping that would help me get rich (I bought cool candies). ***Fun fact alert: "zeni" means "coin" and "arai" means "washing" which is where the name "Zeniarai" came from for this shrine. On a completely other note, my wonderful husband Damian is now a licensed driver here in Japan, and I can't wait for him to take me for a ride, or be my DD, or be my personal chauffeur... hehehe! AND just in case all of you were all wondering he put his windshield wipers on during his driving test instead of his blinker too.... so it's not just me! Now that I have been driving here on the other side of the road for a few months, it will be really weird to come home and drive... watch out world I drive on BOTH sides of the road... yikes!!!
Japanese Word of the Day:
Dai (die): Big
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