Ahoy - Mac's Web Log

The great Buddha statue at Kamakura

I had already been off my ship HMAS Shropshire several times before the signing of the surrender, which was due to take place aboard USS Missouri tomorrow morning.

Today I was able to get ashore to Yokahama the nearest city to our anchorage, now in 2003 is it a thriving city of some 3 Million people, and is the second largest city in Japan. But right now it is a place of rubble, having been bombed on many occasions, and Yokahama is full of rusty safes on all the open spaces, opened and empty of whatever contents they may once have contained.

I am off to visit the nearby town of Kamakura to see the huge bronze statue known as the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Today,Tokyo to Kamakura is about an hour by train, and Yokahama sits about half way between the two areas.

There are no trains running on this first day of September in 1945, and I acquire a bicycle in Yokahama, and pedal my way south where the Buddha lives.

The Kamakura Buddha's Slippers

This statue was cast in bronze in the year 1252, it is huge, 35 feet high, weighing in about 93 tons, initially it was housed within a large temple building, but that was destroyed by a tidal wave in 1495, and ever since the statue has stood alone in the open air.

In 1960, the last repairs were completed, these strengthened the neck of the Buddha, and made it possible for the body to move on its base to prevent damage in the event of shock from an earthquake.

You could enter into the body of this large statue based on the Buddha Amitaba, Lord of the Pure White Sand, standing inside the base of this statue gave me the feeling of both immense space and peace, there was a serenity about the whole atmosphere, quite suprising. I enjoyed my visit, biked back to Yokahama, and returned to my ship.

 

Detail of Head of the Great Buddha at Kamakura

Yokahama in 2003

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