Your Japanese word of the week is...

"tsuyu". I used to think it meant "strong rain", seeing as strong is "tsuyoi" and it's no stretch of imagination for the Japanese to use the Chinese pronunciation for rain. As it turns out, however, "tsuyu" means "rainy season" and the kanji for strong is nowhere to be found.

But you can forgive me for making that connection since the Japanese rainy season, which can last as long as a month and a half (early June til mid-July), is essentially marked by the downpours which can occur.

Oddly (and luckily), the very serious rains have been relatively minimal this past month. It does drizzle and at times there are rather ominous dark clouds loitering around, seemingly biding their time until they can drench a few million unsuspecting people, but all in all, it hasn't been too bad. Until this past Sunday.

This past Sunday when, with my parents who were in town for a day (at least the day was one day after my birthday, so that's a nice present), I got to visit Kamakura, a very popular day-trip destination just south of Tokyo that, a bit unfortunately, happens to have lots of outdoor sights to see.

Sights such as the Daibutsu, or "Big Buddha", in the picture on the right. This bronze statue was cast in 1252 and there it remained, with a temple housing it, until 1498 when a tidal wave swept the temple away (Kamakura is near the water, in case you missed the tidal wave part =P). Unmoved, the statue remained exposed for the past 500+ years although in 1960, repairs were made to it the statue's neck as well as seperating the body from the base to allow it to shift during an earthquake. Or dance, the latter being just an amusing thought I had =P..... a 121 ton bronze Buddha gettin' jiggy during an 7.6-Richter earthquake?? Now THAT'S worth paying 200yen to see...... Yes, you had to pay to see the Buddha.......

But I digress........

Don't let the picture fool you, too. I stood there for nearly 10 minutes before I managed to snap a shot of the Buddha without anybody in the way...... and that was more surprising than the rain- the sheer number of people determined to not let it ruin their plans. Including the 30+ people out surfing at the beach.......

Skipping a large number of the other sites, we headed to Enoshima, a small island connected to the mainland by a bridge. Up some stairs there is a temple of which I wish I knew the significance of but until I look it up, it shall remain the "Temple of Enoshima".

But I'd probably go back when the weather is better since it's not that far from Tokyo and its size makes for the ideal day-trip. There really are lots of other places to visit as well as simply wandering the quaint, winding, stone-lined streets, letting people weave and discover their way through the old houses selling new souvenirs.

Despite the rain, Kamakura really is very beautiful, with buildings and temples sprouting amidst the greenery; as if the roles were reversed, the city being the weed and the forest the lawn being intruded upon.

One last thing I'd like to point out are the extremely hard working rickshaw/tour guides in and around the Daibutsu area. These people were out there all day in the perma-torrential downpour, dodging cars, inhaling bus exhaust, and treading up slippery slopes all the while telling their customers of the history of Kamakura with a smile on their faces............

Never again will I complain about the rain during my 5-min bike ride to the train station............