Big Buddha....Big Buddha, Ohh Yeah

So on Friday we took a train to the City of Kamakura to see the great Big Buddha! It was really fascinating, It is the second largest Buddha statue in Japan and dates back all the way to 1252. It was hollow and we were able to go inside for 20 yen. The grounds were very peaceful and reverent. You could watch people go up to the Buddha and put a coin in the offering and then say a little prayer.

The locals all love to get their picture taken, they are so flattered when you ask them to take a picture with you and I love how no matter what they always do the peace sign. When I first was asking them to take a picture they thought I wanted them to move so I could take one but then they got really excited and did the peace sign thing and then got out their cameras to take a picture with me. Another thing I love is that we are all the same height even though I'm pretty sure I'm at least 5 years older then them. haha

They had a couple places where you could buy and then place and burn incense. I believe they use it to purify the grounds, and the smoke is said to have healing powers so if you have an injury you are supposed to fan the smoke towards your injury.

This is a purification fountain.

This is right before we went into the big buddha. The stairs were extremely narrow and steep.

Buddha's Slippers. haha