The Tale of Genji Bookmarks

 

     I got these really amazing bookmarks as a souvenir of my trip to Kamakura. From the Kamakura Station, we asked the volunteer tour guides for directions to the Kamakura Daibutsu and they instructed to take this long street lined with interesting shops and restaurants that are hard to resist! As a self-confessed geek, I am collecting bookmarks from my trips. More so, being a Japanese history geek and a literature junkie, this set of bookmarks literally made me swoon! 

     The Tale of Genji or Genji no Monogatari is considered as the oldest novel in the world. It was written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century and it survived the centuries from then. The story revolves around the life of the protagonist Hikaru Genji, son of the Emperor and his favorite concubine, Lady Kiritsubo. The novel tells about the intriguing political life in the Japanese court and the complex nature of love and relationships in the Heian Period.

The Kamakura Daibutsu

 

     The Kamakura Daibutsu is found at the Kotoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. This bronze statue of Amida was built in 1252 during the Kamakura Period and stands about 13.5 meters (43.8 feet). What is more interesting is that visitors can actually go inside this large statue for only Y20 and view its intricate interiors. According to the information guide inside the statue, because of its immense size, the statue had to be molded in thirty different stages. It says that the lattice patterns inside the statue indicate that a large number of molds were placed on top of each in several layers. To put the different casts together, a method known as irakuri was conducted.

    To get there, take a train to Kamakura Station. It only takes about an hour from Tokyo Station (costs about Y890) to reach this. Outside the station, there are English speaking volunteers whom you can ask for directions. They will give you a map too. They advised us which streets to take to get to the Kotoku-in Temple, which took us about an hour and a half walk, not because it is that far, but because it is lined with really interesting shops and restaurants that showcase the rich history and culture of Kamakura. It is just too hard to resist not getting into those shops! Here's the interesting souvenir I got. To enter the Kotoku-in Temple, it only costs Y200.