The Bamboo Temple, Hokokuji

Wow was this place neat! It's commonly known as "The Bamboo Temple," and Hokokuji (報国寺) Temple lived up to its name. This temple was founded in 1334 by Tengan Eko reportedly under the sponsorship of Ashikaga Ietoki or Uesugi Shigekane. This temple is famous for a beautiful bamboo garden that is laid out behind its main sanctuary. It belongs to the Kenchoji faction of the Rinzai Buddhist sect. Kamakura Goddess of Mercy No.10 / 33.

Saturday morning started off raining and windy, but by mid afternoon it cleared up, the sun came out and we hit the road! It's only 200 yen to get in, and for an extra 500 yen you can sit and have a cup of tea overlooking the bamboo grove. Next time I go there it'll be without the kids, and you can bet I'll have myself a cup of tea! So many things were so pretty, but were roped off so we couldn't get to them. I may bring my telephoto lens next time. I took about 50 pictures and uploaded them into a Shutterfly album if you want to see more than what I post here...to see them click here.

Afterward we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant across the street from Zushi Beach. I should say an Italian restaurant with a Japanese twist. We had pizza with ham and AN EGG on it! It was absolutely delicious! The girls had two or three pieces each. I took a picture of the menu because of the Engrish...we got a laugh out of it.

As we were getting ready to leave the waitress came up to Keanna and gave her an origami flower. She was so happy and even bowed when thanking her for it...and of course the girl bowed back. It was so nice of her and such a sweet moment to see them bowing to each other.