hasedera temple: attempt #2 at the hydrangea walk

Saturday, June 17:  It’s 2:15 by the time I arrive at Hasedera.  As I walk through the gate, I’m given a ticket with a number on it for the hydrangea walk.  I ask, “About how long is the wait?”  The young man tells me, with a pained look on his face, that it will be about 3 hours.  He says, “But you can leave and go do something else, and come back later if you like.”

I can’t believe it.  I have come all the way back to Hasedera at what I thought was a reasonable hour, and now I have to wait 3 hours.  What will I do for 3 hours? If I had known the wait would be this long, I would have come directly here, gotten the ticket, and then gone back to see the Great Buddha.  But now, I’ve seen the Great Buddha, and I even enjoyed an ice cream, and now there is nothing more of interest to do in this area.  I’m hot, tired and sweaty and I don’t want to waste all that time sitting around doing nothing.  Feeling defeated, I take a quick walk around the temple grounds while I ponder what to do.

I already attempted to do the hydrangea walk at Hasedera last Saturday, on June 10, and wrote about the temple here:  a hopeful trip to hasedera (attempt #1): too late for the hydrangea walk 😦  There isn’t much point to me going over the historical details of this temple again, so if you’d like to know more, feel free to check out my previous post. 🙂

gate at Hasedera

I stroll around the grounds, enjoying the stone lanterns and the iris pond, the Buddha and Jizo figures, the scattered hydrangeas, and the main hall.

pond at Hasedera

a line of holy characters

hydrangea

iris gardens in the pond

iris pond

hydrangea

Jizo statues

Jizo statues

Fukujyu Jizo

When I get to the top of the hill near the main hall, I find, once again, the cute Buddha footprints in a bowl of water.

Buddha footprints

I can also see the queue to the hydrangea walk, which I will have to wait 3 hours to join!

the queue for the hydrangea walk

The saving grace to this visit to Hasedera is the clear view over Sagami Bay.  The view is better than it was the first time I was here.

view over Sagami Bay from Hasedera

view over Sagami Bay from Hasedera

view over Sagami Bay from Hasedera

At Kannon-dō, the Main hall, people are sprawled out all over the steps.  I can only assume they’re waiting for their turn to enter the queue for the hydrangea walk.

Kannon-dō (Main hall)

Kannon-dō (Main hall)

Kannon-dō (Main hall)

I’m certainly not going to sit around on the steps at Hasedera’s Main Hall for 3 hours!  I originally had in mind to visit another temple in Kamakura proper, Myōhonji, which supposedly has some beautiful mossy steps. My Instagram friend Yukie posted some pictures of the steps and I was hoping to visit the temple after leaving Hasedera.  Since I have three hours to wait, I decide I will go to Kamakura proper, visit the temple, and if I have enough energy, I’ll return by 5:00.

I realize as soon as I arrive at Hase Station that the Enoden, or Enoshima Electric Railway, will again be a challenge.  The station platform is packed.  I wait in the sweltering heat with the always-patient Japanese.  Finally, the train arrives, already packed.  A few people from the platform are able to get on the train.  I have to wait another 10 minutes for the next train, and this time, I am the last one to get on the train and the doors can barely close as I hold my breath to pull my nose out of the doors’ trajectory.

When I get to Kamakura, I walk toward Myōhonji, making a brief stop at Daigyoji Temple to admire the hydrangeas in the garden.  As if I haven’t seen enough hydrangeas today!

entrance to Daigyoji Temple

hydrangea at Daigyoji Temple

hydrangea at Daigyoji Temple

hydrangea at Daigyoji Temple

hydrangea at Daigyoji Temple

hydrangea at Daigyoji Temple

I continue to Myōhonji Temple in search of those mossy steps. 🙂