We have enjoyed a full day going out to see the Great Buddha in Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture by train and seeing Hachimangu shrine before returning to the heart of Tokyo for dinner in Shinjuku. We returned at 9.00pm and everyone is now preparing for the kindergarten visit tomorrow.
Will has been sampling all the hot drinks from the vending machines
At 7.00pm we had a joint birthday party for Tom and Charlie with a group of Japanese students
Charlie opening his bithrday present – thank you to Chieko san for choosing it!
Tom enjoyed his birthday celebrations -pictured with Peter
Will in front of some of the Christmas illuminations in Shinjuku
Many families were celebrating the shichi-go-san festival (children aged 7, 5 and 3 years old go to the shrine for a blessing)
Lots of senior high school students made friends with us along the way
A Jamie Toms Bird and his Japanese lookalike?
After lunch in Kamakura we walked to Hachimangu shrine
Kaiten sushi for lunch
We met some famous actors and actresses at Hase station before going into Kamakura on the Enoshima line
Beth, Sarah and Maddie impressed the Japanese girls with their Japanese
Lots of senior high school students greeted us today
Sarah and Beth in front of the Daibutsu in warm sunshine
Beth and Tom with some of the many primary school students
View of the inside of the Daibutsu
Jamie and Will
Beth and Maddie
Clear blue skies in front of the Daibutsu
Beth and Tom purifying their hands
Lawrence and Jamie washing their hands before entering the grounds of the Daibutsu (Great Buddha -made of copper and weighing 121 tons!
In front of the entrance to the Great Buddha at 11.00am
Peter and Will have been making new friends on the trains
The girls are now adept at lining up formerly for the trains.
We had some fantastic views of Mount Fuji this morning from Fujizawa station
