My Texas friend -Shaady- came to visit for the first two weeks of August. She got to see Niigata-ken for a few days before heading off to Tokyo and surrounding areas for the other part of her trip.I had a blast with her here - thanks for coming Hun!!!
Admiring the karaoke screen as she tries yakisoba for the first time.
Dominating the entrance to the Senso temple is the kaminari-mon or "Thunder Gate" in Asakusa - Tokyo. This imposing Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning.
Our Hostel was right behind it.The lovely AC'ed subways of Tokyo!
Kamakura has a beach which, in combination with the temples and the proximity to Tokyo, makes it a popular tourist destination.
So, we thought we try it out. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and the open water of Sagami Bay on the fourth, Kamakura is a natural fortress. During the Heian period it was the chief city of the Kanto region, and from the 12th through 14th centuries the Minamoto shoguns ruled Japan from here under what is known as the Kamakura Shogunate.
Kōtoku-in (高徳院)
The temple is renowned for the Great Buddha (大仏, daibutsu), a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha which is one of the most famous icons of Japan. The statue stands at 13.35 meters high and weighs approximately 93 tons, and is the second largest monumental Buddha in Japan after Todaiji in Nara.
The statue probably dates from 1252, in the Kamakur period, when temple records report the construction of a bronze statue. However, it is unclear whether that is the present statue. The statue was built inside a wooden temple but that building washed away in a tsunami sometime during the Muromachi period in the late fifteenth century. The statue remains.
You can pay 20 yen to go inside the Buddha. Pretty Cool!
The Buddha's slippers. Since the Great Buddha at Nara has no slippers, you can say these are offically the largest Buddha slippers in Japan.
If you visit the area, be sure to try the Sweet Potato/Green Tea ice cream. Quite yummy!
The beautifully arranged garden
of Hase-dera.Along the flights of steps leading to the Main Hall is a structure called Jizo-do, in which statues of Jizo Bosatsu {boh-sah-tsu}, or Ksitigarbha-bodhisattva in Skt., are enshrined. There are countless Jizo statuettes made of stone and placed near here. They are called Sentai Jizo, meaning literally 'one thousand Jizo' and installed mostly for the aborted fetuses. Jizo is believed to be a guardian deity of children, both alive and dead, including stillborn babies and aborted fetuses.
Sorrowing parents who lost children dedicate the statuettes and pray that the god may protect the poor little ones wandering in the netherworld. Usually, the parents offer dolls and baby clothes to the statuettes.
Library turnstile at Hasedera containing sutras. One rotation of the wheel = the merit of reading every sutra contained therein.
At the north corner over the pond is a red torii gate, which is the entrance to the cave called Benten-kutsu. 
Worshipers buy candle sticks and put them on the altar after lighting, and start a short pilgrimage inside the cave stooping to enter. In addition to the Benten statue, there are sixteen statues engraved on the wall, all of them are followers and messengers of Benten.
Benten (also called Benzaiten) is the Goddess of everything that flows: words (and knowledge, by extension), speech, eloquence, and music. 
The exit to the cave is a surprise, b/c it kept getting smaller. The entrance is just fine, but when you finish you're leaning over and practically squatting out. Shaady and I found it hilarious!!!
Did you know this type of Koi began in Niigata-ken?
Thanks to the wind I look 8 months along here, but anyways to see more of Hasedera - check out the wbsite http://www.hasedera.or.jp/
Classic Japan : the old and the new!
Shaady's last evening in Japan was spent at a little amusement park called Hanayashiki in Tokyo, Mos Burgers, and then some last minute shopping at the local 100 yen store. Fun stuff!
Thanks again for coming Shaady!!!
