Enoshima / 江ノ島, part 2

Enoshima Shrine / 江島神社

Go back to Enoshima / 江ノ島, part 1
Enoshima Shrine is a Shinto shrine devoted to the goddess Benzaiten (弁財天), whom to many of my readers will be more recognizable by her Hindu name, Saraswati.

Ok, so right now some of you are thinking, "Wait, what?? Saraswati? Shinto!?" Looking from an ancient historical perspective, it's actually not so super-shocking. Benzaiten has held a very special role in spirituality throughout much of Asia ever since she was first introduced to the world ma-a-any centuries ago by priests from India. The goddess Benzaiten is the source of all that flows: music, words, water, etc., and so she fits in perfectly here, in the little island of Enoshima, where goodness seems to flow in abundance northward to the mainland.

In the cover photo at the top, the stairs leading up to the main gate of the shrine are looking pretty steep, but this is only the beginning. What you see there is the main building of the shrine. To see all of it, you must climb, and climb, and then climb some more, until you reach you traverse many staircases like this one, finally reaching the summit of the large hill (tiny mountain?) that is Enoshima. To be honest, it's a bit exhausting, but there are many other smaller shrines to see along the way, as well as shops, restaurants and bars to help you re-fuel.

As it turns out, the journey to the top is worth the effort. The ocean views from the gardens at the highest point of elevation are very beautiful. On a clear day, I understand, one can even see Mt. Fuji! I was hoping for a look myself, but the air was quite hazy during my visit. Once at the top, I hung out for quite a while, taking in the scenery.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to make the descent to the far side of the island, down to the rock beach below since I knew that the only way back was to go up over and down again. After a rest, however, I decided I was up for it and headed down. I was glad I made the descent after seeing some very unusual rock formations that I had never seen before! These deep openings in the rock have filled up with sea water, creating tiny seas that seem to contain their own unique ecosystems! Most of them are rich with ocean plant life and some of them have fish living in them!

This was really very cool and they're definitely unlike anything else I've seen before. The oceanfront views from here were just as inspiring as the others I saw throughout the day, but offered something different, so I stayed for a while for some photography.

After some more hanging out, I decided it was time to head back for something to eat and started my climb back to the top. The next part of my adventure happens in part three!

Photo of the Day: Tokyo Station / 東京駅

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Enoshima / 江ノ島, part 1

The week before last I used some time off from work for taking a day trip to Enoshima (江ノ島). Enoshima is tiny island which is part of Fujisawa city (藤沢市) in the Kantō region's southern prefecture, Kanagawa (神奈川県). The characters comprising the name "Enoshima" mean Island of the Bay, which is an accurate description since visitors can only access Enoshima by crossing a bridge over the Sagami Bay (相模湾) either by car or on foot.

Enoshima does an excellent job of providing a relaxing island resort atmosphere despite her relatively close proximity to Tokyo (roughly 1.45 hours by rail). This makes for a very popular getaway of course, and for this reason I highly recommend going there on a weekday like I did.

Like most destinations in a Japan, a main attraction for visitors is the local cuisine. One of my main objectives in going there was diving into a Shirasu-don (しらす丼) which is famous throughout the Sagami Bay coastal region of Kanagawa (known as Shōnan / 湘南). "Don" (pronounced so that it rhymes with "dome") is short for "donburi" (丼), which simply means bowl of rice with a topping of some kind. In this case the topping is Shirasu (しらす), which simply means baby fish. These little fishies are somewhat uncommon where I currently live (and all but non-existent where I grew up), especially in their uncooked form which is a major draw for foodies who come to Enoshima for a visit. Since I had arrived right at lunch time, sitting down to a Shirasu-don lunch was my first priority. I found a pleasant oceanside restaurant called Shōnan Hanabi Shokudō (湘南HANABI食堂) and got myself a table.

So how do they taste? Well, this is certainly not my first time eating Shirasu; I've been a fan for quite a long time. This is only my second time, however, enjoying raw Shirasu. Shirasu have a mildly briny, oceanic taste, which is accompanied by a very lovely clean, fresh and slightly sweet flavor. This particular donburi is called 3-color don (三色丼 / San shoku don). The three colors are raw Shirasu, kettle-cooked Shirasu and seasoned kettle-cooked Shirasu. (Readers: don't let "kettle-cooked" fool you into thinking about Kettle Chips or anything like that, these are not fried-- they're blanched). Also gently resting upon my bowl of rice was tororo (とろろ), nori (海苔 / dry seaweed, like the wrapping on your favourite sushi roll), green onion, and a raw egg. My Shirasu-don was accompanied by a bowl of miso soup, some pickled daikon and a lump of freshly-grated wasabi for enhancing the flavour of my Shirasu. This was soooo delicious and was exactly what I had been wanting to eat! I enjoyed and cherished every single bite of my lunch, showering the restaurant staff with compliments all the while.

With a full, and very satisfied tummy, it was time to go be a tourist. See what happened next in part 2!

Before finishing Enoshima Part 1, one word of warning to potential visitors, when Shirasu are in season (spring), they sell out fast! I would be a mistake to expect to have Shirasu-don for dinner since they're caught fresh every day, and supplies rarely cover the lunchtime rush.

Tokyo Tower Carp Streamer Display / 東京タワー鯉のぼり

 

Carp Streamers, or Koi Nobori (鯉のぼり), have a long history in Japan and is a tradition which has roots even older than that in ancient China. Images of Koi (Carp) are painted on wind socks and, in Japan, are hung up to fly in the wind in celebration of Children's Day. Children's Day is officially celebrated each year on May 5, and the tradition of families decorating their homes with Carp Streamers is the boys' counterpart to the annual girls' holiday, Hinamatsuri / ひな祭り.

Each Carp Streamer hung at a family home represents each of the family's individual sons. If tradition is adhered to strictly, the colours of the Carp are also representative of the sons' birth order. In ancient China, Carp were believed to grow up to be dragons. Because of this famous legend, the streamers bring good fortune, health and longevity to the family's sons, so even into modern times, these bright and cheerful decorations can be seen all over Japan during early May.

The Carp Streamers displayed at Tokyo Tower serve a different purpose. During the first week of May, Tokyo Tower celebrates Children's day by display 333 Carp Streamers-- one for each of its 333 meter height! On a sunny day it's really fun to go see!

Of course, a visit to Tokyo Tower isn't complete without taking a nice rest in the adjacent Shiba Park (芝公園 / Shiba Kōen) which also has lovely views of the tower and rich greenery.