According to that shit of a guidebook - "Discover Japan" by Lonely Planet there is no interesting/worthy to mention festival (matsuri) in September. But there is at last one, actually.
I'ts the yabusame (archery on horseback) festival.
In the middle of September (14-16) in the shinto shrine of Tsurugaoka Hachimanguu (鶴岡八幡宮) in Kamakura (鎌倉市) there is a Reitaisai (例大祭)- The Main Celebration. It's part is yabusame. Origins of yabusame in this shrine are said to be in 1186, but the origins of yabusem are dated back to 6th century.
I was too lazy to get there before 13:00. My route was: Hotel > Tawaramachi underground in Asakusa (on foot) > Ueno (160 yen) > JR line Yokosuka to Kamakura (JR Pass, free). In the train to Kamakura I've met a French tourist, let's call him Jean, who went to Kamakura also. We talked a bit, but later on I was happy to loose him in the crowd of the shrine ;)
We went throught the middle of the street, through the alley of trees. I couldn't help but take photos. There was an info on children carrying mikoshi (I saw them on the way back).
The way to the shrine was straight. You could just follow the people.
there was a real crowd out there, and I didn't have the best viewpoint, but...
Below are photos of the shrine.
I bought omikuji. My fortune was ok. I bouth a talisman for my friend to help her with studies.
There was a gingko tree standing here for hundreds of years. But on 10th March 2010 it got uprooted by a storm. There is an urban legend saying that the tree was a hiding spot for a famous assassin.
In reality there is a fence around it and you can't enter there.
I stopped for lunch in a noodles restaurant. I've ordered hiyashii kitsune udon. It was really tasty and cooled me... but the serving was too big.
The owner of the restaurant warned me I won't be able to see both the next shrine and the Great Buddha. So I chose a Buddha and went back to the station.
I've boarded the Enoden (Enoshima Electric Railway) train.
It's route is around 10 km only. Enoden advertises (at last in Japanese ;)) to see the beautiful flowers/trees along it's line, every month there is something else to see.
To see Kamakura Daibutsu (Wielkiego Buddę z Kamakury) I had to go to Hase station (長谷駅). The Buddha is on the grounds of Kotokuin (高徳院) temple.
it's height is 13,35 m. Standing in the open airt since 15th centrury.
Entrance to the grounds (from 02.01.2012 is 8:00-17:00 lub 17:30 depending on season) - 200 yen. 20 yen for coming inside the Buddha.
There is more to Hase than the Great Buddha, just like the photo shows.
And also few photos of Hase station.
i was really surprised to see that coin-operated public phones are still in use. There aren't many like that in Poland. I remember only one such phone on a small and old train station. If you want to call another city or a Japanese mobile you'd better have a lot of 100-yen coins.
And yes, it's middle of September and the Halloween decorations are already in place. O.o
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