Quiet weekday at Kamakura is the best

お盆休みは忙しかったようですが、夏の平日の鎌倉は静かです。

I imagine it’s crazy during Obon holiday, but a weekday visit to Kamakura in the summer is relaxed.

Train lover’s paradise on Kamakura’s Enoden train

鎌倉の江の電は電車のファンに最高です。

The lifeguard also talked about tsunami on loudspeaker

海で泳いでいるときに、ライフガードから津波についての連絡がスピーカーでありました。道路にシンプルなグラフィクのサインもあります。正確な情報が書かれています。アメリカでは、海抜のことをあまり考えません。

This tsunami evacuation sign on the street combines a super-simple graphic with a lot of detailed information with above sea level data and distance to safe gathering space.

What kind of message is “Do not frighten others” at the beach?

鎌倉と逗子の新しいビーチのルールの中に、「人が怖がることはしない」がありますが、とても曖昧では？　刺青を禁止する新しいルールをすでに破っている人が多いを見て、嬉しかったです。それから、日本で「飲み過ぎる」というコンセプトはあるのでしょうか。

Revised beach rules in Kamakura and Zushi include new signs with absurd rules, including cover tattoos and do not drink too much. I was happy to see the tattoo rule being flaunted, and really, in alcohol-soaked Japan, who is going to define “drink too much”? The “Do not frighten others” is the most ambiguous.

Wildlife in Kamakura

A day trip to Kamakura to visit a Hitachi environmental strategist turned up many delightful wildlife within Tokyo’s commuter shed. Hasedera Temple has an amazing garden on a steep hillside with views of the ocean. Several types of dragonflies were there, including this amazing red one.

Sunning themselves on lotus leaves were turtles.

Outside the temple, I was startled to see a swallow’s nest above a convenience store entrance. The young birds seemed unperturbed by people or commerce.

Equally ubiquitous were hawks, circling, squawking and apparently endangering beach picnics.