I want to go on a one-day trip.

Now I plan to visit Take-dera in Kamakura city. "Take(たけ）" means bamboo, dera means "temple". I am not sure when I can visit there, but I want to visit very much.



The temple is famous for beautiful bamboos. Takedera is a nick name. Its real name is Houkokuji(報国寺) It is a Zen temple of Rinzai-sect, built in 1334. You can drink Japanese green tea and eat a cake at the temple, seeing beautiful bamboos, at 500 yen.



Kamakura wasn't the centre of culture but Kamakura was a centre of politics in Kamakura era. Overall, Kamakura's culture is just a rural and not luxurious one but it is a nice place to go on a one-day trip from Tokyo. I heard Kamakura is a posh city for people in Tokyo but I can't understand.



If at all possible, I want to live in such temple even though I don't want to become a monk. I would build a hermitage, would like to enjoy to listen to sounds of garden and of birds etc. But I don't want to depart from this living too.



白居易, a Chinese poet, said「大隱住朝市,小隱入丘樊」. It means "An unfledged eremite(hermit) live in mountain, a mature eremite(hermit) live in city". According to him, If I can enjoy only at lonesome place, I am an inexpert. :-)



Well,



Mr. Ben Shalom Bernanke, thank you very much. I listened Greenspan's comment too. I hope American people never suffer a shakeout.



Have a nice day.