📝 A weekend in Shonan

2025 March 12 // Journal, Photo Walks

I have recovered from COVID! I think! I hope I don't end up having Long COVID, knock on wood. I have been mostly okay for at least the past couple of weeks, but forgot to come back and say so, whoops. I need to figure out a better way to streamline my blogging process so that there is as little resistance as possible to just writing up an entry, instead of writing long rambling threads on my Mastodon...

But anyway, here was a mini-adventure around Hiratsuka and Fujisawa that Daikon and I had a couple of weekends ago!

Adventures in Hiratsuka (March 1)

The weather is great and I felt good enough to go out, so we spent the day in Hiratsuka ✌️

Curry lunch near the station

Daikon knows of this hole-in-the-wall place that sells curry spices and also has a small restaurant in the back, so that's where we're having this incredibly good lunch:

Glass of mango lassi next to a small bowl of salad with orange dressing

Lunch plate with a huge nan and two small bowls of brown curry

Yokai hunting

Our main goal today was to visit the grave of Okiku-san, the protagonist of the legendary Banchō Sarayashiki.

Okiku's grave surrounded by offerings, with a large stone in the background saying "Okikutsuka"

Her grave is on the side of this small park that has a very confusing jungle gym. I thought at first it was some construction stuff, but on closer inspection I think... kids are supposed to play on this...??????

A bare metal jungle gym with a large slide, bars on the side to climb up, and a metal platform held up with faded plastic

Same jungle gym but viewed from an angle. It looks super scary and like construction stuff gathered in a tangle of metal

Hiratsuka Hachimangu

After taking a quick snack break, we arrived at the second point of interest: Hiratsuka's Hachimangu, a huge shrine and major spot along the Tōkaidō.

I didn't get too many pictures of the shrine itself (d'oh) because I was too busy being delighted at all the ducks, enormous carp, turtles sunning themselves, and pigeons that had absolutely no fear of humans. If you stood in one place for too long, they all come flocking around demanding food. It reminds me of being at home with a certain gray cat always getting in the way with an expectant look on his face...

Large red shrine torii gate with a large sign and symbol for Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

A duck with green head and a gray-and-brown body swimming in a pond beside a large orange carp and another large gray carp

A pond with four white ducks swimming. On the slope beside the pond are several turtles sunning themselves off

The cement railing near the point with two gray pigeons inching towards the person holding the camera and looking for food

There is a pony named Satsuki, and a very friendly jiichan who insisted we feed her carrots. This is supposed to lead to good luck in the coming year, as feeding horses is supposed to mean the future will "umaku iku" ("go well," with "uma" meaning horse and "umaku" being "well").

A fluffy brown and white pony being fed carrots on the end of a long bamboo stick

Hachimangu apparently has its own stamp rally on the shrine grounds. The ink pads were all running out of ink and it was hard to get pictures of the stamps themselves because of the handles, but it was still pretty neat.

A sheet of paper with a takarabune (the treasure boat that the Seven Lucky Gods ride through the sky) with a large snake head at the front. Around the page are eight spots for with faded red stamps, each marked with the name of the matching god

While exploring, we also went around back and found Kochi, the other pony who is apparently off duty right now. I'm sorry, I don't have any snacks for you Kochi-san...

A pony with dark brown and white patches mixed over its very fluffy body

Same pony but with a clearer shot of their face poking over the railing at the camera

I also got my 御朱印 stamp (a "real" stamp and an illustrated pre-made one that I'll paste in when I get home) and Year of the Snake postcards featuring. Satsuki and Kochi:

Goshuin (shrine stamp) for the main Hachimangu shrine

Stamp for same shrine but with an illustrated background showing the priests doing some kind of ceremony in the center of the shrine grounds

Colorful painting of Satsuki and Kochi, the two ponies of the shrine, frolicking around a giant smiling snake curled in the background

Some more pictures from wandering around Hachimangu:

White plum blossoms stretching in from the top left of the picture. In the background is the shrine grounds of Hachimangu

Two ducks, a brown one with its head ducked into its back to sleep and a green-headed mallard sleeping while standing on one leg. In the background is a small waterfall and pond

Tree stump with round, curly wood ears (fungus) growing in plates out of the side

The main green-bronze torii gate leading to the head shrine. On the right are some wooden stands with pamphlets and covered in red cloth, and all around the sides are trees and plants

Wandering the shopping streets

After the shrine, we walked a bit around Hiratsuka and took in the sights. There is like a whole maze of streets around the station that are all a bunch of different shōtengai (shopping streets), which was very fun. We ducked into a couple of shops (a very scary toy shop, some places that sold kitchenware, and a used video game shop called Doki Doki Boukenjima) and had a blast. Hiratsuka is a very laid back and cool town. We gotta come back in summer for the tanabata festival...

A large concrete triangle with a column of eight bells hanging down inside. This is marks the entrance to one of the many shotengai shopping streets around Hiratsuka

A decorative metal tile embedded in a paved sidewalk. It shows a scene from Hiratsuka's tanabata festival, with huge tanabata decorations hanging over a smiling crowd of people wearing yukata and festival wear. Around the edges of the tile are fireworks and the words "Hiratsuka" and "Tōkaidō" (the name of the historic road from Edo to Kyōto)

Colorful metal manhole cover for Shonan Hiratsuka. It depicts the Hiratsuka tanabata festival with the huge decorations put up around town and crowds of people attending the festival. In the background is the Sagami Bay with a yacht and sea birds flying around

A play in five acts

We have fun, Daikon and I 😅

Daikon: We sure walked a lot today. How are you holding up?
Me: I'm okay, just a little *finger guns* Hira-tsukareta
Daikon:
Me: Do you get it
Daikon:
Me: Because we're in Hiratsuka
Daikon:
Me: And tsukareta means tired
Daikon:
Me: *taps him on the shoulder* Did you hear me?
Daikon:
Me: *keeps tapping* I said I'm Hirat--
Daikon: *jabs my forehead* where is the mute button

(on the train back home)
Me: Looks like we're back
Daikon: Yes, we should stop by--
Me: --back in Fuji-sawagashii
Daikon:
Me:
Daikon: We need to go--
Me: Did you hear me, I said we're back in Fuji--
Daikon: oh my god
Me: Like, Fujisawa?? And sawagashii (noisy)?! Kind of like m--
Daikon: I GOT IT
Me: Help me think of one for Chigasaki
Daikon: WE NEED TO GO TO THE SUPERMARKET FOR GROCERIES
Me: Oh don't worry we can brainstorm while walking
Daikon: 😰

Me: You think of one for Chigasaki, I'll work on Ōfuna
Daikon: ...you're gonna get stuck after that
Me: ?
Daikon: After that is Totsuka, right? But you already used tsukareta for Hiratsuka. You can't use the same word again
Me:
Daikon: So, you should give up now, before wasting more thought on this
Me: *Homestar Runner's Stinkoman voice* Are you asking for a challeeeeeenge?!?!
Daikon: oh no
Me: I'M ON IT
Daikon: what have i done
Me: THIS IS THE ONLY THING I CARE ABOUT NOW
Daikon: help me

Me: I GOT IT. To-tsukamaeru (catch)!! SEE!! And YOU thought it couldn't be done!!
Daikon: Catch what tho
Me: ???
Daikon: Tsukamaeru is a transitive verb, what's your object
Me:
Me:
Me: SUCCESS, obviously. Success wo To-tsukamaeru!!
Daikon:
Daikon:
Daikon: *mumbles* then obviously it should be Chiga-success
Me: WHAT
Daikon: Nothing
Me: DID YOU SAY "CHIGA-SUCCESS"
Daikon: TOO LOUD
Me: I KNEW IT, WE MAKE A GREAT TEAM
Daikon: nooooo
Me: Chiga-success wo To-tsukamaeru!!!!!!!
Daikon: what the hell

(at home)
Daikon: What are you doing
Me:
Daikon: WHAT ARE YOU DOING
Me:
Daikon: ARE YOU POSTING YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES ON THE INTERNET
Me:
Daikon: Hearing too many dajare (bad jokes) is not good for the body!! Stop spreading the poison around!!!
Me: NEVER, DAJARE FOREVER
Daikon: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I was originally going to post about the adventure I had around Fujisawa the next day, but it is currently almost 3am and I should probably try to sleep! This is gonna be a two-parter! See you tomorrow, maybe!!