Kamakura’s Shonan R134

Kamakura. The first thing that enters people’s minds when Kamakura is mentioned is probably the city’s Big Buddha. If not the Big Buddha, then the city’s many shrines and temples. There’s a reason Kamakura is known as “Little Kyoto” after all.

But what Kamakura doesn’t seem to be known for is it’s beach or beaches, I should say. If you stray from the shrines and temples, you’ll find yourself reaching R134. What is R134? It is a road along the coast and it’s beautiful. (Think Pacific Coast Highway but a tad bit different and shorter.)

Beach Town

It’s a beach town down there. People are surfing. People are walking. People are playing in the water. Few are sunbathing/sleeping with their clothes on. And a few are lounging around despite there not being adequate places to sit. In one area, there were only two benches and approximately five art pieces that served as sitting stools. And that was a bummer. But I suppose I understand how most visiting a beach wouldn’t just be sitting or if they did, it’s just for a quick bite.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t too fond of this unspoken rule/expectation for people to not chill (sit) for an extended period of time. I could be wrong but that certainly was the vibe I picked up here on the Kamakura coast. In the states, you’ll find many people wanting to wind down at the beach in diverse ways. And one of these ways could be staying put for a long time in order to read a good book. There’s also people that just simply want to enjoy the beauty of nature and that’s the category I often fall under.

At one point, after a long stroll, I got tired, got hold of a bench, was mindful enough to not take the whole bench and just sat to gaze out at the water and blog. Yes, it was a great place for me to blog however I never got to finish that blog entry since my battery was running super low and I was getting a bit self conscious of the locals despite not wanting to give a care.

As confident of a person as I like to think I am, it’s never a good feeling to know you’re being noticed and watched. A group of male teens seemed slightly bothered by me, most likely because they had seen me since the time they stopped to eat lunch to the time they decided to cycle by me. I had heard one of them voice “too much” (in English) or something along those lines and I’m going to think they were trying to voice that I had spent too much time in that spot. But it’s my problem. If it’s a public space, I think I have every right to make use of it. And if it’s a matter of taking too much space, I wasn’t. There was room for others to sit on the bench if they wanted to. In fact, at least two people came by and sat on the bench with me briefly. So, what is the problem?

I want to be positive and think the kids assumed I was waiting for my date (roll your eyes, please) and that I shouldn’t be such a loser to wait for “him” this long but I doubt they were thinking that. I don’t know what it was all about, but I did my best to ignore it and am at least glad they didn’t give me a foul look upon cycling past me. They looked at me alright but it wasn’t a look of disgust at least. (I wonder how these kids would react if they saw people doing homework at the beach. While rare, some people actually do their homework at the beach in the states.)

Locals only vibe

The teens aside, I didn’t find the people of Kamakura particularly friendly. But that’s not surprising considering my experiences in other parts of Japan. To be fair, almost every native visiting Kamakura wasn’t nice. In fact, I found them pretty judgmental and mean. (I remember a woman giving me a nasty look as we passed each other and I couldn’t help but to find it rude and unnecessary.)

I don’t know what it is about the Kamakura coast in particular but a “locals only” mentality may be in existence there.

I was standing on top of rocks, admiring the ocean’s beauty when this surfer comes by, glaring at me. I have no flipping clue why. And worse, I have no flipping clue why he just had to come to where I was in order to climb down some rocks to reach the water. Like, wtf? I’m thinking it might be his special spot or something because none of the other surfers had plunged into the water from there. Strange and certainly not nice.

I’m sure the fact that I’m not local may have very well irked him and if that’s the case, the Kamakura coast is probably not too different from Huntington Beach, where locals supposedly think they own the beach. (There’s an old saying that Huntington Beach’s locals dislike outsiders and while this saying may be very true for many, I’ve fortunately had good experiences with Huntington Beach in general and thus far.)

Where to excrete

As much as I enjoyed my stroll along R134, I didn’t enjoy searching for a bathroom. It was actually quite a disastrous search as I couldn’t find a bathroom! When I thought I had finally found a bathroom, it was actually not a bathroom. And this was of course frustrating for someone that needed to excrete.

Like, where do people do a number 1 or 2 here? In the water? At their beach front home? I have no idea. I’m thinking I might have encountered a bathroom had I walked further towards another side of the beach, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if there actually wasn’t any there either. How disappointing. (The lack of restrooms or non-existence of it could just be a way to ward off the homeless and non-locals, though.)

Locals are blessed

I don’t think the locals living along R134 realize how blessed they are to be so close to such a beautiful coast. But at the same time, I’m guessing things can be rather scary for them if a natural disaster were to hit. Japan is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis after all.