Stuart Woodward reviewed Exploring Kamakura by Cooper, Michael
Review of 'Exploring Kamakura' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
When I came to Japan in 1988 I inherited a copy of Exploring Kamakura and have used it many times when visiting there.
Actually, it formed the basis for many trips as the routes and grouping of places to visit, if followed, will take you many temples and shrines neglected by even the most seasoned tourist. I think it is valuable for this alone.
It's a very personal book too with anecdotes about the fellow visitors and the many repeated visits that the author made to particular temples.
I did note however, this time, with the wealth of cross referenced information in Wikipedia, that this book had lost a little magic as my go-to source of information. A few minutes searching pulled out answers to questions that even the author had had and corrections to his suppositions. It would be an interesting project to make a contemporary video commentary on the text and visit all of the places mentioned.
A must, if you love Kamakura.