An American Seeing the Great Autumnal Festival at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

[Date and Time] Tuesday, September 15, at 12:00~16:10
[Spots] Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine and Kotokuin Temple (Great Buddha)
[Visitor] An American medical student studying neurosurgery at UCLA (who has third-generation Thai-American parents)
[Attendant] 1 KSGG member
[Language] English

The three portable shrines for the Great Autumnal Festival paraded quietly at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. I told the visitor the reason for their quiet parades: since those portable shrines are designated as tangible cultural assets, they have to be carried carefully and quietly so as not to be broken, while more gorgeous ones from other shrines are paraded with the shouts of buckish men. At Kotokuin Temple there were only a few tourists and about half of them were from other countries. The visitor was apparently very much impressed with the Great Buddha.