[Date and Time] Sunday, November 15, at 10:00～17:30
[Spots] Jomyoji Temple, Hokokuji Temple and Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine
[Home Visit] 3 KSGG members’ homes
[Visitors] 2 visitors each from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and 1 each from Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)
[Attendant] 5 KSGG members
At the request of JICE we guided the visitors around Kamakura and invited them to our homes. They came to Japan to participate in “The Training Program to Help Develop GCC People in Japan,” which was sponsored by the Foreign Ministry. (GCC stands for Gulf Cooperation Council, and includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and UAE.)
The visitors will stay in Japan for two weeks to visit kindergartens through high schools, study about the educational system of Japan and, in spare moments from their study, see the culture and lives of the Japanese people directly.
In the morning, at Jomyoji Temple they appreciated its rock-and-sand garden and had a cup of tea as they listened to our member’s explanation. We were told--and admired a similarity--that Arabian people also drink a bowl of tea lapping it with their hands like us. At Hokokuji Temple, as soon as we went into its bamboo grove, the visitors said in Japanese, which they had just learned, “Wao! Suge-e!” (Oh, wonderful!) At Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine they took pictures of boys in haori-hamama, or coat and trousers, and girls in furisode, or a long-sleeved kimono, for the Shichi-Go-San festival. They enjoyed the atmosphere of the ancient capital, where autumnal colors had just begun. In the afternoon they were divided into three groups to visit Japanese homes. At one KSGG member’s house, when visitors were shown horigotatsu, or a heating device set in the floor, and a hibachi, or a charcoal heater, they said they also have such a heater in Arabian countries, because it is very cold in winter in the desert. At another house, visitors, who took great interest in a Japanese-style room, practiced calligraphy there. At the other, the visitors and their host family talked about their countries and Japan as they turned a globe. I realized that foreigners who really love Japan have increased in a day today.
[Spots] Jomyoji Temple, Hokokuji Temple and Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine
[Home Visit] 3 KSGG members’ homes
[Visitors] 2 visitors each from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and 1 each from Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)
[Attendant] 5 KSGG members
At the request of JICE we guided the visitors around Kamakura and invited them to our homes. They came to Japan to participate in “The Training Program to Help Develop GCC People in Japan,” which was sponsored by the Foreign Ministry. (GCC stands for Gulf Cooperation Council, and includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and UAE.)
The visitors will stay in Japan for two weeks to visit kindergartens through high schools, study about the educational system of Japan and, in spare moments from their study, see the culture and lives of the Japanese people directly.
In the morning, at Jomyoji Temple they appreciated its rock-and-sand garden and had a cup of tea as they listened to our member’s explanation. We were told--and admired a similarity--that Arabian people also drink a bowl of tea lapping it with their hands like us. At Hokokuji Temple, as soon as we went into its bamboo grove, the visitors said in Japanese, which they had just learned, “Wao! Suge-e!” (Oh, wonderful!) At Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine they took pictures of boys in haori-hamama, or coat and trousers, and girls in furisode, or a long-sleeved kimono, for the Shichi-Go-San festival. They enjoyed the atmosphere of the ancient capital, where autumnal colors had just begun. In the afternoon they were divided into three groups to visit Japanese homes. At one KSGG member’s house, when visitors were shown horigotatsu, or a heating device set in the floor, and a hibachi, or a charcoal heater, they said they also have such a heater in Arabian countries, because it is very cold in winter in the desert. At another house, visitors, who took great interest in a Japanese-style room, practiced calligraphy there. At the other, the visitors and their host family talked about their countries and Japan as they turned a globe. I realized that foreigners who really love Japan have increased in a day today.