[Spots] Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kotokuin Temple (Great Buddha), and Enoshima Island
[Visitors] 16 JICA participants from 10 countries, with 3 each from Thailand and Myanmar, 2 each from India and Ethiopia, 1 each from Georgia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Solomon, Rwanda, and Cambodia
[Attendants] 20 KSGG members and 2 observers
It had been fine and a little hot since morning. Our Kamakura tour for JICA participants had not been carried out after the Great East Japan Earthquake. We were so happy to resume it that all of our members appeared to guide them more enthusiastically.
We visited Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in the morning, where all of the participants were absorbed in taking pictures of a wedding ceremony held on the stage called Maiden. Then, in the afternoon, we went to Kotokuin Temple, where the Great Buddha impressed them with its solemnity and mercifulness. The participants from Buddhist countries chanted prayers to the Buddha.
Then we went to Enoshima Island on the Enoden train, and enjoyed looking for fancy souvenirs and having one of Enoshima’s specialties, grilled squids on skewers, there. Before saying good-by, we took a group photo of us in front of the torii gate. Tourists visiting Kamakura and Enoshima had been on the decrease after the earthquake, but they have recently been on the increase to make the places lively again. To our regret, however, foreign tourists are still only a few.