[Spots] Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kotokuin Temple (Great Buddha), and Enoshima Island
[Visitors] 36 JICA Participants from 21 countries, with 4 each from China and Vietnam, 3 from the Philippines, 2 each from Indonesia, Kiribati, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Sudan, 1 each from Myanmar, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tuvalu, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Albania, and 1 JICA office staff.
[Attendants] 19 KSGG members and 1 observer
At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine they held an event, in which kannushi (shinto priests) wearing eboshi (headgear) and miko (shrine maidens) played ancient court music with drums and flutes. Since it was interesting and rare for participants to see such a sight, they took many pictures. At the main hall, I told them the way to pray, and then each of them prayed to Shinto deity. In front of the Great Buddha they listened to our explanations attentively. After taking a group photograph, we moved to Enoshima Island. I'm sure they could touch a part of Japanese culture by watching a Shinto shrine and the Great Buddha, Japanese swords and dolls, and experiencing to clean their hands at chozuya (purification basin) and to pray to Shinto deity. They might have experienced the very words of the Director General of JICA Tokyo Office, "Seeing is believing."