[Date & Time] Friday, July 17, at 10:00~18:00
[Spots] Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Komachi Dori Street, Hasedera Temple, and Kotokuin Temple (Great
Buddha)
[Visitors]
4 Americans
[Attendants] 2 KSGG members
[Language] English
I met the visitors staying in a hotel in Yokohama at 10 in the morning
as scheduled. The visitors are a young
couple from Utah and a senior couple from Florida, 4 people in total. A heavy rain at the start from the hotel made
us worried a lot, but the rain stopped just after we reached Kamakura Station. At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine the sun shone
brightly and our umbrellas served as parasols.
Feeling this quick weather change was Hachiman’s blessing, we folded our
hands in prayer. Their strong interest
in its precincts was temizu,
procedure of the purification at the chozu-ya(temizu-ya) and, unexpectedly, sake barrels on display.
On Komachi Dori Street, the senior couple was greatly
pleased to find souvenirs for their grandchildren and sunscreen. We had “sukiyaki” for lunch, which the visitors
requested. At Hasedera Temple, the view
from the ocean-viewing terrace just after the rain was wonderful, though, to
our regret, the season of hydrangeas had already finished. We thanked Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, sincerely
for her mercy. At Kotokuin Temple,
greatly impressed with the Great Buddha we enjoyed ice cream at the tea stall
in the precincts. We presented paper
dolls KSGG members had sincerely made, which was the important finishing of the
guiding. They expressed a lot of thanks
to me. We returned back to Yokohama with
good memory in Kamakura and said good-bye feeling the sorrow of parting.