[Date & Time] Sunday, July 26, at 8:30~16:00
[Spots] Kotokuin Temple
(Great Buddha),
Hasedera Temple, Komachi Dori Street,
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, and Engakuji Temple
[Visitors] 2 Americans
[Attendant] 1 KSGG member
[Language] English
Two friendly Americans, who had asked KSGG
to guide half a year before, were on the long trip to go around Japan on the Diamond Princess. I went to meet them at Osanbashi Yokohama
International Passenger Terminal. Thinking
of the hot summer in Japan we decided to go first to the farthest place, the Great
Buddha. At Kotokuin Temple, we were glad
that there were fewer people as it was before ten o’clock. At a souvenir shop near the Temple they looked
happy to buy T-shirts with the Japanese letters “ryu” (dragon) and “Kamakura” as well as pictures. At Hasedera Temple they were impressed with
the magnificence of Eleven-faced Kannon.
We had lunch at a buckwheat soba
restaurant on Komachi Dori Street. When
I finished guiding them around Tsurugaoka
Hachimangu Shrine, it was at the peak of the heat. Though the time was also pressed, they looked
still healthy and we went to Engakuji Temple.
Led by the sutra the trainee priests were reading in the Shariden, the
two visitors went to the gate, where a door-to-door delivery just came in and
young trainee priests were carrying rice bags of 20kg running one after another
into the building. It was the scene we had
rarely seen. The visitors didn’t
understand what was happening, but we said laughingly we were very lucky to see
the rare scene. Then we left Engakuji
Temple.