Charter Bus Tour to Kamakura
Sponsor: Meguro Board of Education
Organizer: Meguro UNESCO Association
Mar. 1, 2009 / 92 participants
The 21st Meguro City International Exchange Forum, “Bus tour to Kamakura-- Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Great Buddha, Takedera Temple and Komachi Dori Street”, was held by Meguro UNESCO Association sponsored by Meguro Board of Education.
Meguro UNESCO Association has been introducing Japanese cultures, such as Kabuki and Noh play to foreign people. This time, the program was a chartered bus tour to the ancient city of Kamakura. 87 adults and 5 children, total number of 92 participants divided on board to two buses, which departed Megurogawa Funairiba Park at 8:30am on Mar.1 as scheduled.
The 92 participants included Meguro UNESCO members, Japanese non-members, and people from various countries. As I looked around the bus #2, there were people from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iran, USA, Germany, China, Côte d’Ivoire, etc. In the bus, I could hear Japanese, which must have been taught in UNESCO Japanese classes, and other languages such as English, French and Korean.
And now, the bus arrived at the first site, Hasedera (Hase Kannon Temple), famous for flowers and scenery. An old Tabu-no-ki tree in front of the entrance gate quietly indicated the temple’s history. We walked beside plum trees along a pond, early blooming cherry blossoms, and went up the stairs to find “Hase Kannon (the Goddess of Mercy)”, the largest wooden carved kannon in Japan. It was regret that the unclear weather veiled the beautiful scenery of Kamakura town which could be seen from the temple.
Then, we visited the Great Buddha of Kamakura. 92 participants gathered in front of the Buddha to take some photos together. After we enjoyed tea-ceremony dishes for lunch, we visited Kamakura Hachimangu Shrine. How fortunate we were to see Shinto-style wedding, listening to Shinto flute music beside a giant gingko tree! After we left the shrine, we walked along Komachi Dori Street. There were groups of people enjoying sweet sake called Amazake and Oshiruko (sweet red-bean soup with rice cake), which must be relaxing after coldness and rain outside. There were also people who enjoyed looking at Kamakura-bori lacquer work in craft shops.
The tour then took us to our last destination, Houkokuji Zen Temple of Rinzai sect, which was founded in 1334. The participants enjoyed Moso bamboo grove. We left for home, after promising to see each other again at Japanese classes and summer gatherings. I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who made this tour happen.
-written by Yoichi Shimosato and translated by Ikuko Imamura