Date & Time: Friday, November 29, 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Spots: Sankeien Garden, Yokohama Park, Nihon Odori Avenue, Yokohama Archives of History, Yokohama Port Opening Square, Yokohama Kaigan Church
Visitors: John & Marie, an Australian couple
Attendant: 1 KSGG member
Language: English
John & Marie were traveling around Japan on the cruise ship, the Diamond Princess. They stopped at Yokohama, enjoying a 4-hour tour to their heart’s content. The sasanqua was in full bloom at Sankeien Garden. They both really liked this flower, which resembles camellia. John was deeply sympathetic to the statement by Hara Sankei, the founder of the garden, “Natural beauty should be shared with everyone.” There are 17 buildings in the garden. Among them Marie loved Ooido, which covers up and protects the Juto (a stone monument) built by Hideyoshi Toyotomi (a famous military commander in the late 16th century) to pray for the longevity of his mother. When Marie learned that story, she seemed to sympathize with Hideyoshi’s respectful affection for his mother. John liked Yokobue-an, a thatched hut. Yokobue was a lady who served for an emperor’s concubine, and her statue used to be kept there, which was made of the love letters sent from her lover. Their love romance is said to have ended in a tragedy, which moved John a lot. Sankeien has many kinds of beautiful seasonal flowers, for example, cherry blossoms in spring, lotus flowers in summer, and autumn colors. They wanted to visit Japan again in the cherry blossoms season because Marie loves cherry blossoms and tulips, and John likes the Japanese commitment to keeping places clean. After that, they rushed to the ship, walking along the street full of fallen leaves of gingko trees.