Date & Time: Sunday, January 20, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Spots: Enoshima Island
Visitors: An Australian Couple
Attendant: 1 KSGG member
Language: English
The visitors were a couple of Russian birth who love Japan and come here almost every year. It was a warm, but also windy and cloudy day in January. As soon as they started walking, they said “It’s hot” and took off their jackets, just wearing T shirts. Then, I thought Japanese winter is warmer than Russia.
They interestingly tried out the bow-and-clap1) worship at Nakatsu-no-miya shrine2). They also prayed for good health for a year by passing through Chinowa (a hoop made of kaya grass). We were going to go up the observation deck next but put it off because it was cloudy.
In Iwaya cave, I talked to them about the legend of the Five Heads Dragon. They said “Russia has a similar legend, but the dragon has only three heads. The legend might have originated from Japan”, which was an interesting story for me. Although it was bad weather, they enjoyed being blown in the strong wind at the outside deck instead of viewing Mt. Fuji from the observation deck. The weather was not good, but I enjoyed strolling in Enoshima with the talkative couple. They planned Yokohama sightseeing with another KSGG member after this tour, and would ski in Niseko. I finished this tour hoping they would have a good stay in Japan.
1) Worshippers bow twice, clap hands twice, and bow once again at Japanese shrines.
2) Nakatsu-no-miya is one of the three shrines in Enoshima Island erected in A.D.853