Date & Time: Saturday, May 20, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Visitors: Afghan, Iraqi, Jordanian, Moroccan, and Tajikistan trainees hosted by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)
Spot: Enoshima resort
Guides: 2 KSGG members
Language: English.
It was nice weather in early summer and was an ideal day for walking around Enoshima, a small island resort. First, we went through an underpass and Benten-bashi bridge that lead to the islet. In the underpass, the visitors saw an ukiyoe (woodblock paint) painted on the wall of the underpass. We briefly talked about the painting and picturesque Mt. Fuji as well. But they showed little interest in the topic of scenery. Perhaps they have their own beautiful farms and caves in their homeland. Instead, they asked us about natural disasters such as tsunami and earthquakes in Japan. One of the visitors was interested in Chinawa Kuguri (passing through a hoop made of kaya grass [plants of sedge family]) in Hatsumiya Shrine and Suikinkutsu (a jar to sound water drops) in Nakatsunomiya Shrine. She earnestly listened to the ritual of Chinawa Kuguri at the shrine, and took a video of her own Chinawa Kuguri. Then we went to a western style restaurant for lunch near Enoshima Samuel Cocking Garden, for they were not familiar with Japanese food. All of them said they liked crabmeat, and ordered softshell crab burgers. But they were very much surprised to see a whole deep-fried crab sandwiched by the bums, and some of them hesitated to eat it. After playing on the beach for a while, we had a goodbye meeting in front of Enoshima Station. Even though the tour was very long, they enjoyed it very much. We also had a very good time and felt refreshed at the end of it.