At first 25 international students were scheduled to take the cruise, however, many of them canceled due to the Diamond Princess cruise ship detained in the Port of Yokohama for COVID-19 quarantine. Although it was a warm and perfect day for sightseeing, only seven international students joined the tour and were separated into two groups of English and Japanese guides. The students met the KSGG guides at Nihon-odori Avenue Station and studied three wall paintings there to learn the history of Yokohama.

At the Port Opening Memorial Hall, the Jack, guides mainly told about the history of Yokohama and the Great Kanto Earthquake. They went to Yamashita Park passing by the Kanagawa Prefectural Government Building, the King and the Yokohama Custom House, the Queen.

After taking a group photo, they got on a sightseeing boat, the Marine Shuttle, which circulated in the Yokohama Port. They enjoyed the cruise eating ice-cream, not listening to the guide carefully.

One of the students asked, “Where is the Diamond Princess?” Unfortunately the ship was not in the sight as it was out of the port temporarily that afternoon. The one -hour cruise went by so fast. The KSGG guides sang a Japanese song, sakura (cherry blossom) with a harmonica accompanied to it, and finished the tour hoping this would be a good memory for the visitors.

Shawn, the husband of the couple, had visited Japan several times before but it was his first visit to Kamakura. He exchanged messages with KSGG members on WhatsApp right from the beginning and they were very quick in responding because of no big time difference.

From a KSGG guide, visitors learned about Japanese religion, Shintoism and Buddhism. They asked the guide which religion he believed in. When he answered “Both,” he looked puzzled. It is hard to explain religions in Japan.

At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, they drew Omikuji,or a fortune slip. Shawn got Daikichi, good luck, while Chuwa got Kyo, bad luck. Though she grimaced and looked disappointed for a moment, she was encouraged by the words “Such a bad luck will soon go away if you tie the slip to one of the branches of that tree in the precinct.

Shawn is really a straight forward person; he got excited, saying “Wow!”　as he saw Daibutsu, the Great Buddha, for the first time. And, once again, he said “Wow!” at the observatory of Hasedera Temple as the view was magnificent.

He also asked difficult questions such as “ What were the social statuses of Ninja and Samurai? ” * They talked a lot and Shawn said “Wow!” many times. It really was a good day!

* The Ninja worked for Samurai lords as spy agents in feudal Japan with highly skilled stealth and secret operations.

Spot: Engakuji Temple, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kotoku-in Temple (Great Buddha), Hasedera Temple

Visitor: An American couple

Attendant: A KSGG member

Language: English

An American couple, Jeannie and Bob, had to postpone their visit to Japan due to the typhoon. So we suddenly changed our schedule and visited Kamakura. It was chilly and cloudy on that day, but we were so lucky that it didn’t rain.

Jeannie is an ER surgeon. Bob used to work as a lawyer. They travel around the world on their own. It was their first visit to Japan, and their son is an English teacher at an elementary school in Yokohama, Japan. We met at JR Kitakamakura Station and then went to Engakuji Temple, which is one of famous ZEN*1) Buddhist Temples. They really seemed to like the appearance and atmosphere of the ZEN Temple surrounded by trees.

We headed to Kamakura Station by train, worrying about their knee pain and backache, and then had lunch. As they loved the local beer called “Kamakura Beer” very much, they had seconds saying it’s so rich and tasty. At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, they actively took pictures of Japanese children who came to the shrine for “Shichi-go-an”*2).

The next day, they were going to Kyoto and Nara, so at Kotoku-in Temple I explained the differences between the Great Buddha in Nara and that in Kamakura, and so on. At Hasedera Temple, they really admired the beauty of the garden and the elegance of the “Eleven-faced Kannon”, the statue of Bodhisattva that has eleven faces. I really enjoyed guiding because they were so impressed with what they saw. In addition, I am so happy to hear that they came to love Japan.

*1) ZEN is a quiet contemplation and basically searching for the truth of who you are

*2) “Shichi-go-an” is an annual Japanese festival to celebrate the growth of children which is for boys aged three and five and girls aged three and seven. That’s why it is called “Shichi-go-san (Seven-five-three)”

A German couple, Tracy and Patrick, visited Kamakura because one of their friends who likes Japan so much recommended it. After Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, we went to Eishoji Temple by way of Komachi-dori Street. Tracy and Patrick were impressed with the main gate of that temple, the cluster-amaryllis in full bloom, and the bamboo grove, which is a well-kept secret place and can’t be found on the Internet easily.

In front of the post called Haiku*1 Post at Jufukuji Temple, I asked them to compose a haiku about Kamakura, as a memory of the tour. Tracy was bitten by a mosquito at the mountain-path of Genjiyama-Park, so they bought some cream called “Muhialpha EX” at a pharmacy to stop the itching. It was very effective; the swelling and the itch went down in an hour. He said, “I’ve never applied this kind of medicine. I want to buy a lot and sell them in Germany!”

Although it was past two o’clock, we put off lunch and walked around Kotoku-in Temple (Great Buddha) and Hasedera Temple. At the end of the tour, at dusk, with the wind blowing, they enjoyed playing with the waves at Yuigahama Beach, where a typhoon had just passed. Later, I received a short poem. “Wind pustet am Strand, das Wasser zum Wellenberg, Füße werden nass (Howling wind, High waves, My feet get wet.) Thank you for the nice haiku in German. I am glad if our trip to Kamakura became a good memory for them.

*1: Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry in three sentences going in the order 5 syllables 7 syllables and then 5 again. Haiku is one part of Japanese culture.

As Giovanni, an American scholar, had already visited Yokohama for sightseeing the previous day, he was used to taking trains. It took only 5 to 6 minutes from Hase Station to Kotoku-in Temple because it was a weekday and the road was not crowded. When we saw the Great Buddha, he said to his Chinese colleague, “Do you have huge Buddha statues in your country, too?” He seemed to be really interested in the enormous bronze statue of Buddha.

When we had lunch at Matsubara-an, a buckwheat noodle restaurant, he ate his soba noodles with a fork. Giovanni, who scooped up noodles in a Japanese bowl with a fork, looked so happy and content with his lunch.

We went to Sugimotodera Temple and Hokokuji Temple after lunch. Giovanni was really interested in Sugimotodera Temple, the oldest temple in Kamakura, and took a lot of pictures of mossy stone stairs and its main temple building with a thatched roof.

At Hokokuji Temple, we took a break after viewing its bamboo garden. As Giovanni wanted to know about Zazen, we also went to Kenchoji Temple. There, he carefully listened to the explanation of Zen meditation classes, while seeing its beautiful garden. Throughout this day in Kamakura, I was so impressed by his strong curiosity about Japanese history and religion.

The visitor found KSGG in a guidebook published in Taiwan. She requested the tour of Kamakura, Yokohama Central Market and Yokohama Yamate Western-style Buildings. She visited Kamakura on the first day. I guided her on the second day.

Yokohama Central Market is usually opened twice a month (on Saturday) and the reception of that tour begins at 9:00a.m. We met at Yokohama Station a little after 8 o’clock and took a bus to the Market at 9. She was a very pleasant person, who laughed a lot. She enjoyed the one-hour tour saying they have a similar place in Taiwan.

For lunch, we had assorted seafood bowls at the cafeteria in Yokohama Central Market; she had wanted to go there but it is difficult to order without help from a Japanese person.

Then we headed to Motomachi and Yokohama Yamate Western-style Buildings. After visiting beautiful Western-style buildings while chatting, we said goodbye at Yokohama Station

They didn’t look tired although they had arrived just the day before. As they got to Kamakura Station early, where we were to meet up, they had a break at a café. We started the tour. We visited Hokokuji Temple by bus. They enjoyed walking in the bamboo grove and having green tea there.

Then we headed to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine on foot. On the way to the shrine, they were curious about all the things they saw and kept asking me questions. When they saw the sake barrels dedicated to Hachimangu Shrine, they asked me whether sake is high in alcohol. I immediately replied that it contains almost as much alcohol as wine. As the questions about the figures like alcohol contents, the population of Kamakura and the cities they would visit were expected, I had checked on them in advance. They enjoyed the quiz using Chinese numeral cards while having lunch in Komachi-street.

After visiting Hasedera Temple and Kotokuin Temple (Great Buddha), they told me that they wanted to see the Pacific Ocean because they live in a Mediterranean port town, Alicante. So I took them to an unscheduled place, Yuigahama Beach. It was good to walk on a cool rainy day. But it was chilly there and the beach was not lively though it was a national holiday called “Marine Day”. As they had only brought summer clothes, they said they were going to buy warm clothes at the UNIQLO near their hotel. We said goodbye on the Kamakura Station platform.

Under the clear blue sky, 35 young trainees from 20 countries around the world and KSGG members, putting their hearts into a Kamakura tour, enjoyed themselves enthusiastically in the severely cold winter day. The JICA trainees had a variety of cultural backgrounds and religions, and some were not interested in Buddhism and Shinto. Therefore, I tried to explain the Japanese temples and shrines as our culture and custom, and to show we worship our gods there. I noticed that Muslim and Christian visitors didn’t seem to be keen to pray with their hands together in front of their chests.

At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, we had a chance to see Yakuyoke daikito, a religious service to ward off evil spirits. With great interest they saw the Shinto priest chant prayers and burn last year’s amulets. Some of them tried Omikuji, fortune telling paper. At Kotoku-in, they all enjoyed posing with the Great Buddha for photos. Taking pictures is one of the common enjoyments in any country.

In the application form for the KSGG’s guide service, the visitors wrote that they were interested in the history of Yokohama. I arranged a plan to explain the 160 year history of the city first at the Yokohama Port Museum and then to take them to the historic sites. This plan proved quite effective because those historical spots were scattered and not lined up chronologically.When I guided them I had already explained the historical background; they said my explanation was helpful to understand.The buildings we actually entered were only Yokohama City Port Opening Memorial Hall and the lobby of Yokohama Archives of History. Since the visitors were fond of history, they seemed more interested in talking about the social events in old days and how the buildings were constructed than looking at their architecture.

They had visited Japan many times, but this was their first visit to Yokohama. As they said “We have climbed Mt. Fuji but have never seen it”. We finally went up to the observation room of Marine Tower. Unfortunately, there were clouds in the western sky, and they were unable to see Mt. Fuji from there again as on Enoshima Island on the previous day.

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