Yesterday I met up with a few outdoor club members in Odawara to see a festival there. This involved a bunch of guys hauling around a small shrine on their shoulders, setting it down on a barge, and then waiting as another group of guys rowed the barge and two other boats across the bay.
After the festival, we checked out Odawara castle, parts of which are not even a year old. It was mostly demolished 150 years ago, then reconstruction started in the 1950's.
We also stopped by nearby Ninomiya Shrine, which dedicated to a man who was too poor to afford school, but read books while travelling on his job.
Originally, more was planned, but the weather was a little bad, so that was all we did.Cheers,
Dave
