We visited Kamakura today, and did a tour of the "Seven Lucky Gods." In Japanese mythology, they are:
- Hotei, the fat and happy god of abundance and good health
- Jurōjin, god of longevity
- Fukurokuju, god of happiness, wealth and longevity
- Bishamonten, god of warriors
- Benzaiten (Benten-sama), goddess of knowledge, art and beauty, especially music
- Daikokuten (Daikoku), god of wealth, commerce and trade. Ebisu and Daikoku are often paired and represented as carvings or masks on the walls of small retail shops
- Ebisu, god of fishers or merchants, often depicted carrying a sea bream
Each of these gods had a small shrine located at seven larger temples in Kamakura, and we visited each of them. It was a pretty fun day, with some interesting sights, a good lunch, and Michi even found an amazing obi (the belt worn with a kimono) as a gift for her mother.
The punchline is that we had just gotten off the train at Yokohama, when we realized that she had left the bag with the obi on the train. We then spent a bunch of time trying to explain to the station staff exactly what train we had been on, where we had been sitting, and what the package and its contents looked like. And then we spent even more time waiting at the station to see if someone had found it, or turned it in at one of the stops down the line.
I had a good time overall, but I think losing that obi really seemed to make a huge impact on Michi. Afterall, we just visited the each of the seven lucky gods' temples, and then she gets hit by this bad luck? She's convinced that she has to go to one of her god's temples and cleanse herself...
If I'm lucky, I'll have a regular 5 day work week this week, and actually get Saturday and Sunday off.
Cheers,
