As soon as I finished breakfast, I set out for the Kitano-Ijinkan area, which is one of the tourist attractions of Kobe. I had my smart phone in one hand and the map getting from the front desk in the other. The phone showed my position on its display panel every few seconds. I would never lose my way with this gadget. I came across a shrine which I'll show below. The name of the shrine was Kitano-tenmangu Shrine. What the word "tenmangu" means was written in the past entries of this blog. Please follow the links below. I remembered my daughters abruptly. They were struggling for exams and I visited the shrine to pray for their success in exams.
Now, I'll give you some trivia about visiting a shrine. Look at the people in the picture. The stairs are narrow, but people are climbing on the end of the stairs. Why don't they walk up in the center of the stairs? To tell the truth, the center of the stairs of shrines is supposed to be the pathway for the god. So, faithful people don't walk the center, though this rule is often violated during the first three days of the year packed with people.
Needless to say, I obeyed the rule and the formal way of praying for my daughters.
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2010/05/dazaifu-tenmangu.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/01/dazaifu-tenmang.html
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