Thursday, October 01, 2009

The Reunion in Nara

The Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji

The Great Buddha of Todai-ji

Isuien Garden

The old boys and girls of the newspaper club at Kanazawa Kindai Senior High School (1949–1958) have a reunion every year in the city of Kanazawa, Kanto District or Kansai District. The reunion of 2009 was held in Nara from the evening of September 29 to the morning of the next day. The number of participants were eleven, and three of them were ladies.

We had a party and a party after party from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Hotel Fujita on the first day, and stayed there at night. At the party held in the "Fuji-no-ma" Hall on the 7th floor, each person made a short speech about his or her recent life over beer, sake and Japanese dishes. Finally we sang "Kanazawa Bokyo-Ka (The Song of Nostalgia for Kanazawa)" made by Hiroyuki Itsuki and other songs on Kanazawa. The party after party was held at the bar on the first floor, and we talked over cocktail or watered-whisky in small groups made as we like.

At 9:30 next morning, ten members of us started the hotel and made a small guided trip on foot (partly by bus). The guides were two senior men, who works as volunteers. We visited Sarusawa Pond, the Kofukuji Temple Complex including the Southern Octagon Hall, and the Todai-ji Complex (from the Great Southern Gate to the Great Buddha Hall). At noon we reached Isuien Garden, where we had lunch and tea ceremony, and looked at the beautiful garden. During the trip, it rained often but not so hard. Therefore, we were able fully to enjoy the quietly shining scenery of the old capital.

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