Our two days in Kumano were supported by our friend Yasunobu Shinya (a.k.a. Yasu), who lives in Shingu, the hometown of Hayatama-taisha Shrine, in his car.

Early in the morning of July 2, Yasu took us to Oji Suisan, the local shirasu fishing amimoto (owner of the boat and nets), to try their shirasu.

We were surprised to learn that shirasu fishing in Shingu used to be very active, and were pleasantly surprised by the taste of fresh shirasu. Oji Suisan’s technique is to shorten until the process of boiling in a cauldron.

Next we headed to Nachi-taisha Shrine, where we first greeted Taki Gongen, who is enshrined as a deity.

Then, we met with Otonari, the chief priest of Nachi-taisha Shrine, and reported that chief priest Ueno had given his blessing for the dedication of the Hayatama-taisha Shrine painting.

Shiozawa again explained each of works for the three sacred mountains. And the chief priest complimented, “The fire dragon Gotobiki Rock’ is a good painting. The fire dragon of the mountain is a descending dragon! “

He also agreed that it’s wonderful that the three shrines in Kumano will received a series of dedication paintings at the same time.

Thank you, Yasu！and Thank you very much, Chief Priest Otokonari!

We then headed to a salon in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, about 300 km away where a Chinese national, Chen Shoulei, was waiting for us.

We enjoyed a piano performance prepared by Ms. Chen, listened to a talk on the current state of Chinese Buddhism, and Shiozawa explained the portfolio of works to them, ending our long day on July 2.