On the morning of March 12, we met with Mr. Teramoto, President of the Kumano Shimbun, at the hotel lounge in Shingu.

“Mr. Shiozawa looks a lot like my grandfather,” Mr. Teramoto began, to which Shiozawa replied, “That’s a great honor.” Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere instantly became relaxed.

We shared a wealth of information, including the mysterious story behind this dedication painting and similar mysterious phenomena associated with past religious paintings.

Since Mr. Teramoto has a broad knowledge of music, painting, art, history, and literature, there was no end to the topics we discussed. Before we knew it, we hit it off and ended up talking for two whole hours.

As for the three shrine dedications, it’s impossible to cover them all in just one day, so there may be a series of articles. Mr. Teramoto, let’s meet again the next time we come to Kumano! Thank you very much.

Immediately after arriving at Hongu Grand Shrine, we visited Oyunohara.

At Hongu Taisha, we met with Chief Priest Kuki to discuss the specific arrangements for June 7. We also explained the Nishijin-ori textiles of the Kumano Sanzan to him there. He graciously agreed to accept our offering.

Chief Priest Kuki had already decided to place the painting in the main hall after its dedication, and I was able to review the installation plans with him.

In this location, many people will be able to see it. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to him.

We returned to Shingu and had dinner with Yasu, the friend who lent us his car this time; Mr. Maeoka, who will accompanied us to Hayatama Grand Shrine tomorrow; and Toshiya Terachi, the younger brother of the head chef at Tokyo Kamikura restaurant. We took this opportunity to reaffirm our plans for future offerings and coordinate our efforts. Yasu, Toshiya, and Maeko, thank you so much!

As for the three shrine dedications, it’s impossible to cover them all in just one day, so there may be a series of articles. Mr. Teramoto, let’s meet again the next time we come to Kumano! Thank you very much.