Last week we visited some family in Kyoto. After the visit we decided to go for a walk along the canal. We wandered along until we came to Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is probably my favourite shrine in Kyoto. We decided to go into the shrine and enjoy the peace and quiet. We were quite surprised to see a lot of people at the shrine, more so than usual! As we got deeper in to the main area, we saw security guards and guard rails and police officers and lots of people with cameras. It seemed to us that everyone was waiting for something or someone to go by. We asked a young woman and she replied “I don’t know, but everyone seems to be excited so I am waiting too”. The next person we asked told us she was waiting for … Michelle Obama! My son was on my shoulders but became bored while waiting and he started to sing a little song. He sang “Misses Obama, Where are you?” over and over and the crowd around us enjoyed his singing and had a good laugh. It seems that the First Lady was in Japan as part of a brief Asian tour and we were lucky enough to arrive at Fushimi Inari in time to see her as she walked down the main steps. After a short wait more she arrived in front of us. It was difficult to take pictures as there were so many people but I managed to snap a couple. Although it was only a brief glance, it was a memorable experience being able to see such a famous and wonderful person while out for a walk in Kyoto.
Edward, Smith’s School of English Otsu
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