Lost coin purse..,

In Autumn, everyone is waiting for the right timing to see Japanese beautiful maple leaves' color change. Same as Cherry blossoms in Spring, it is really a matter of timing.

I went to Shijyonawate Shrine one day which is worshiping an ancient young worrier, KUSUNOKI Masatsura as the shrine God who was a son of KUSUNOKI Masashige. His father was also an ancient worrier and died dramatically in a war to fight against his worshiping Emperor's opponents back in 14th century. He is now being worshiped in Minatogawa Shrine in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture.

In the last 2 years, I went to his father's Minatogawa Shrine several times to wish for my mother's health recovery because her hospital was located close to the shrine. And I just felt that I wanted to visit his son's shrine.

On the way, it was maybe in the train or somewhere around Shijyonawate station, I dropped and lost my coin purse. Around 500 yen coins, my bicycle key and several membership cards were in it.

"OK. It's a small amount. Forget about it now and focus on visiting the shrine. It would come back to me if it were supposed to."

A while after spending some time in the shrine, I started stepping down the stairs to leave there. When I went down a few steps, I noticed that there were maple trees ahead in sight. However the leaves were still in green.

"Well, I'm visiting this time not in the right timing. Maybe some other time"

A few days later, I received a call from my town's public liberally. They say that my wallet is now kept in Shijyonawate Police Department. The police found a clue of my identity from the liberally membership card.

Good reason enough to visit there soon, and I will definitely try take some photos of those maple leaves. I believe that KUSUNOKI Masashige might have given me the chance by returning my coin purse to me.

That's the best timing...

秋。誰もが日本の美しい紅葉を見ようとタイミングを計っている。桜と同様、実にタイミングの問題だ。

ある日、私は四条畷神社に出かけた。楠木正行公が祀られている。彼の父親は同じる戦国武将で、１４世紀に崇拝する天皇の敵対勢力との戦いで亡くなった。現在は神戸の湊川神社で祀られている。

ここ２年ほど、楠木正成公の湊川神社に数回訪れる機会があった。母の病気平癒を祈願するためで、また彼女の病院が神社に近かったからだ。そして、彼の息子の神社を訪ねてみたいと感じた。

道中、おそらく電車の中だろうか？それとも四条畷駅周辺だろうか？小銭入れを落とし、なくしてしまった。５００円程度、自転車の鍵、会員証などが入っていた。

”大した金額じゃない。今は忘れて、神社をお参りすることに集中するんだ！戻ってくるなら、戻ってくるはずだ！”

参拝を終えてしばらくして、神社を出発しようと階段を下り始めた。２、３段下ると目線の先に紅葉の木があるのに気が付いた。ただ、まだ青葉だった。

”今回は、タイミングが外れたようだ。また、いつかの機会に”

数日後、図書館から電話がかかってきた。私の小銭入れが四条畷警察に届けられたという。警察は小銭入れに入っていた図書カードから私に連絡を試みたようだ。

またすぐに神社を訪ねるには十分な理由ができた。そして、紅葉の写真が撮れるな。正行公が私の財布が戻ってくるように図らって、紅葉を撮る機会をくれたのかもしれない。

それが、ベストタイミングなんだな。