Every year on March 27, a memorial service for O-Kichi, the tragic heroine of opening-the-country history, takes place at Okichi-ga-fuchi and Hofukuji Temple in the city.

At Okichi-ga-fuchi, Shimoda Geigi-shu and tourism officials lay flowers.

Rain seems to fall almost without fail on the anniversary of O-Kichi’s death, and locals whisper that it is the sorrowful tears of O-Kichi.

Drenched by the spring drizzle, the festival carries a melancholic yet somehow glamorous air.