At this time we also met a young woman named Youko Kumon. She was super-genki and very simpatico with me. Even though she spoke no English, we could pretty much guess what the other was thinking or about to do simply by facial expression or body posture. It was usually something mischievous.
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| Kumon San, Inaba San & Masashi San leading the way |
A quick word about body types. I've always considered the Japanese frame to be superior to the western frame in many ways. Small, compact and durable are the three adjectives I would use to describe it. However, I would also add, hydro-efficient. That is, they don't sweat a lot or overheat. For instance, in the photo above, each is wearing several layers of clothing. Kumon San is even wearing gloves! I on the other hand, get so hot and sweat so much that I feel like a baked potato inside my poncho. I would happily wear nothing but a loincloth if I thought it would be acceptable. So while I lost at least two liters of water a day, my compatriots may have lost a fourth of that.
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| One of many rivulets in the mountains |
Well, I started the day assuming and looking forward to a downhill walk. That was not the case however. After an easy 4km or so, we started climbing up again. It turned into the same type of torturous walk as yesterday. Fortunately, it was a far shorter ordeal than yesterday, even though all of us were laboring the whole way.
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| Inaba San crossing a bridge that could best be described as "bouncey" |
Finally the down hill. It was rough in it's own way. The trails were somewhat treacherous with their ruts and slippery mud. Most of it was paved though, so we only had to watch for oily spots and moss patches. It was cool and sunny, so we arrived at DaiNichiJi (T13) in high (and dry) spirits.
After checking in early at the temple, I went looking for a post office. There were many things in my pack that I didn't need and decided to mail them back to Yuki in Tokyo. The folks at the post office were incredibly helpful. They did have a problem with my return address though. Basically, because I didn't have one. So they called to the Mori's to ask if they had a return address I could use. No one was home so they called my wife's parents. Between them they decided to use the mailing address as the return address. This was odd of course. If the delivery failed then they would send it to the address that just failed??? However, the all important closing of the loop was accomplished (a Japanese trait that is both virtuous and frustrating at times.) I really couldn't thank the postal workers enough for their help and I was even more humbled when they gave me tissues and post cards as Osettai.
DaiNichiJi has a clean and well organized inn. It was near a river so I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the river rocks watching a pair of cranes nesting in the trees along the river bank.
Thought for the day
Temples 14, 15 & 16 went pretty quickly. I met up with Rob and Satomi at T17 and we walked together the rest of the day. Both have a great sense of humor. But best of all, Satomi laughed at my jokes. Having four sisters, a wife and two daughters has given me a great affection for the sound of a woman's laughter. It was like music to my ears and I enjoyed their company very much.
Rob and Satomi escorted me to my inn, the Business Fuji Ryokan. Generally speaking, in Japan, if a hotel has the word "Business" in it means that it is a newer hotel with modern amenities. Not this place. It was by far the most run down inn I'd seen. It reminded us of the "Bates Motel". Rob, Satomi and I were joking about whether or not they should leave me there for fear of me being killed in my sleep. Regardless, I decided to stay and Rob and Satomi left, promising to call and check on me in the morning.
About 15 minutes later I was headed out to get dinner. As I opened the genkan (entryway) door from the inside, someone else was also opening it from the outside. It was my buddy Tachikawa San. Who I hadn't seen since ShouZanJi. (Two days seems like two weeks when you're walking the pilgrimage.) Her face lit up when she recognized me and then slowly faded when she saw the place. However, she also agreed to stay. This was alright with me since her room was closer to the entry way and if one of us was going to get whacked it would be her.
Not to get down on the place too much, but I was disappointed to find out that there was only a Japanese style toilet. For those who have never seen one, it is basically an oblong porcelain bowl built into the floor with a hole at one end. Some are plumbed, some aren't, this one was. Thank goodness for that, because I ended up having to use it during the night and the water pipe that services it made a perfect hand-hold. I held on like a frightened girl on an amusement ride. If my hands had slipped I would have gone careening out of the stall. This was the first time I had used one and just like Natto (fermented soybeans), the first time is the last time.
Thought for the day
Tachikawa San and I agreed to walk together and headed out around 7:AM. I had lost track of my companions from yesterday, but was happy to be reunited with Tachikawa. Until recently she had been a dog trainer. For whatever reason (I didn't ask) she had to decided to change careers and take just the Tokushima Prefecture leg of the pilgrimage (the first 23 temples) during the interim. I never quite understood what her new career was, but it definitely wasn't training dogs. She was fun to be with and although very straight faced when I first met her, she began to show me her clever wit and good sense of humor on this day.
From the first time I met Tachikawa San I noticed that she performed all the tasks of a henro at each temple in a very serious (majime) manner. As we walked I told her that I admired her commitment. She laughed and said that she is just doing it because she thinks she has to and that she really doesn't understand any of it. I then asked her why she would do it, if she didn't understand it. She said because maybe she'll only understand it if she does it. I think she understood more than she thought she did.
I started to pull ahead of Tachikawa on a narrow and winding highway between T19 & T20. I came to a crossroads, so I stopped and looked behind me to see where Tachikawa San was. Because of the bends in the road I couldn't see that far, but I had a pretty good idea that she was about 500 meters behind me. After waiting 5 minutes and not seeing her, I started to get a little worried that she may have had some kind of trouble. So I headed back up the hill to check it out. After about 15 minutes of walking I noticed a small udonya (noodle shop) that I hadn't noticed on the way down. Bingo! Sure enough, there she was with a plate of shumai in front of her. I was relieved that she was alright, but a little pissed that she didn't let me know she was breaking for lunch. I told her I had been worried about her. She said she was sorry for not telling me and I said I was sorry for not minding my own business. So there we were, a couple of sorry henros. She then asked me to join her. I wanted to, but in all honesty I just wanted to get to the Inn and relax. Plus, I felt like a tool for making a big deal out of nothing. Why stick around and make it worse? So I respectfully declined and headed back down the hill.
I was staying at Kanekoya San. It was to be a meeting place for many of the henros that I had met so far. It was old home week in the dining hall that night. Masashi San, Inaba San and Kumon San were there. Kumon San says that I was "mopey" all night because I was missing Tachikawa San. I don't know about that but I was definitely experiencing a "blue" feeling. (These came and went during the walk, just like regular life I guess.) I was surprised that Kumon San caught it though. Regardless of nationality, women are far more perceptive of moods than men are. For instance, Masashi San could have been on the verge of suicide all night and I wouldn't have noticed. They would have quoted me in the local paper the next day saying "He looked fine at dinner."
Thought for the day
© Copyright 2006 James Knighten
