We all labored our way up the trail to Kakurinji. My muscles were fine, but my breath was ragged. But once I was past the first burn, the climb became bearable. Fortunately, the day was still cool with a "kind" breeze.
Kakurinji is one of the few temples to escape "the fires of war for a thousand years" (Miyata, 2006, p.63) So I took extra time to walk around the Crane Forest Temple. The statues of the Daishi and the Cranes were beautiful in the morning sunlight that filtered through the trees. I enjoyed a peaceful moment near the Daishi.
I ran into Tachikawa San as I was coming down the steps from the upper temple. We said good morning and then she handed me a note she had written last night. It was an apology for yesterday. I assured her it wasn't necessary, but thanked her for her thoughtfulness. I made a vow to myself right then to not mind anyone else's business the rest of my trip. If someone surges ahead or falls behind and/or I never see them again, then so be it. "Ichigo, ichie", just make the best of each encounter.
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| Kumon San, Tachikawa San, Masashi San and Inaba San at Kakurinji (T20) |
Tachikawa joined us for the trip to Tairyuji. The trip down the hill to the trough in the middle was cool and relaxing. The morning sun filtered through the trees to dapple the trail. Masashi San was in fine form this morning. He was giving lessons on mountain plants. He stopped often to observe and photograph the many plants along the trail.
I admire the interest that Japanese people show in things that we in America usually disregard. For example, Japanese school children are taught to recognize and name hundreds of insects. I don't remember learning much about insects in public school, beyond a brief introduction to those that may sting and/or bite. I think this is true for plants as well and it was fascinating to watch a group of men and women (strangers really) stand around discussing the leaf structure of a mountain creeper.
The fun dried up though as we started to climb to Tairyuji. The day had warmed up and the wind had either died or couldn't penetrate the trees along the trail. In many ways this climb was more intense than Shouzanji. My lower back was killing me. I'm sure this had something to do with how my pack was adjusted. At one point I was ready to say "OK, that's it, I'm done. Get me to a city!". Fortunately, Youko Chan could see that I was in trouble and offered some words of encouragement. This helped me go on, but the pain persisted until I reached the top.
We finally made it and like always, the pain of the climb faded almost immediately after our packs were off and we were walking around the courtyard. Tairyuji has large cedar trees decorated with rope work. (I'm sure there's a Japanese word for this, but I don't know it.) There is also a rope way (cable car) that you can ride to another mountain top where there are accommodations. I was tempted to take it and stay at an inn on the other side, but the cost was around $45 so the miser in me stuck to the trail. In hindsight I should have taken it if for no other reason than to get a bird's eye view of the surrounding mountains on a lovely day. Another photo op wasted.
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| One of the many beautiful cedars at Tairyuji (T21) |
As I was looking out at the view I heard "smile" from behind me. I turned around and there was Masashi San taking my picture with his cell phone. He then explained that he was sending the photo to his wife via email. The Japanese are so far ahead of us in America with respect to wireless communications. I can't even receive a signal on my cell phone when in my own home! Yet, here we are in the middle of Japan's nowhere and Masashi San is sending emails to his wife in Saitama.
The walk down was a little rough because of the trail being rutted out in places. Fortunately, we reached pavement before too long. The walk to the Ryuzanso inn was pleasant and peaceful. Ryuzanso on the other hand was bustling. I got the impression that it and another inn about 500 meters up the road were the only places to stay in the area so they were always busy during henro season.
I met a man named Masahiro "Max" Furusawa. He spoke good English so I spent some time talking with him during dinner. Max had worked for 18 years for an organization that provided security for the New Zealand Customs office. They recently restructured so he decided to retire and start a new career. He was doing the pilgrimage in the interim. (As of this writing, Max had finished the 88 temples and gone to Koyasan. In just 43 days, incredible!)
Max also mentioned that he had seen Rob and Satomi at Tairyuji earlier in the day. So after dinner I walked down the road to the next inn to see if they were there. They weren't, but that was no surprise. Rob and Satomi are very resourceful and were geared up to sleep just about anywhere. So they could be in a spare room at Tairyuji or in some farmer's chicken coop for all I knew.
My room was right next to a small waterfall behind the inn. When I say "right next to" I mean I could almost touch it from my window. I was hoping it would offer some soothing comfort while sleeping.
Thought for the day
After breakfast, we set out for the sea. Youko San, was late getting up and asked us to leave without her. I was looking forward to seeing the ocean after spending that last 8 days in the rainy mountains. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where mountains, forests and sea are always nearby. So I'm familiar with all three, but I've always been partial to the ocean.
The weather was cool and sunny. The first two kilometers or so was a climb up. Just enough to get a sweat going. But once that was over the walk down was smooth for the most part. We played tag throughout the day with a group of guys we had met at the inn.
We walked through many bamboo groves. The bamboo were a lovely shade of blue. Combined with the fresh air and filtered sunlight the effect was very soothing. This was perhaps some of the best walking so far. These aren't just for sightseeing though. These groves are cultivated for bamboo shoots (takenoko). I saw networks of rails over which carts of bamboo shoots are shuttled down the mountain and into the trucks of the farmers. Not sure if this land is owned by the farmers or public land that the farmers are allowed to cultivate. Regardless, the thought that this enterprise has been going on here for hundreds of years was fascinating.
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| Shot of me in one of the bamboo groves |
It was the beginning of rice planting season. The newly planted rice fields were lovely in the sunlight. As we descended we saw more open country which heightened my anticipation of reaching the ocean.
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| Newly planted rows of rice |
We arrived at Byodoji (T22) before lunch so we didn't take much of a break here. Tachikawa San checked Youko San's progress via email on her cell phone. Youko San was indisposed and wouldn't be able to hook up with us today. I was to find out later that she was taken in by a farmer's family and treated quite well. (Once again, the kindness of the people in Shikoku is incredible.)
Once again we headed down the hill. Much of the afternoon was spent on paved road. I heard rumors of Rob and Satomi at various places from various sources. An old construction worker stopped me alongside the road just to tell me he had seen an American with a Japanese woman about 3 hours ago. He thought it might be important to me... very nice.
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| Max and I, notice the lovely open space behind us |
As we approached Tainohama (Miyasaki's map 11 bottom center) I could smell the ocean. At this point it was just Tachikawa San and myself. We walked blissfully past the signs to Yuki station (which was where I should have turned), up a steep hill and then down to a beautiful vista of the ocean. There on the beach was everybody we had started out with in the morning. After another kilometer or so I realized I was past where I was supposed to stay. This was the last night for Tachikawa San. She would stay near Temple 23 (Yakuoji) tonight, walk to Yakuoji tomorrow and then take the bus back to the mainland. She asked me to cancel my booking in Yuki and celebrate with her at her inn tonight. The offer was tempting, but I had already canceled at the Hashimoto Ryokan the night before and didn't want to cancel again. So in true Knighten fashion (just stick to the plan) I decided to backtrack. I accepted a ride back to Yuki from a guy who was fishing on the rocks nearby. So Tachikawa and I said our goodbyes. I wished her the best of luck with her new career, whatever it may be, and with finding a boyfriend. I told her that if she doesn't meet someone in Nagoya then she should move someplace else because all the men there must be crazy. At least that's what I thought I told her. Regardless, she was a good walking partner and I surely missed her in the days ahead.
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| Tachikawa San and the sea; one coming in and the other going out! |
The guy who gave me a ride didn't know where the Hashimoto Ryokan was but he asked me if I had the telephone number, which I did. He punched it into his navigation system and it pointed us right to it. He said he had just bought it and I think he was eager to show it off.
As we rounded the corner into Yuki we saw the most lovely view I had seen yet. A charming little fishing village that we hadn't seen from the highway. Arriving at the Hashimoto Ryokan I was greeted by a very genki woman who ushered me right in. I first apologized for canceling yesterday and after seeing her beaming face I was convinced that not canceling today was the right thing to do.
After a quick bath and change of clothes I then took a bike that she had loaned me for a tour of the village. After riding around the harbor and stopping to watch the boats unload their fish I decided that I would stay here another day to relax and enjoy the ocean.
The owner of the Hashimoto Ryokan lived about 200 meters from the inn and allowed me to use her fax machine to send a fax to the Mori's letting them know my schedule had changed. Again, very kind and helpful.
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| The tiny fishing village of Yuki. I highly recommend a stopover here. |
Dinner was brought to my room by the owner who informed me that she and her husband also owned a larger inn nearby as well as a large inn in Hiwasa down the tracks. She said this was a slow time, but had full reservations for golden week (4/29-5/6). This reminded me that I needed to get my reservations settled for that week as well. So I sent another fax to Mori's giving them a list of potential inns that I need reserved. As I mentioned earlier my scheduling was terrible on this trip. Because of my lack of experience I didn't put more distance between my reservations. So in a sense, I tied my hands by booking too far ahead. More ad hoc scheduling is one of the changes I will make next year. Anyhow, I was happy to sit back and relax for a day at the Hashimoto Ryokan.
Thought for the day
I watched some construction workers unload and assemble a piledriving device in the town's river. The operation was so neatly, efficiently and safely done that it was hard to compare it with the work that I used to do in the riggers shop at PSNS. Where a group of us could barely load a handful of pallets onto a ship without breaking something. All kidding aside, it was fun to watch something that I hadn't done or seen done in 20 years. And no, I don't miss it.
I went to the shiyakusho (city hall) to see if they had a computer connected to the internet that I could use. As luck would have it, the public machine was down with no fix date. I said no problem and was about to leave when one of the young workers piped up and suggested that I could use one of the machines in their back office. She then lead me to an office area where I was introduced to a tall handsome guy who jumped right up and said "please use my computer" in passible English. He was one of those gregarious Japanese men who are not only outgoing, but also forthright and courteous. So after each of us had made sufficient submissions of our own unworthiness, he logged me in and that was that. No lectures about security and how his office was the last line of defense against terrorism, blah, blah, blah. They trusted me completely and left me alone. Again, the hospitality was disarming.
I walked up to a shrine on the hilltop at the north end of the cove. It gave a fantastic view of the village and the mountains behind. I then returned to the Hashimoto around 4:PM. Just in time for a bath and dinner. Slept like a baby.
Thought for the day
To catch up with my reservation schedule I took the train to Hiwasa. After stopping at the Hashimoto Inn in Hiwasa to pay my respects the owner's husband, I headed to YakuOji (T23).
I then headed back to the station to catch a train to Sabase. The location where I had to cancel my reservation in order to stay an extra day in Yuki.
On the train to Sabase, I met two ladies from Tokyo who were doing the trip by walk, train and bus. They were very genki and their Tokyo accents were easy to understand. Listening to their stories I couldn't help but wonder if they didn't have the right idea by not walking. It's not that walking henro aren't genki and friendly, it's just that the conversations with other walking henros tend to revolve around how much pain we're in and how tough such and such trail was. Basically "woe-centric" subjects.
It started to rain after I exited the train at Sabase. No big deal compared the storms I had been through in the mountains. I slipped my poncho on and started the 20km trek down highway 55 (the main route for the rest of my walk) to my next reservation at the South Shore inn.
Thought for the moment
© Copyright 2006 James Knighten