February 29, 2008 - All Day on the Carbuncle Express
Got up early and headed to FutakoTamaGawa station to catch a train to Shin-Yokohama where I would then catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama (upper left hand corner of page 5 of Miyazaki's map book). From Okayama I would board another fast train to Unomachi where I left off two years ago. The total cost was about $200 USD. It was a little pricey but the real hardship was sitting in the trains all day. After nine hours I don't know which was more numb, my head or my ass. Give me in flight turbulence any day, at least they feed you and show you movies. On a train you're left with staring out the window or reading a book. These are fine activities but what are you going to do with the other seven hours?
It wasn't all tedium though. I did meet some nice people and found out a little about the areas we were traveling through. Two ladies from Nagoya explained to me that Nagoya is famous for its snow and ski areas. I asked them if it was because Nagoya was at a high elevation. They said they didn't know but it sure snows a lot. There you have it!
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| Snow fields of Nagoya |
I arrived at Unomachi (M46) around 3:30PM. I was very tired but anxious to walk the 2km to AgeIshiJi (T43) and begin the next leg of the pilgrimage. It’s interesting that most pilgrimages (Mecca, Graceland, etc.) end when you’ve arrived at a location. The Shikoku Pilgrimage doesn't begin until after you’ve already journeyed a long ways. I’m not saying that some guy who drives his 1974 Chevy Impala from Missouri to Memphis isn’t a venturesome soul, but can he really be called a Pilgrim? (No disrespect to the King.)
Two years ago I left my tsue (walking stick) at AgeIshiJi. As I walked up the 800m trail to the temple I thought about how I would ask someone to check if it was still there. I really wanted it back but because it was a long shot I made a short prayer trusting that God would take care of me regardless.
The trail brought me up higher than the temple and then around behind it and then down to it. This path seemed unfamiliar and then I remembered that two years ago Haruki, Kazuki and I walked up from the direction of the highway.
Entering the temple area right at the main gate I instinctively said my prayers at the main shrine and then the Daishi shrine.
Then I went to check if my tsue was still there. I explained my situation to the priest who signs the Nokyocho (book that is stamped at every Temple) but he just looked at me with a confused look on his face. There is usually one of two reasons for this response. Either the listener is too surprised to hear Japanese coming out of a foreigner’s mouth to actually listen to what’s being said or the foreigner is spouting gibberish.
Either way the solution is to repeat one’s self. Just as I was about to, a woman politely interrupted me and mentioned that she was just about to return home and that I could have her Kasa (pilgrim’s conical straw hat) and tsue. After a moment’s hesitation I remembered that I told God I would trust him to take care of it. God's usually a little subtler than that but when I'm groggy he's more direct.
Regardless, I accepted gratefully and told her I would take them with me. She left and I started looking them over. I noticed right away that the hat was cheap and wasn’t one of the “cool” ones so I decided to leave it at the temple. Also I had brought my own cloth hood for the tsue so decided to take her’s off and leave it as well. In the end, I took only the bare wood tsue.
About half way down the trail I started thinking about the promise I made to take care of the kasa and tsue. Also I began questioning my motives for leaving the kasa and cloth hood. Yes, the kasa wasn’t cool and would make me look cheap (which by the way I am) and I didn’t need the cloth hood for the tsue, but were these reasons enough to renege on my promise?
By the time I reached the bottom of the trail I realized there were no good reasons for bailing on my promise to a stranger and ignoring God’s good intent. It wasn't just about me getting a tsue, it was also about the woman knowing that the things she valued were being of service to someone else. So I walked back up the hill to the temple. The kasa and cloth hood were still there. I slipped the kasa over the back of my backpack and folded the cloth hood into my Henro bag.
As I walked down the trail I met an interesting gentleman Mr. Konishi who writes for the Nikkan Sports Press in Osaka. He and I talked all the way to Unomachi station. Apparently he was writing a multi-part story about the Shikoku Pilgrimage for his sports paper. He bought me a copy of his paper to show me an article he had written about the healing qualities of outdoor hot springs. His article covered a full page and showed various photos of snow covered hot springs. To me, there is nothnig more relaxing after a long day in the cold than soaking in a hot springs... absolutely Nirvana.
As we talked I found out that he became acquainted with the hot springs in northern Honshu (Tohoku) when he went there as part of his recovery from cancer three years ago. Now he walks around Japan writing articles about out of the way places that offer peace and healing to the sick and weary. What a great and noble job!
While I was saying goodbye to Mr. Konishi the woman who gave me her kasa and tsue came to thank me again. Like Mr. Konishi she too was heading back to Matsuyama on the train. I was so grateful that I went back to retrieve the hat and cloth hood. What would I have said to her if I didn't have these things on me? The truth I suppose, as lame as that would have been. I offered her the cloth hood to take back as a keepsake since I already had my own. She seemed delighted by this and gladly accepted. We thanked each other again and I said goodbye to both her and Mr. Konishi on platform 2 of Unomachi station as the sun set behind the mountains. Ichi-go, ichi-he.
It started to get cold and dark. I had to find a room quickly. I literally stumbled onto a ryokan outside the station. I don't even know it's name but they rented me a room for 4200 yen. It was too late for a meal but they did prepare a bath for me.
With my body aglow after a hot bath I headed over to the local Udon shop for dinner. I came back to my room and rearranged my backpack for tomorrow's walk. I laid down and read three sentences from my book before falling asleep.
Thought for the day
"A promise is a promise."