Kyoto

We are now in Tokyo. It was a good transition to go from the henro michi to Tokushima City, to Kyoto, and then to Tokyo, a gradual descent into chaos. I realize now that I'm not a jet setter, high energy mover, social swinger, yada-yada-yada. I love the arts and culture that city life offers but the hustle and bustle in cities can easily offset the benefits. The crush of humanity in its very existence takes away from the preciousness of life. One of the treasures of being a henro is the direct opposite of city living, the solitude, the quiet, the occasional meeting of a resident that through ossetai, a greeting, information, or a bow validates the goodness of man. I spent 15 minutes standing in a corner of Tokyo train station and watched the endless parade of people pass by me, and with each minute the vast number of people started to merge like bits of sand to create one long stretch of beach, no longer separate grains, just one big entity called a beach, called a population.

In retrospect let me say a few words about Kyoto. First of all, it is a city, no ifs and buts. In the fullest context it is a city with noise, congestion, pollution, you name it, but within the turmoil there are locations of utmost beauty and even serenity. The congestion is inevitable; there are so many people living in such a limited space. A plethora of cars, scooters, bikes, and people try to move in the same area whether they be wide boulevards or narrow alleys. For the visitor to move safely through the city, he must be equipped with 360 degree radar or some kind of psychic power. At any one time you can be run over. I saw 2 gaijin woman cross a small intersection completely oblivious to their surroundings, actually talking while walking side by side. A woman on her bike had to slam on her brakes to keep from hitting them. They weren't even aware of the near collision, but the biker was clearly vexed by the dumb gaijins. I don't blame the gaijins completely for I don't walk the streets at home in a state of paranoia, as if any second I'm going to be knocked over but this is not Kansas; here you are going to be hit if you're not careful. The situation is maddening. I don't know how the residents tolerate the situation. I think it's the saying, “The inmates don't even know the asylum they live in”, and then there's Tokyo, a real life set from the movie, “Blade Runner.”

The first day in Kyoto we had the afternoon and we walked the central area of Kyoto looking for small shops that had some charm and maybe affordable antiques. That was when we learned that Kyoto was a city. Had a couple of drinks with our yakitori dinner that night , I can tell you. The next day we took a subway to the Northwest section of town to walk the way back to our hotel. This was going to be our 12 mile walk day. We first followed the philosopher's path until it ended and then switched to a recommended walk of interest. The “path” was nice. It paralleled a small stream lined with cherry trees and where every once in a while you could see a large carp lazily swim upstream. Now and then a small restaurant, trendy store, or gallery would appear. It was all so chic...and calming. The number of people were low and so it made the walk tranquil. Along the route there were temples and shrines. They were as plentiful as trees in a park. Some of them were big , famous, and crowded others small, deserted, and thus quiet. Kyoto is the city of temples. They are not all free. The famous ones charge. While we were walking we came so close to the Ginkakuji (the silver temple) that we decided to go to it. Neither of us had been there and hey, we were there. We would have been a bit foolish not to have gone. The kick in the head was that the temple was being repaired and barely visible, further it's not really silver in material or color, but the garden was beautiful, sort of a moss garden. Well worth it. We walked into a few other temples. One can easily be templed out, and we limited the number to 3 and kept it there. As we walked we could identify areas that were like Fisherman's Wharf (Gion), Union Street, the Financial Area, Market Street. They were all crowded. There were only a few moments when we were alone in our surroundings. When they occurred it was only then I could say that I could truly appreciate the beauty that abounds in Kyoto.

The last day in Kyoto, we had the morning to walk over to famous Kiyomizu Temple. In the early morning it was quiet, a treat to walk the quaint and beautiful narrow streets and then as if the clock struck midnight when Cinderella turned back into a servant, the street was filled with yelling school children. Over 50 buses crammed into the parking lots unloading their cargo into the once calm area. Can you imagine being confined in narrow streets crammed with a sea of high school kids? It was a struggle just to get out. We disparately turned into a deserted alley to get away while we were still sane. Just a short distance in there was a small Kyoto version of a kissaten (coffee shop). We staggered in. The decor was of a ocha (tea) room and in fact there was a real tea area elevated from the few tables that the owner had for customers. The music was koto. The owner was kimono garbed and brought cold tea before we ordered. Emi had zenzai (sweet red bean soup with mochi); I had coffee. It was amazing how a minute away chaos reigned and yet in her small store there was only calm. Kyoto and Japan has this contrast everywhere. The juxtaposition is striking and when I am aware of it I try to take a picture of it, so enamored am I of the scene. I like things that don't jive, make sense, or fits. It 's so like my life.

One of my treats while in Kyoto was a TV show that we saw in the hotel. Imagine that. It was an old Okawa Hashizo movie. Okawa san was big when I was in high school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBJubVPftQo
He did samurai movies and I went all over San Francisco to watch them, the old Rio Theater, Kinmon Gakuen, Sokoji, Buddhist Church, and the one located at Webster and Post (I forget the name.). He was one of my favorites. It may be on every Tuesday night. I will see. If so, it will be a treat.

A funny incident occurred while I was walking the streets of Kyoto. As it is my habit I try to read the Japanese signs when I have the time and inclination and thus a sign caught my eye in particular because it was in romanji (English letters). It read “nalu.” I know nalu I thought to myself. It means wave...in Hawaiian. But in Japanese I don't know what it means. As it turned out mt first thought was correct for underneath it read “longboard magazine.” So much for Japanese.

We have a number of days to stay in Tokyo. I wonder if it will compel me to write.

Tokyo

First let me say that I admit that I haven't seen all of Kyoto or Tokyo so my comments are cursory to say the least, but as one tourist observation I think that Kyoto is far more congested than Tokyo. Many of Kyoto's streets are as wide as Tokyo's sidewalks and on them are cars, bikes, and people all traveling at vastly contrasting speed. It's madness in motion. Bikes don't belong on sidewalks, but if I were a biker I wouldn't want to be in the streets. It's dangerous with the amount of cars and I don't think they have room for bike lanes. It's a conundrum for the bikers and the pedestrians.

Sunday we went to Harajuku to a flea market and to see the young Japanese dressed in their fantasy outfits, but the most far out character was a middle age man standing at at a train stop before Harajuku. I can't remember all the details for I only saw him for a couple of seconds before the train left the station, but if memory serves Emi and I well, he was wearing frilly, pastel colored feminine clothes above his waist and shorts below that look more like underpants than anything else. His legs definitely were in need of a hot wax job. He stood there as if he was like everyone else; he wasn't but no one gave him a second look. My mouth dropped until it hit the floor. Even in weird San Francisco he would have captured everyone's attention. He was obviously missing a few alphabets like from B to Z..

The real reason for going to Harajuku was a flea market at the Togo Shrine. It was cool. We expected it to be larger but it just made it easier to get through. Emi bought old material and a 15 foot cloth carp. I bought a cast iron teapot. I thought of buying an old Hashizo Okawa movie poster, but for $80 I thought it was a bit expensive for a frivolous want and the thought of transporting all our purchases back home limited our actions.

In the same area they happened to have several middle school bands marching and playing. To my surprise one group was playing “Anchors Away”. I commented to Emi, “What's next? Halls of Montezuma?” Not to be denied, they indeed did play the song. For being so young the bands were very good. Remember when they taught music in our middle schools? What a loss.

I didn't mention that our accommodation is Tokyo Konkokyo church. It's like having our own apartment. On Sunday there was a big fall festival with lots of people, talk, food, and drink. It was the last item that got to me. I started with a glass of beer or two, a glass of whiskey, and then went to the drink of choice, sochu. Another church member was staying with us for two days and he was a drinker. After everyone had left we kept drinking, discussing the Konko religion until he fell asleep. The next day he was gone, the memory of our words of wisdom, a blur, and my stomach a mess; it wouldn't even hold down a morning cup of water and tea. I only wanted to stay in bed but we were meeting my son's wife's family. I went but I ended up sleeping on their couch, the shame of it all, but the nap must have helped for when we went to dinner I was able to eat. The food was delicious washoku (Japanese food). I didn't eat as much as I would normally have; there was so much. Throughout the day I was on a fast, afraid of what the consequences would be if anything entered my stomach, but I did eat, survived, and appreciated all the good food. The snow crab was so tasty. I've had it at home, but it's not good there. In Japan it is great. Everyone was drinking sochu like I was drinking water and I was drinking water because I had already drank my quota of sochu the night before.

The next day the minister's wife took Emi and I out to lunch. I was giving a warning when she said that today was a good day for lunch because the sky was clear. We took a taxi to a collection of tall buildings. My fears were coming home. We went into the tallest building..into the basement and I thought, “Thank you God.” Are you beginning to get the idea that I'm afraid to go any higher than 20 feet off the ground? Well I am, but let me say that I am a functional acrophobiac. I can even find a sense of excitement being high above the ground. But inside my psyche is always screaming in terror. So I groaned in fear when we got into the elevator located in the basement that was used exclusively for the Skyhigh Restaurants. Turning my back to the elevator's only window, the one that gave the riders a clear view of the ascent, I tried to stay calm all the while my ears were popping from the change of altitude. Getting off we had to get on another elevator to take us up one more floor to the very, very top to Bice Restorante. You'd think that the restaurant was one of those mountain temples of Shikouku. And then of course our table had to be right next to the window. Our host, being a good hostess, pointed out all the sights from our elevated position. The room was warm but it wasn't the reason I was sweating. “So can you see way over there? That's Chiba.” “Way down there? Oh I mean way over there. Do tell, What a great view,” I said with a frozen smile. It was as if I was saying, “Oh root canals? I love them. Can't you tell by the glassy look in my eyes?” When the waiter came over to ask what we wanted to drink, I reluctantly but quickly ordered a Scotch. I didn't want to add to the expense but it was either drink or bolt. I must say that after 3 drinks I was rather calm all things considered. I even looked out the elevator all the way down. I wanted to see salvation come rushing up to me. I could have kissed the ground after we got down. The lunch, by the way, was Italian and just exquisite. To give you an idea the first dish was sea bream fish carpaccio served on boiled eggplant with dried tomato and black olive pesto. I'd read it in Japanese but there's kanji that I don't know and then there's that crazy katakana...like do ra i to ma to. Emi and I do not eat in this fashion at all, so it was a real treat. Two days of fine cuisine, it is more than I ever expected. Dinner was more typical of our dining...ramen, but good ramen. We went to the restaurant through advice given to us, and we were so impressed with the broth...gourmet food for the average man.

Another day is almost over, making it another day closer when we will be back home. I try not to think about it. I treat each day as if I was still walking, accepting each day for being just one more day in my life, appreciating that one day. We both want to be home so badly but will only focus on the present day. Sounds weird, huh? A lot of people would be envious of our stay here, and all we want is to be home.

But tonight was fun. We went to Roppongi district tonight to deliver a t-shirt to the owner of this tiny bar where our daughter used to go to when she was living in Japan. It was a chore to find but we succeeded after calling our son at 1am for information on how to get there. The owner wasn't there at the time so we went to find a place for dinner. We walked and walked trying to find our kind of dining. Just before we dropped in exhaustion I spotted a open air restaurant where it was crowded and noisy. It was filled with blue collar workers and suits. It called to us. It was great, noise, good food, drinks. It's name was Uohirosuisan, just in case you're in the neighborhood and you're looking for a good place to eat. After we returned to the Train Bar for a nightcap. A lot of expats go there. It was interesting to be talking English again and nice. At one point there was a commotion outside and so I had to go see what the fuss was about. It was a TV crew doing interviews with Americans, asking what they thought of Obama as president. “Are you asking what I think of Obama,” I ask intrusively., “Are you American,” they ask, obviously seeing that I was Asian. “Am I American? Are there bears in the woods? Of course I'm American.” Dressed in my red aloha shirt, I was either American or just weird, or both. Convinced that I was American they asked for my opinion. “Obama? He's my man! I am so happy that he won. Not that I hate McCain. It;s just that he's a hawk, and he'd stay in Iraq forever. Now Bush, he's a...I can't say the words on TV.” “Yeah you can,” shouts a fellow American in the crowd. I laugh and the interview is over.

One more day in Japan and we spend it with Emi's ocha teacher.
She is so nice. Her daughter, Reiko, did ocha for us in the late afternoon, and she did the ceremony again for us in the afternoon. Lunch was tonkatsu, pork that was so fatty that it melted in your mouth.

Today Itsuko took us to Roppohngi Hills, a new shopping center that is totally science fiction. Not to be out done by her mother who took us to the restaurant in the sky, she took us to the tallest building in Tokyo, 52 stories into the atmosphere to enjoy the view. I did my best to appear normal, but ever once in a while especially when I walked to the window to test my mettle an involuntary groan would emit from within me and I would have to gulp down several lungful of air to recover (Of course you know this is the first step before an anxiety attack). At one point a crow flew pass the window, and the sight of a crow so high was so incongruous to my way of thinking that the panic in me almost escaped. In the end, there wasn't an earthquake, and the building didn't collapse, and we made it down to have lunch.

That night we went out with 3 female Tokyo church members for dinner. The dinner was again lovely, beyond description. Better than the meal was the manner in which these woman were treating the one male present. I felt as if I was the lord. They ordered anything that I wanted and poured my sake so that it was never empty. I told Emi that she wasn't a real Japanese wife and she laughed. The truth is that I'm very happy just the way Emi is. I don't want to be pampered. Life is perfect as is. What else would I say? Emi does read what I write.

There is only tomorrow to go through. The next day we leave in the afternoon. Both Emi and I have a cold and I have still one toe nail to lose. I hope I survive to get home. We are both so tired. Having a great time but can't wait to get home.

For the last day we went to the sumo gift shop, had chanko (sumo food), and then went through the Edo Museum. Emi and I are Sumo fans, so it was of great interest to us. And the Edo Museum was having a special showing of ukiyoe (Japanese prints). I have several prints and like ukiyoe, which is why we went. Our son's wife's mother was our guide. Later we met the father and went to a restaurant that served shark's fin ramen. It was soooo good. The Watanabe's are shinsetsu, honto desu nee.

And so ends our Japan trip. I still haven't reflected on the walking segment. On a few occasions I have spontaneously thought of it, but have not lingered there. But when I have skipped over the idea, I find it emotional. I will find an appropriate time and place to contemplate the significance of the trip. For now I am resting and trying to get over a cold that we both caught at the end. Jaa, nee.

Last Day

I didn't write about the last day, but by tradition henros go back to temple 1 to complete the circle around Shikouku, and so we had one last day to walk. We got up a bit later than usual, 6:10 am and left without breakfast because it was scheduled for 7:45, way too late for henros. Before we left Emi checked with the man at the front counter and he told us of the shortest route back to temple 1. Of course it had to be raining for our last day of walking, but it wasn't heavy, just a steady light rain. My gortex lined boots were quite useless by this time and by the time it stopped raining, some 2 hours later, my feet were already wet. Emi figured it was going to be a 30km walk, about 8-10 hours, but after 6 hours we began to get suspicious and asked the owner of the coffee shop that we were at. He informed us that we were way further away than I had originally calculated and we still had another 8 hours to go. In other words the guy at the hotel gave us bogus advice. Things were not going well. We had not eaten anything except 1 anpan (roll with sugar sweet beans inside) between the two of us and the lack of nutrition was effecting us in a negative way...like Tired! Walking 50km, or 31 miles, for 14 hours was not an option for me, consequently our revised plan for the 3rd time was to catch the train to a station close to Temple 1. We walked to the train station and finally had something real to eat for that day at noon. It was about a 15 minute ride through the mountains. I quickly entered a state of amazement and then shock to see how fast the train traveled in comparison to our walking. It is so true when they say that speed shortens distances. Our pace made 20 miles the maximum distance of travel, going to San Mateo from our home in San Francisco an all day event. After Temple 1 we caught the train to Tokushima and basically spent 2 days recovering in a hotel.

We are now in Kyoto. We are not henros anymore, although we did walk 12 miles today. We are just sightseers, and I don't do that role well but I will endure as if I was still on the henro michi.

October 25

October 25...we made it to temple 88!

The day started with an easy walk to temple 87, Nagaoji. It was 7 km on the flats from where we stayed, Ishiya Ryokan, but the trek to the last temple was a surprise, not in a good way. It was what nightmares are made of. The last day was not going to go away quietly. In fact it was going to turn into the worst climb of the entire trip. After temple #87 it was at first a gradual ascent on roads that just got steeper and narrower. The top portion of the last ascent wasn't even a trail, just a jumble of rocks that could have been called a cliff if it were any steeper. You literally had to scramble up on all fours. At one point I went ahead to explore the trail(?) to see if indeed it was a trail telling Emi not to move. “I'll be right back.” I scrambled up as fast as I could and damn if it wasn't the trail. I took off my pack and went back to get Emi. Putting on her pack we climbed the rocks, not looking right or left. The sight of the drop would not have helped. It was something that you had to do and not think of all that could go wrong. The last bit to the top was a makeshift scaffold to replace a washed out portion of the trail (probably from the typhoon that kept us off 4 years ago). With Kobodaishi watching over us we made it to the top. We had to go down for another 40 minutes or 1000 feet before we reached the last temple, Okuboji. What a waste to go up only to go down if you ask me, but who's asking me. When we finally got there, hallelujah!!!!, I was glad, sad, grateful that we had made it. There were many moments when I thought that we were not going to be able to complete the walk. So many times when our bodies cried out, “Stop already.” It was done by only thinking of one day at a time, the thought of the entire trip too daunting. With the idea of the trip being over I could have shed a tear or two but we didn't have the time. The day was not over. We still had to walk down for another 2 hours to our onsen lodgings. We didn't get there until 5:05pm. All in all it was about a 20 mile walk, mostly up and downs taking slightly less than 10 hours. One and a half musubi and half a anpan for lunch didn't help the situation. By the end of the day we were both very tired but surprisingly not as tired as some of our other days.

October 24

October 24...second to the last day

The weather report called for rain in the morning. We were lucky. It only rained during the night. It was about a 21 mile day, but the worst part was that two of the three temples were located on the side of the mountain. I guess that I should have been thankful that they weren't on the top. But the route up to the temples were steep. If you had seen us, we would have looked like two mountaineers attempting to scale Everest. We were that slow. And when you go up that means you have to go down. Unfortunately the trail (michi) down from the first temple was dirt, that easily turned into mud; it did rain during the night. Going down was slow,messy, and outright awful. Emi was worried that she'd fall and get herself muddy; she did and I was tired of getting bit by the mosquitoes (ka) that seemed very hungry. We were walking so far (21 miles), so long (9 hours), we were worried that we were not going to get to the last temple before 5pm, the time when they close, so for the last hour we had the afterburners on. We made it with time to spare.

This is our last night where we will be staying at a ryokan. I'm rather happy and sad about that situation. These minshikus and ryokans are old Japan. I wonder if they will survive these modern times. If they vanish it will be a lost and yet I for one appreciate the luxury and privacy of my own bathroom and eating at my own table, so what can i say? I would be one that would opted for a hotel over a ryokan; I would be one that would bury this old system. The ryokan that we are staying at is over a 100 years old and it reminds me of scenes from the old samurai movies that I use to watch. We have to walk on a veranda that winds around gardens to our room at the rear. Secluded in our tatami lined room I can just imagine the renegade samurais outside of our sliding glass shoji waiting to attack, if not samurais, at least ninjas, or geishas. If these walls could only talk.

October 23

October 23...mountain temples

We Left our minshiku at 6:45am....but before we leave it for good first some words about it and the other places that we have stayed. Our lodgings is always a crap shoot. We don't know anything about them except the name, phone number and location, so sometimes it's good and sometimes you wish you'd never left home. Last night's lodgings was worrisome at first. The inn keeper redirected us from the front steps to the side, showing us the furo and the sentaki (bath and clothes washer) located semi-outside on the ground level. Our room was on the second floor above a car port, and so we immediately started to think “Oh no, we have to walk down the stairs to the outside to a toilet in the middle of the night in a yukata. What have we got ourselves into?” But our first impression was wrong; our room had its own sink and toilet, such luxury. Further, he brought our meals to us. All this for the cheapest cost of 5000 yen each.

In the morning we walked to the 2 mountain temples that we had done while a typhoon was in the area. First, let me do a flashback. FLASHBACK...4 YEARS AGO. We were here and we or I should say that I thought we could do the walk before the typhoon's full impact arrived, l thought (or didn't) no problem, just a little rain. I was wrong 100 %. Not acquainted with typhoons (aka as hurricanes) I didn't understand the possible dangers. When we left our minshiku it was already raining heavily and it only got more intense. So even though the worst was some hours away, it was already BAD. The rain got stronger until it was pouring, oo-ame, and the only reason the wind wasn't blowing us around like kites in a gale was because we were being sheltered by the trees. We were so dumb about the henro michi then that we took a mountain route that doubled or tripled our walk, the last thing that we needed. The trail had turned into creeks, puddles, and streams. I still remember the last section as a nightmare. It was about a block long descent to the temple. Through the mist and rain, all I saw was a river of water flowing down the hill. I don't know how we made it but we did. As soon as we emerged from the woods the wind tore Emi''s umbrella apart. We called it a day right then and there, phoning for a taxi that took us to the next temple and then to our ryokan. We checked in about 11am, wet through and through. The next day we surveyed the damage. The river, the ocean had crested the levees and people had waterlogged belongings lining the street. One home was halfway in the river, and a car was in the middle of the river. The path along the river was washed out in sections and we had to climb over debris. Yes I must admit we were dumb gaijin (foreigners). We had a map but didn't know how to read the Japanese writings; we had no concept of the dangers of a typhoon, and we didn't know where we were going. Today was so different. We could read the map and knew where we were going. We made the correct turn this time and shaved 45 minutes off the walk. This time it was just raining a bit (Ame ga botchi botchi futte iru.), more of a bother than anything else, just another long walk with some steep climbs.

By the end of the day I was again ready to crash. Emi made reservations at a place called Kirara. It turned out to be a furo place, a seto (public baths). I actually liked it. It was not a working man's type pf place. The baths were huge, clean, and invigorating. It was a bummer that our actual sleeping site was a short block away from the baths forcing us to walk back and forth twice in our yukata and getas through the rain. But hey it's Japan. No one gave us a look. Here we are the norm.

October 21

October 21...getting close to the end

It's so hard to even remember what we did just for the present day, but I'll force my brain to work like I do to the rest of my body. We stayed at a business hotel last night where they have beds not futons on the floor. It was so nice. It is getting so hard to get up from off the floor. Sounds dumb ehh, but so true. Try it when you're our age.

Walked along the river to Motoyamaji where they had a national treasure temple, 800 years old. It looked just like another temple to me. Then it was 11 miles to Iyadaniji but before we got there we stopped for in shop made udon, very tasty. It was getting warm by then, and this temple had stairs like it was on sale and they had to buy a truckload or none at all. It was up and up, Stairway to Heaven eh Mel. Then it was two small temples up the side of the hill, and one more on the flats, Koyamaji. That one had a lot of new construction which made it hard to recognize...as if I recognize any of them in the first place. We met a man there who wanted to tag along with us. I was in no mood for tagalongs. I was staring to lose it, fatigue and lack of food does that to the human body. We lost him like we did the stray dog. Fortunately it wasn't too long before we reached our last temple, Zentsuji, which made it a total of 19.2 miles and 8 hours of walking. It is the biggest but not necessarily the warmest, too many people, too commercial for both of us. It is the birthplace of Kobodaishi and has a lot of frills; pagodas, monuments, etc temples, etc. We are spending the night here. The temple runs the inn and it is like a new hotel. You do have the common furo and toilets, but otherwise it's pretty comfortable, clean, and modern. Dinner was very nice, tasty but there just wasn't very much of it. There were a lot of other people there but they weren't walking henros, aruki henros, so they didn't need the calories like Emi and I. Tomorrow we're going to have to look for more food.

When Emi was talking to the check in guy, I could actually understand most of it. Scary. It's time to leave. I have seen the season go from late summer into fall. I have seen the persimmons, kaki, go from green to orange. I have seen the typical Japanese autumn flower, the red spider lilies,
come and go. The temperature has dropped permanently from 30 to 24. The akimatsuri have come and gone. Yet I'm still here. When will this ever stop? When will my suffering end? Do I have that much bad karma to walk off? Do I need to suffer more? Yes, yes, and Yes again. We all must walk our paths until we realize our sins, faults, and then find the truth. And what is the truth? Beer, beer, and another beer. No, no, no I kid. Seriously, the truth for me is just to say thank you for this life. To appreciate it. That's it. Life for the day. It's the hedonist way...I kid again. But life each day; live in the moment. To worry about the future is pointless. What will be, will be. My words are, “live life with open arms.” Which means accepting whatever that comes your way or as a henro would say just put one foot in front of the other no matter what and do it as a manner of fact not something you have to endure or tolerate. Simple philosophy for a simple guy. Anything else, I don't know. Leave it to the philosophers and sages. I will never know, arms.” r do I care to find the ultimate truth, I with little faith. What can I say?

October 19

October 19...indeed it was a hard day.

The total mileage was 20.6 and it took just over 9 hours. It was a mild day but not when you're walking with a pack and in the sun. But if I were laying in a hammock with mint juleps off to the side, it was perfect weather.

We had another walker with us for a time being. It was quite unexpected. We were standing around consulting our map when a dog some 30 feet away took one look at us and bolted our way as if we were his long lost owners. For a second I thought that he was hungry instead, but his tail was wagging. He was very friendly but henros cannot have pet dogs. We didn't know what to do except ignore him. The strategy didn't work. It was like ignoring mosquitoes. He followed us for some 30 minutes. Just before we reached the main road where we were concerned that the dog would get run over, we passed an apartment house where a lady was standing next to her car. She looked at us and “our dog.” She had the strangest look on her face, as if she was thinking, “Henros with a pet dog?” Our dog took some interest in her and trotted her way. It was our moment and we made a mad dash up the main road to get out of sight. Can you envision henros with packs trying to run up a grade? We did the best we could. I was afraid to look back for quite some time but when I finally did, we were alone. “Yokatta.” A fellow henro had the same experience but the dog didn't follow him as long. He said that there is a legend that dogs sometimes guide henros to the next temple, but he didn't think that this dog was like that. Emi and I didn't think so either.

October 18

October 18...Komatsu to Iyo-doi

It was a long walk, 21.4 miles, with 2 temples in the morning, Temple #64, Maegamiji and Temple #65, Sankakuji. We were walking for some 9 hours. Due to the situation we had to cram three days into two, which means more walking. Therefore after our baths and before dinner I more pass out then took a nap. I couldn't help it; I'm so tired. We were the only ones staying at the ryokan. They said that it was full last night and will be full tomorrow. It will be lonely for us they commented;we don't care. It's nice not to have to share the bathrooms and laundry facilities with other people.

We were probably more tired than usual because last night we weren't able to sleep at our normal 7 or 8. The matsuri (festival) was very loud, especially since they were parked right below our window. They were singing and screaming in time to the beat of the drums and bells. Occasionally there was another float in the area and that just intensified the volume as if a rival thing was going on. It seemed that a large percentage of the participants were teenagers drunk out of heir minds. I'm glad that I was safe in my quarters. When I was brushing my teeth it was so loud that I stopped to watch the action from the window with the obaasan of the inn. She commented to me,”Nigiyaka desu nee?” (Lively isn't it?). I agreed, but Emi said I should have said urusai (Noisy,) instead. Fortunately at around 9:3opm they all left and quiet once again took control.

Tomorrow promises to be another hard day with some time in the mountains.

October 17

October 17...a walk up the hill to Temple Kouonji.


This is the akimatsuri time here and they were celebrating the entire day, all 24 hours of it. That meant that they were pulling floats around the town all night. Pulling floats go along with pounding drums, singing, some fireworks, and eating and drinking. They also made calls for people on loudspeakers throughout the night. We are staying at the same place again and we get to hear them for a second night in a row.

Getting to the temple was a 8 hour walk straight up then down. We went with a fellow henro. Her name was Aiko. She was 38 years old and doing the pilgrimage, because she wasn't working, would soon be moving to Sendai and wanted to do the walk for her particular reason. It was different to be walking with another person besides Emi.

Tomorrow Emi promised me a long day, 19 miles. I think this is a promise that she'll keep.