{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}
--Thoughts during Week Three--
--Thoughts during Week Three--
--4/12 Day Fifteen--
Had the usual breakfast of miso soup, rice, ojako (?) and green tea at six-thirty. That had me on the road a little before seven with only four km (2.5 mi) to Temple 28. As i headed out the door i was a little worried about the weather. I didn't watch the news last night and this morning the skies were overcast and the peaks of the surrounding hills were shrouded in clouds. I admit that i am now a little gun shy after the last tempest on Saturday.
At breakfast, i expected to eat at the same table as a monk i had eaten with last night, but was surprised when he wasn't there. As i was eating, though, i saw him leave - he must have eaten early. He seems to be in his twenty's or so and i now wish i had taken the time to talk to him last night.
But, the weather held and it was a nice comfortable walk to Temple 28. While i was there a Buddhist nun saw me and greeted me. Then, when she saw my pack she raised her eyebrows and asked, almost as if in disbelief, if i was walking the pilgrimage. When i told her yes, she immediately broke out her purse and dug out 1,000 yen as settai. She apologized profusely that it wasn't enough, but i should be able to buy some juice with it. I, of course, thanked her just as profusely for the gift.
I'll have to look up the specifics when i get home, but Temple 28 looks relatively new. The wood used to build the temples doesn't seem to show any aging and the compound was spotless. There was virtually no one there either. It was almost eerie after all the other crowded temples i've been to.
When i arrived at the temple, the monk from my ryokan was already there and in the middle of chanting his sutras. He seems to be a fairly devout person and spends about ten minutes in front of each the main temple and the temple dedicated to Kôbô Daishi.
As i was walking to Temple 29, i met another henro walking the same direction. We talked a bit, but today i just wasn't in the mood to talk. Don't know why, exactly, but i was in the mood to just walk alone and think. After a few minutes together, though, we were waived off the road by a little old lady who had set up a little table in an empty lot next to the house, run an extension cord out the window to plug in a hot water pot, and was offering coffee to walking henro that passed by. She made a cup of instant coffee for each of us and stood chanting with us as we drank. She was so soft spoken that i had to strain to hear her but she was a wonderfully nice woman - most likely in her seventies.
When i left, i ended up leaving with the man i arrived with and another man that was there when we arrived. Those two took to each other as if they had been friends for life. For the next hour, or so, there wasn't a silent sixty seconds as they laughed and joked back and forth. I just couldn't think of a polite way to say something like "Listen, why don't the two of you go on ahead; i'd like to walk alone," so i kept quiet and followed behind them.
They did tell me one interesting story, though. At temples, alcohol isn't allowed, but everyone knows that henro that are staying the night often want something to drink. So, they have come up with a new name for it. The Hanya Shingyo is Japanese for the Heart Sutra that everyone chants. Chanting it is good for you. Mugi is Japanese for wheat, and kome is Japanese for rice. Putting all this together, these two guys were telling me that at these temple lodges, beer is now called 'Mugi no Hanya' and sake (rice wine) is now called 'Kome no Hanya.'
It sprinkled from nine to nine-thirty, but not hard enough to warrant an umbrella or a rain coat. Once it stopped it remained overcast but comfortable for most of the rest of the day.
At Temple 29, i saw the most beautiful cherry blossom tree i have ever seen. It is like a weeping willow tree with the branches arching up as if reaching for the sky, but then gracefully falling back towards the ground when they realize they just can't do it. And, on all the branches were hundreds of blossoms of a delicate light pink color. It was so beautiful. I took a picture, but will be surprised if the same effect comes out in print.
I noticed that while i was at Tempel 29 the monk also showed up. He was trailing close behind me all day. At every temple i stopped at he would show up just after me. It got to the point where we looked for each other and nodded or waived each time we saw each other. Each of us three guys was going at our own pace, so we left one at a time. I admit that i stalled a bit so as to leave after the others, though. Once i left, i was left to myself and my own thoughts. I stopped and talked to a woman as we watched her husband out in the field on his tractor planting his rice paddy. Everybody was either planting today or filling in by hand plantings that hadn't taken.
Well, i hadn't walked more than forty minutes when i walked into one of the men i had been walking with before - the one we met at the coffee stand. I diidn't avoid him this time, though, as i figured maybe i was just supposed to walk with this guy. So, why fight it. I surrendered and walked with him until around two in the afternoon. He definitely wanted the company.
I separated from my day's companion around two when i stopped at the bank to cash some travelers checks. While there i was amazed to see the interest rates being offered by the bank. For time deposits of 1, 2, 3, or 6 months, and 1 year, the going rate is 0.15%. Yes, that is fifteen one-hundredths of one percent. Coming from the US, those numbers are unbelievable.
When i left the bank and headed for the second of the two Temples 30, i noticed that it had started raining and it is still raining as i write this. I put up my umbrella and that is all since it wasn't all that bad yet. Halfway to the temple i ran into my friend again and we ended up spending the next hour together. I guess i just wasn't supposed to be alone today.
In brief, the reason that there are two Temple 30s, is because one of them (Zenrakuji) burned down in riots when Shintoism and Buddhism were forcibly separated in 1868 after the Meiji Restoration. For their safety, the main statues were transferred to a temple called Anrakuji and this, then, became the new Temple 30.
In the late 1920s, members of the prior Zenrakuji bought and transferred a temple building from elsewhere in Japan and set it up on the former grounds here in Kôchi City. They then asked Anrakuji for their statues back and were surprised when they were refused.
Anrakuji liked being called Temple 30 and refused to give the statues back. While i don't know this is the reason, i suspect it is because there is money to be made by being considered one of the eighty-eight. After a long battle of words, Zenrakuji finally got their statues back and it is now the official Temple 30. But, i wanted to visit both of them so made Anrakuji the last temple on my list for today.
While at Anrakuji, i finally broke down and talked to the monk that had been just behind me all day. In fact, because i had stopped at the bank, he had reached the temple first.
It turns out that he is a priest from a Shingon temple in Ôsaka and this is his second pilgrimage. He walked it once before when he was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to become a monk. After that pilgrimage he decided to become one and he recently decided that it was time to make the rounds again, but this time as a way to say thanks at each temple.
Just to prove that it is really a small world, as we were talking he told me about this American friend of his that is living on Mt. Kôya. It was obvious that he was referring to someone i had been exchanging e-mail messages with before leaving on my trip. When i told him the guy's name he was shocked and we laughed for quite a while. This world is, indeed, a very small place.
Tomorrow i have to go to the post office to mail home a few things before hitting the trail. But, i built that into the schedule and am only planning to go as far as Temple 33 before stopping tomorrow night. Tomorrow's forecast calls for partly sunny weather so it should be another good day.
--4/13 Day Sixteen--
Today was another wonderful day - sunny all day but not so hot that i worked up a sweat while walking. I think the forecast high for today was 22 degrees (72 F) and that is about what it felt like.
I got a very late start today as i wanted to send a few things back to the US from the post office. They don't open until nine o'clock, so i just killed time watching the news and drinking coffee in the hotel restaurant. Well, restaurant isn't what i'd really call it, they just had a few tables set off on the side by the windows and they cooked my scrambled egg, miso soup, toast, and coffee at the bar on a hot plate. The food was a good change in pace and tasted delicious.
I wasted a few hundred yen today. The hotel offered to give me the envelope i needed to send what i wanted back to the US, but after looking at it i decided that i wanted something just a little stronger that what they were offering. I asked them where i could buy other envelopes and was told at the local convenience store.
When i asked for directions to the store, that led me into a bizarre conversation with one of the guys behind the front desk. He was bound and determined to use his English, and i almost always go ahead and let them. However, this time it was obvious that my Japanese was better than his English and i saw no reason not to use it.
The conversation then followed this routing. I would ask a question in Japanese, he would answer in English, i would verify in Japanese that he had said what he thought he had said and let him correct it if it was wrong, and then repeat the process over again. The simple version in Japanese should simply have been "Go to the stop light, turn right, go straight until you see the store on your left. Maybe a five minute walk," but it took us about five minutes. As i said, he was bound and determined to use his English.
In the end, though, i got my directions to the convenience store and went to look for envelopes. When i got there, i found out that all they had was the exact same thing that the hotel was offering but in packages of thirteen, all for 200 yen. I had no choice but to buy it so i did, and then when i was done at the post office i gave the hotel the remaining twelve as settai. :-)
Since it was a slow day (except for the end) and i wasn't going very far, i took long breaks at each of the first two temples, numbers 31 and 32. While at Temple 31, i talked to an elderly woman who has been taking the Asahi Newspaper tour (a bus tour made by company employees) every year for the past ten years. I asked her why she did it each year, but the only reason that she offered was because they offer the tour every year. Maybe she said more and i just didn't understand it, but i don't think so.
Both Temples 31 and 32 are tucked out of the way on the top of little forested hills at the edge of town. They were both fairly easy to find and the road to Temple 32 was well marked, even though the road through Kôchi City to Temple 31 wasn't. But, since i was still in the city, there were enough landmarks to make it easy enough to get to the temple.
I never did have lunch today other than an anpan and a donut on the side of the road next to a vending machine. By the time i was hungry enough to eat, i had left the city and was back out in the countryside.
Speaking of vending machines, i hereby declare that Japan is the land of the vending machine. There are machines on almost every corner in the country and you can buy almost anything you would ever want in one vending machine or the other. Everything from beer to alcohol to cigarettes to books and magazines (on the streets) to razors, tooth brushes, and towels (in hotels). The list of what you can buy in a vending machine somewhere in Japan is probably unlimited in length.
You may not find a restaurant in which to eat lunch while walking out in the middle of nowhere, but you will never die of thirst. No matter where you are you will find the ever-present vending machine.
And, today i saw my third machine that sells Pepsi. Coke is now everywhere in Japan. When i was here ten years ago, Coke was still relatively rare, i think. Now, however, you can buy a Coke (even though i don't, i stick with my Pocari Sweat) at any group of machines, on most corners. But, Pepsi still has a long way to go.
I remember the woman i walked with from Temple 23 to Bangai 3 telling me that she still remembers well her first taste of Coke. It was long ago when she was in elementary school (she is my age) and she thought it tasted terrible. I asked if it was just too sweet for her, and she said that it was, but it wasn't just that, she just didn't like the taste. Sometime later, though, she tried it again and has since gotten so used to it that she prefers that to other drinks. But, to her credit, when we stopped for a break she bought green tea and not a Coke (Congratulations!).
When i left Temple 32 to go to Temple 33, i came to an intersection where i was almost 100% certain that autos made the turn to the left but walkers continued straight. But, the only sign anywhere in sight was the one telling everyone to make the turn.
I stood there and craned my neck looking down both streets for some sign or mark that is normally posted on the walkers route, but saw nothing. I finally took out the map and tried to figure out for sure whether this was the corner i thought it was and was fifty percent towards deciding to go straight even without a sign, when all of a sudden i heard a faint "Hey. Hey. Over here. Come this way."
I looked around but didn't see anyone so went back to my map. Then i heard it again so started looking around and saw an elderly lady standing just past the intersection on the road going straight ahead. She was standing next to her bicycle waving a hand at me to come over to her side of the street. It was obvious that she was telling me that was the way so i nodded my head and waited for the light to change so i could cross the street. (Very few people in Japan, almost no one, crosses the street against the light -even if there isn't any traffic)
When i got over to her she explained that the shortest way to get to the next temple (she knew that is where i was going because of the white jacket and the walking stick) was to continue straight down the street for a long, long way and then i'd find the ferry i was looking for.
I thanked her several times and started walking only to discover that she was going to accompany me. She is at least in her late sixties but she got around on her bicycle quite well. She always stayed about 1 m (3 ft) ahead of me and would ride along quietly for a while then suddenly turn around and shoot a question at me, about one every couple of minutes.
I think i followed her for about forty-five minutes or so and for almost the entire time i felt like the dogs at the dog track. The way they get the dogs to run faster (or to run at all, for that matter) is to have a fake electric rabbit mounted on the inside railing of the track. The dogs see the rabbit and chase it. To make the dogs go faster they just speed the rabbit up. If the dogs look like they are tiring, they slow the rabbit down. But, the rabbit sets the pace.
Likewise with me. The woman always stayed her 1 m (3 ft) ahead of me riding on her bicycle. As i sped up so did she; if i slowed down so did she. But, she set the pace. And, not wanting to inconvenience her by using her time, i was afraid to slow down. For the entire forty minutes, she set what is for me a blistering 5 km/hr (3 mi/hr) pace.
I just had no idea where this woman could have come from as the intersection where we met seemed to me to be out in the middle of nowhere. And the farther we went, i was getting afraid that she was going out of her way. But, whenever i asked, she always assured me that, no, she lived just down the road and told me not to worry.
About every ten minutes or so she would tell me the same story. She would leave me at a stoplight. I was to go straight and continue straight through two more lights after that. A little after the third light the ferry i was looking for would be located on the right. After forty minutes she did in fact leave me, but i have no idea where she went, she just blended into the crowd.
Just to make sure i understood the message though, as soon as i crossed the street a man on his bicycle (or was it her in a different guise) stopped me and asked where i was going. When i told him he told me the exact same story; straight for two more lights and then right. After a few minutes of chatting about me, my Japanese abilities, and Japan, i apologized and told him i had to go. And, sure enough, by following those directions i found the ferry after another thirty minutes or so.
While i was waiting for the ferry i made reservations on a nearby phone for Wednesday and Thursday night at the Marine House something, something (i can't read the last two characters) and Minshuku Hikari. After that i chatted with two men who had stopped to use the bathroom in the ferry waiting room. After a while they left, but one of them gave me a bag filled with a few dozen Oki Urume which, if i understood correctly, is a type of Iwashi (sardine) but much, much larger. They were each about 20 cm (8 in) long and about 2.5 cm (1 in) tall.
I have no idea what he thought i was going to do with them since you have to fry them before you can eat them, but as per my policy of never refusing settai when it is offered, i accepted them and thanked him several times. The ferry came soon after that and i boarded for the short five-minute ride to the other side of the harbor where Temple 33 is located.
As i was walking through the town on the other side, all of a sudden a taxi stopped and a woman got out of the back seat. She said the name of my minshuku several times and said go straight and then got back in. The taxi took off and i never was sure what the heck was going on. As it turned out, she was the owner of the minshuku i was to stay at and it was obvious that i was the foreigner that was going to stay there that night. Everyone tells me i stick out like a sore thumb here; there just are so few foreigners out and about on Shikoku.
When i got to the minshuku she was standing in front waiting for me. I gave her the fish i had received as settai and told her that i couldn't use them as i was walking. She asked if i wanted them fried for dinner tonight, but i told her that that wasn't necessary - whatever she had already planned would be OK with me. She could use the fish at another time for whatever she wanted.
I went across the street to visit Temple 33 and then came back and checked in for the night. After my bath, the owner came up and told me that dinner would be a little late as Mr. X wanted us to eat dinner together and he was just getting in the bath himself. Mr. X turned out to be the man i walked with yesterday all the way into Kôchi City. So, we meet again. I wonder if he is going to want to walk together again tomorrow??
--4/14 Day Seventeen--
I hurt today. I have since the time i got up, i still do as i type this, and have no idea why other than thinking that walking on asphalt all day, every day, is getting to my legs.
Started out this morning just before seven from my minshuku just in front of Temple 33. Had the usual breakfast, but ate even less than normal. I don't think i even finished one bowl of rice.
I left alone, but Mr. X and another group of three that have been playing cat and mouse with me since Temple 28 were all within about 30 minutes of each other all day today.
I decided today somewhere on the way to the first temple that i am in love. She has been sometimes behind me and sometimes ahead of me since day one at Temple 1. I'll pass her somewhere and then all of the sudden i see that she is ahead of me again. It's gotten to the point that if she's not just ahead when i most anticipate it i am a little disappointed. I think this is serious.
When i do see her, i never get more than a look at her face but she has the cutest smile i have seen in a long time. And she has this mischievous little twinkle in her eyes that just reeks of something like "I'm getting away with something, and if you only knew what it was....." I call her Georgia.
But there are two problems. One, she is almost always with another guy. Not 100% of the time, but almost. And, two, she wouldn't talk to me even if i stood directly in front of her and said hello. You see, she's nothing more than a poster on the front of those ubiquitous vending machines.
She is the poster girl for Georgia Coffee and her picture is on one of the machines in all the clusters of machines located on all the street corners throughout the country - or at least around the road i have been walking for the past two and a half weeks. The guy she is with, is one of the more famous actors and his name is Sorimachi. He has his own poster and is always in another machine, but almost all the time when you see one you are bound to see the other.
I have seen so many posters of these two that i am starting to consider them dear friends. I wonder if she'd marry me? He could be the best man.
Temple 34 this morning brought back incredibly vivid memories of "market day" in the mountain village where i lived when i was in the Peace Corps in Central Africa for several years. Market day was once every seven days and on all days other than market day the field where the market was held was completely deserted.
But, on market day, the one day a week when you could buy all the food you wanted of all different types, the place was a vibrant and thriving village. It would be hard to walk around and the atmosphere duplicated that of a circus. People came from everywhere just to be here on market day - whether or not they needed to buy anything. The contrast between market day and non-market day is hard to envision unless you've been there.
That is, unless you have been sitting in the compound of a quiet rural temple when all of a sudden two or more bus tours arrive at the same time. Temple 34 was like that this morning. Two busses were leaving as i got there so it was quiet and serene as i sat and relaxed.
All of the sudden, two buses pulled up and eighty, or so, people climbed down and stampeded into the compound. It was wall to people, the decibel level immediately went well over 100 db, and you would have thought the country fair had just put up it's tents. The change was extraordinary.
And then, fifteen minutes later, they were gone and it all reverted back to tranquility and calm. Amazing. Ever seen a piranha feeding frenzy on TV?
I forgot to point out the other day that i think there is a mistake in the map book that i have been using. Going from Temple 29 to Temple 30, the map shows that you cross a bridge and then make a right to get to number 30. But, in reality the turn to the right is on the street just before the bridge and does have a trail marker there. I'll have to point it out to Miyazaki-san when i get back to the US.
At Temple 35, i was given a mikan (orange) as settai. I was also given something that the woman told me is one of the famous fruits only available from this region. It is called a Buntan and i liked it. It appears to grow just like an orange and comes in slices just like an orange. But, the color was somewhere between gray and translucent something else, sort of like a grapefruit. The taste was very, very mild and not at all strong like an orange is (in my opinion). It wasn't even very juicy. But, as i said, i thought it was delicious.
On the way to Temple 36 i stopped and had lunch in a small restaurant. Nothing interesting here other than that this was the first time that someone seemed to have no clue when i told them that i am from America. I pronounced it slowly and that didn't help. I pronounced it very carefully and that didn't help. In fact they thought i was saying i was from Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan.
So, i reverted to the more formal word for the US (Beikoku) and they understood immediately. Once past that hurdle they seemed to understand everything else i said, but i think we were all worried for a while if we were going to be able to communicate. I've never met someone who didn't understand 'America' before.
After i left the restaurant and had walked for about ten minutes, a van pulled up next to me and stopped. It was the owner of the restaurant where i had just eaten. He said he happened to be going my way and would i please accept a ride (but, he hadn't said anything about this while in the restaurant). I politely refused and told him that i wanted to walk. He smiled, said OK, and drove off.
After about another thirty minutes of walking, i suddenly heard a horn honk and when i looked saw that it was him again. He had stopped in the middle of the road going back towards the restaurant and yelled out the window that i needed to turn right at the stop light about 50 m (165 ft) down the road. Right in front of me.
Was it coincidental that he happened to be going my way? Was it coincidental that he happened to be there just before the light were i had to make a turn? Or was he just out trying to help and make sure i don't get lost? While i can't say, i will always believe that after i refused the ride he simple went to the light and waited for me to show up. I get this kind of treatment all the time (like the old lady on the bicycle yesterday) and it is going to take me forever to repay all these acts of kindness.
At one of the temples a woman was standing admiring this gorgeous flower on a tree. It is bell shaped and about five cm (2 in) deep. It appears to be a very delicate flower and the color is somewhere between red and pink - but neither of the two. The word chartreuse comes to mind, but i really have no idea what color that is; it could be green for all i know.
I asked the woman the name of the flower and when she told me i started laughing. She looked at me in amazement until i explained why i was laughing at which point even she chuckled. The flower is called the 'Akebono' and this also happens to be the name of one of the top Sumo wrestlers. But, in his case he is neither gorgeous nor delicate. In fact, if there were a word that indicated the opposite of both those words Akebono (as in the wrestler) could very well be that word.
As i was crossing my last mountain pass before getting to my minshuku for the night, i saw a man scrounging around in the woods. When i asked him what he was looking for, he told me Itagure, which is a green, with a red tint, tubular vegetable that grows in April and May in the wild in the mountains. He said that you usually boil it to eat it but that you could also eat it raw, at which time he peeled a slice and ate it. Unfortunately he didn't offer me a taste. I'm going to have to figure out what this is, it wasn't in my dictionary.
For dinner i had more sashimi, some deep fried shrimp, a few vegetables, rice, and soup - but not miso soup. All washed down with bancha, which my dictionary just calls 'course tea.' I don't know what it is made of, but it isn't green tea.
After dinner i made reservations at minshuku through Tuesday, April 20th. That puts me on Cape Ashizuri in a minshuku just a half km (1/4 mi) from Temple 38. Tomorrow i'm going to make another weeks reservations if possible. The biggest vacation in Japan (Golden Week) is coming up at the end of April/beginning of May and i'm expecting the minshuku to be packed that week. I'm hoping to get reservations in place prior to then.
Tomorrow i finally get to leave the last suburbs of Kôchi City and start the long trek down the coast towards Cape Ashizuri. As i said, it will take me the rest of the week to get there. But i expect it to be worth the wait. The most remote areas of Shikoku are after you pass the cape and start the climb back up to the north on the far side of the island. It should be beautiful.
--4/15 Day Eighteen--
Woke to a growling stomach and a ravenous appetite this morning for no known reason. But i didn't argue and ate everything on the many plates put before me. Instead of a raw egg and nato this morning, i had a slice of cooked salmon. Accompanied, of course, with the vegetables, rice, miso soup, and bancha. To tell the truth it wasn't miso soup today, but i don't know what it was called. It was a clear liquid with a few clams in the bottom.
Left a little after seven this morning and had a very short 10 minute walk to the first temple, Temple 36. I was deserted and quiet because of the hour and this was the first time i've seen a temple in such a state.
In the same compound there is also a shrine and it was interesting to see the difference between it and the temple. While the temple was clean and neat, with everything properly arranged, the shrine looked like it could use a little straightening up.
The shrine itself is nothing more than a very small enclosure which is always locked. But to protect it from the weather and from curious tourists and visitors, the whole shrine is housed in another complete building. That building is also locked, but you can look into it so as to see the shrine.
When i looked in, i was struck by the broom that had fallen or been dropped across the floor, the ladder that was simply resting against the back wall on the inside, and the dusting rag that was draped over one of the railings of the shrine itself. I guess the priest at this temple feels his Buddhist deities can take care of themselves and don't need to ask the help of any local Shinto deities. So, why bother worrying about those Kami's shrine.
On the way over the bridge that i had to cross to get back to the road that would take me to Bangai Temple 5 and Temple 37, i saw about twenty-five boats out on the water in the bay. They were just small flat-bottomed fishing boats there was only one person in each one. That person was usually struggling with a basket on a pole that looked to be about six meters (twenty feet) long.
On the end of the pole was a metal basket with a serrated edge that looked like a rake. It appeared as if they were dragging the bottom of the bay and digging up shelled something or others - maybe clams? They would first rake over the bottom several times and then pull the basket up into the boat. They would then sit on the pole to hold it in place as they hand sorted through the contents of the basket, saving some of it and throwing the rest back into the water. I should have yelled thanks, as that is probably what was in my soup this morning.
Not long after i had set out, a taxi pulled over to the side of the road and flagged me over. The window in the back opened and a man sitting there handed me a can of Georgia coffee as settai. I can't stand canned coffee, but accepted it graciously and thanked him many times.
Throughout the morning i walked from one sleepy fishing village to another with short stretches of empty coastline in between. It was really pretty and very peaceful.
Somewhere around one o'clock i passed an elderly woman on the road. She was so bent over at the waist that as she walked she supported herself by pushing a baby stroller backwards and leaning on the back of the seat, not the handles. When she saw me, she stopped me and gave me 100 yen as settai - apologizing that it was much too little but i could at least buy a juice with it.
I thanked her and assured her that i would buy a juice at the next vending machine i came to. And i did. At the next set of machines i stopped, bought a Pocari Sweat with her money, and ate my lunch.
I may have actually lost some weight over the last few days since restaurants have become almost impossible to find. I now stop at the first store i come across after checking out in the morning and buy a sandwich or bento (box lunch) if at all possible, or some kind of anpan, creampan, or bread if i have no other choice. It fills my stomach at lunch but i know it isn't very nutritious.
But back to that elder woman. I wonder why so many elderly women out in the countryside walk like they do - bent over at almost 90 degrees at the waist and never able to straighten up. And, i wonder why only the women.
Taking the later first, i would guess it is because the men are the ones that use the tractors and (mini) combines to prepare the field for planting and then to plant the rice seedlings. Neither of these jobs entails walking bent over at the waist.
Women, on the other hand, seem to be the ones who walk through the fields after they have been planted, replanting new seedlings to replace ones that didn't take or were eaten by birds, etc. They are also the ones that walk through the planted fields pulling weeds and other non-desired things. Both of these jobs require that they walk through the fields bent over at least to 90 degrees for hours on end, day after day, year after year.
But that still leaves the question, can they no longer straighten up, i.e., is it physically impossible? Or, is it just that after walking bent over so much, the back muscles have lengthened, shortened, become weaker, or what ever it is, so that they can straighten out when they lay down, but the muscles won't hold them up in that position when they walk any more?
As i said, i don't know.
Passed a little mountain temple on one of my trips up and over a mountain pass. When i looked in i was surprised to see that the floors were not tatami, the straw mats that covers all but a few floors in temples. In this temple the floors were hardwood. Other than about three wooden statues on the alter (each about one meter (3.3 ft) high, there was no one around and no one to be heard. I didn't stay long as i still had a ways to go before stopping for the night.
Got to Bangai number 5 late in the afternoon, maybe a little after three o'clock. It is a very small (and i emphasize very) temple located off a small side street full of shops. It is on a hill overlooking the street, though, so you have to climb a hundred stairs, give or take, to get to the main temple.
If you knew how bad my right leg hurt you'd understand why that is the last thing i wanted to do at the end of the day, but sometimes you just have to do what you just have to do, i guess.
When i got to the top i was greeted by a little poodle barking its head off (saying welcome, i'm sure). I dropped my name slip in the box, looked in the temple, and then got my Nôkyô book stamped before heading to the benches where the dog had been tied up to sit down and rest for a while.
This temple is one of the very few that is open for you to look in. In general most temples are closed and locked with the exception of a small peephole to look in. I stood in the entrance and looked around, but didn't feel like taking the boots off to go in and sit inside for a while, even though i was invited to. You could tell that a lot of people had passed through those doors as the tatami on the floor was very well worn.
The poor dog was, as it turns out, just screaming for attention because as soon as i started to pet it it calmed down and was very quiet. After sitting there and reading over my map book and petting the dog for about fifteen minutes, the woman who had stamped and signed my book came out to talk to me. They were her dogs and she apologized for his making a nuisance of himself but she then told me she wanted to give me a settai.
The settai was a bag of salt that has, i gather, been consecrated in the name of Kôbô Daishi. If you sprinkle it over parts of the body that hurt they will get better. If you hurt all over, you can dissolve a little in water and drink it. I didn't have the confidence to try it today, but maybe i should have.
The woman appeared to have been the wife of the temple monk and had come from Ôsaka about four years ago. She enjoyed the life here and was happy, but admits that she does sometimes miss the conveniences of the big city. She was a cheerful and friendly lady.
After i got to the minshuku, i found that, once again, the bath was much, much too hot for me so i settled for a shower. They let me use their washing machine so i am also able to leave tomorrow with all clean clothes.
For supper i had the usual rice, miso soup, and vegetables, but this time they threw in a bowl of what i think was eggplant. I have no idea how they were prepared, but it appeared like they had been baked and then put in a special sauce. Or, maybe they were baked in that sauce all the while? They were delicious.
Today was the first day i walked with no tape on any of the toes. I think it was a fairly successful day. With the exception of one blister, the feet performed wonderfully. I'll try and leave the tape off the heels tomorrow. If that is successful as well, we are now down just to the right ankle as far as body problems.
--4/16 Day Nineteen--
Woke up late today and just fifteen minutes before breakfast at six-thirty. I think i tossed and turned all night.
For breakfast i was surprised to find an omlete instead of fish or a raw egg. It was an omlete with paper thin slices of beef, potatoes, and onions inside. It was actually pretty good. But, i still had the rice, soup, and tea.
Left just after seven knowing that i had this one more thirty km (18 mi) day to get through before i dropped back down to my normal twenty-five km (15 mi) days. I expected it to be difficult, as the left ankle is a little swollen and pretty sore. But, i was surprised to find that it was OK after about five minutes on the road. It stays swollen, but i can walk on it with virtually no limp after i warm up. But, today was the first day with no tape.
Met another Shingon sect monk on the road today. That is the third of the trip. We talked for just a few minutes but he was just starting to sit down and take a break while i had been there a while so i went on my way alone.
After another hour of walking i rounded a corner and found a woman standing there with a bag of settai for me. Again, she apologized that it wasn't much but it was some juice and a little candy and i could eat it when i took a break. I thanked her many times and then continued on my way.
I have to break the habit of simply saying thank you and then walking on. I need to stop and talk to these people a little when they give me settai. Sometimes it is obvious that they only want to give the settai and then leave, but there are other times, like with this woman, where no one was in a hurry so i should have taken the time to talk to her. I could have made some comment on the weather and given her the chance to ask me questions. You know she had to be curious about me - a foreigner out in the middle of nowhere on a deserted country road.
But, she must have known i was coming. As i said, when i got there she already had the juice and candy in a bag and was waiting for me. And when we separated she cut through a hedge and disappeared into a house (i guess) that i couldn't see. So she probably didn't see me coming either. Did someone down the road call and tell her that a foreign henro had just passed on the road and she had better get out if she wanted to see him? I'll never know.
I walked a little further down the road but the weather was just too perfect and just too warm to not take a break. I sat on the side of a dry rice paddy and drank one of the juices and a few of the candies. I then fell asleep right there on the side of the road, resting against my backpack, and took nap for about fifteen minutes. A car driving by woke me up so i got up and headed on my way again.
I was surprised later on to meet up with the monk again. It was now several hours later and i had stopped for a Pocari Sweat when he walked up. Apparently he had been behind me all the time. I just walk faster so had the time to sneak in a nap while he had to keep walking.
When we left this time we walked together and stayed together for the rest of the afternoon. He is from Kobe and is in his late twenties. He has just spent a year on Mt. Kôya doing some serious studies of both Shingon theory and practices. He says that for the one year he had no heat and no TV. I can't imagine going through a winter on that mountain with no heat. I was cold when i was there in the last week of March. He said that while he was there he had to splash himself with freezing cold water twenty-one times every morning. The number of times comes from that fact that Kôbô Daishi died on the twenty-first of March.
At one of our breaks i told him about the salt i had been given as settai at Bangai Temple 5 yesterday and we decided to give it a try. I, of course, put it on my feet and ankle and hoped for the best. When he sprinkled it on his feet he begged them to take him to America someday. That is his dream. It was the dream of the Zen monk that i walked with way back on day two. I guess even monks want to enjoy life in the US.
As we were getting closer to the final town, while i was reading the map i heard a van drive by and honk it's horn. I looked but it was too late to see who it was or if they were honking at us. I looked at the monk and asked him and he told me that it was a gorgeous foreign woman, probably an American like me, and that she had been waiving at us. I found that amusing but let it pass without comment.
We arrived at Temple 37 at about three-thirty and visited both temples in the compound. The main temple in the compound was open to the public. It was a very nice looking temple on the inside even if the outside did look well worn. The tatami looked fresh and the alter was well furnished. There were numerous portraits around the hall and i wonder if they are portraits of the previous head priests. The ceiling was subdivided into little squares each about 25 cm (10 in) square. Each square then had a different picture painted in bright colors in it. Some seemed to be pictures of Buddhist themes, but many seemed only to be pictures of local wildlife.
When we left, i was going to my minshuku and the monk was going to a train station to sleep. Just before leaving he gave me a bag of Oreo cookies as settai. He is really hooked on the US. He eats Oreo cookies and when we took breaks he always drank a Coke.
There have been times during the past few days when it has been ever so difficult to keep this trip in perspective. I haven't come near that wall i talked about, haven't even caught a glimpse of it, but, i do occasionally ask myself if what i am doing would ever merit another trip around in the future.
And, the answer has been no a surprising number of times.
It turns out that a great part of this trip is on the side of one or another major highway, walking on asphalt and on the shoulder of the road with traffic speeding by only inches away form your shoulder. Is this what i came here to do? It isn't what i thought i would be doing.
Of course, when i get off the main roads and onto the back roads or mountain trails i could see doing it again. There i am meeting people, watching them work, seeing how they live. But on the main roads i do nothing but worry about the traffic and watch my ankle swell.
The temples are always closed up. When you get there, there is nothing to see - with rare exceptions. Maybe others can get them opened and get a look inside, but not someone like me. So the temples are not the reason to come over here. As i have said before, what is important is the time spent between the temples. The people you meet, the conversations you have, what you do and see, etc. But, if you have to spend days on end on the side of a major highway, you aren't even getting the opportunity to do that.
Perspective. Where is it?
Good news about the feet. No tape at all today and no problems. They felt good! Hip Hip Hurray!
--4/17 Day Twnety--
Had a leisurely breakfast and didn't leave the minshuku until about seven-fifteen. I'm taking my time and strolling to Cape Ashizuri and Temple 38. In fact, i won't reach there until Tuesday, the fourth day after leaving Temple 37 yesterday.
Even though i had stopped at Temple 37 last night before checking into my minshuku, i stopped there again this morning since i had to pass it to get out of town. I like going to the temples in the early morning since i am usually the only one there and it is still quiet almost to the point of being sleepy.
It was the same this morning. It was still chilly enough that the sprinkles from last night hadn't dried and this, along with the low clouds, gave the temple compound a clean and freshly scrubbed atmosphere. I went in the main temple and sat there for a while just felling the atmosphere and wondering about all the pictures on the walls. Many seem to have nothing to do with Buddhism so i wondered if they had been painted by patrons and donated to the temple.
Around the altar were boxes that appeared to be bottles of sake and various foods all wrapped as if they had been gifts to the temple. I wonder how long these gifts are left at the altar before they can be used by the temple priests or staff? How much time must pass before the giver's generosity has been noticed by the deity and you can drink the sake or eat the food?
Today i only walked twenty-one km (13 mi) and since i walked from seven-thirty to three-thirty, when i checked in, i had a lot of time to kill even though i walked as slow as i ever have. I took breaks every few hours and even took a one-hour coffee break.
The entire day was spent walking through the mountains slightly inland and i didn't get back to ocean until just as i arrived at my minshuku. With the exception of about two hours where i walked on back roads and a few mountain trails, the day was spent on the side of the highway again. But, at least today there was the semblance of a sidewalk. It wasn't much, but it was better than the shoulder of the road.
I ate lunch sitting in a school bus stop shelter and had a ham sandwich and a donut. I also ate some of the candy that was given to me by the lady yesterday afternoon. As i started walking again, a man in a field stopped work long enough to ask me if i was walking the pilgrimage, and when i told him yes, to ask me what i thought of Shikoku so far. He was pleased when i told him that i loved it; the food is delicious, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are very friendly. He thanked me about a half dozen times after i said that.
I'm back to the question of perspective and how i should look at this trip. As i see it there are several reasons for someone to walk this pilgrimage (as opposed to taking the bus or using a car):
I'm sure someone else can add other reasons, but those are the possible reasons i see for making this trip.
We know that there are people who tour the temples for the first reason. There are numerous temples that are supposed to have crutches, braces, etc. that have been left behind by those that claim to have been cured by one of the deities of that temple. I haven't seen these yet, but the guidebooks say i will. (One guidebook said that they are all over Temple 16, but there weren't any in the compound when i was there.)
While there are people who believe that by making this pilgrimage their problems may be alleviated through the saving grace of either Kôbô Daishi or one of the other many deities worshiped at the temples, i have my doubts. I can't, and won't, say that it is impossible - there are too many miracles that seem to have taken place and been documented over the years. I just have my doubts. And i think few of these people probably actually walk the pilgrimage in any case.
I think, though, that the second reason is one of the more popular reasons for walking the pilgrimage. People believe that by making the entire trip around the circuit they will, through the intervention of Kôbô Daishi, improve themselves or some facet of their lives.
While i do accept the premise that walking the entire pilgrimage will make improvements in your life, i would argue with the part about who effects those changes - you or Kôbô Daishi. The question comes down to this: By who's efforts is one saved, helped, cured, or enlightened? Through who's efforts does one become a better, more caring, more giving, or more compassionate person? I think the discussion comes down to one's belief in what the Japanese call Tariku versus Jiriku (i think those are the words).
Tariku is the belief that, while you are required to make some effort, in the end the saving or helping power comes from someone or something outside of yourself. The efforts that you are required to make are those needed to worship the person, Kami, Buddha, or whatever that has the actual power to help you. Ta means 'other' and riku means 'power.'
If you are a believer in tariku, by walking through all 1400 km (900 mi) of the journey you are showing that you are willing to submit yourself to suffering, if that is needed, to receive help. You are demonstrating your worth to whoever you are imploring for help. By walking the entire pilgrimage you are showing that you have what it takes to accept the saving grace of whatever deity you have chosen. I think this is similar to the monks of old who used to whip themselves to prove that they could suffer and were, therefore, worthy of God's saving grace.
On the other side of the spectrum is the concept of Jiriku where one believes that the hoped for benefits will only come about if you expend the effort yourself. The gains will all come from efforts that you yourself have made. Or, to say it a little differently, change comes from within - not without. Ji means 'yourself' and, again, riku means 'power.'
I am a firm and committed proponent of jiriku. All that you want, all that you are, all that you ever will be will only result from efforts that you have expended yourself. And those efforts are not the efforts of imploring someone else to help you. It is only when you put out the effort, when you expend your energies, when you invest your life that your goals will be reached.
So, what is the point of walking this pilgrimage? Is it to implore the help of a legendary figure? To beseech the aid of a Buddhist deity? For some it is, but for me it isn't. I'm here for some combination of the last two reasons and that puts me in the awkward position of asking myself the benefit of making myself walk on these highways day in and day out. If the changes will come from within myself, of what merit is there in abusing my body by walking on asphalt day in and day out?
The majority of temples are closed, there are no spectacular gardens, and none of the temples seem to be architecturally significant. In general, there is little to see and do at each of the temples. The temples serve as little other than mileage markers. The meat of the trip is what lies between them.
If i walk on the highway every day and, therefore, met and visit with very few people, and get to compare notes with precious few other henro, then what benefit is there other than telling myself that i have done it? All the interesting people i have met have been met while on the various sections where i was walking on the back streets, not the highway.
Now, having said all the above, i admit that part of my brain says that that is the wrong way to look at this. For example, suppose you are attending a tea ceremony. There should be no difference to you if they serve you from a beautiful one hundred-year-old tea bowl or a beat-up one-hundred-year old tin cup. Both will serve the same function. It is the same tea and has the same appearance and taste.
What is different are the expectations that you bring into the ceremony. You expected the beautiful tea bowl so are a disappointed when the tin cup appears. Likewise for this trip. I brought in a set of expectations that have proven to be ill founded and am, therefore, disappointed to a certain extent.
But, it isn't the expectations that will define the success of this trip anymore than the expectations defined the tea ceremony. It is the frame of mind, the attitude, that one carries throughout that defines the outcome - for both the tea ceremony and this pilgrimage.
So, part of my brain tells me one thing and the other part tells me another. I just have to sort out all the pieces and put them in their proper places. I guess then the whole picture will become clear.
I doubt this expresses very well what i have been thinking about on the road over the past few days, so let me mull it over and i'll come back to it again on another day.
But, let me make myself clear so that when i read this in twenty years i'll remember well. Even though i have doubts about whether or not the pilgrimage, as it is laid out today, merits doing a second time, i am still thoroughly enjoying myself this time. I am glad i came, content with what i am doing, and having fun. Even with all the blisters, with all the pain, with all the rain last week, and, yes, even with all the asphalt that i truly hate. Even with all of that i am having a great time and regret nothing!
Speaking of meeting people, i forgot to mention that one of the things i have learned from the three Shingon sect monks that i have met over the past week is that it is not a requirement that all monks from that sect walk the pilgrimage. That surprised me and i was pleased when they said it surprised them as well.
I just assumed that all Shingon sect monks and nuns (if there are any) would be required to walk it as it is a pilgrimage that legend states was started by the founder of their sect. All three of the men i have met have told me that very precious few, and almost none at all, of them make the tour.
It is raining as i write this and tomorrow's weather calls for rain all day and a temperature around 20 degrees (68 F). The better news is that it is supposed to clear up by Monday morning, stay that way for the rest of the week, and not cloud over again until next Friday.
I'm probably only 3 meters (10 ft) from the beach tonight so i'll be listening to the waves break on the beach as i go to sleep.
Lastly, let me share an article written by Ashley Wright of the US. He walked the Kôchi Prefecture section of the pilgrimage with Oliver Statler and others in the late seventies and then published this article about that trip. I offer it with his permission.
--4/18 Day Twenty-One and end of week three--
It was still raining when i got up this morning and the waves were really pounding out on the beach. Because of the noise of the waves it sounded a lot worse than it really was, though. While it was a steady rain, and a lot more than a sprinkle, it was no where near what i had a week or so ago on the way to Temple 27.
After the usual breakfast i was out the door at seven and on my way to tonight's minshuku. I won't get to Cape Ashizuri and Temple 38 until sometime on Tuesday so i knew that today would be nothing but walking. And, as i said, the rain wasn't so bad, but the wind was ferocious. It would blow so hard from time to time that the rain was actually being driven horizontally. Luckily for me it was always from the back.
For a few hours today i was let off the highway and onto a road that runs right along the beach. It was interesting because the storm was causing very large waves, which, in turn, brought out dozens and dozens of surfers. I only saw a half dozen or so in the water but there were a few dozen vans and cars sitting along the beach with people in them reading, eating, and sleeping. I guess they were either taking a break or just waiting to see if the rain would taper off at all.
For the rest of the day, i walked on the side of the highway again. Whenever i'm near a town there is a sidewalk on one side or the other of the road. In between towns, though, you are limited to that 30 cm (12 in) strip of asphalt that they call a shoulder over here. And with the roads wet and slippery from the rain, i admit i was more worried than normal.
I had spaghetti and coffee for lunch in a small roadside cafe a little before noon. After eating i stayed and took a break for another forty-five minutes before setting out again. I usually take a break every few hours when walking. When i do, i sit by the vending machines or just on the side of the road if i am off the highway. But, when it is raining, it is hard to find a place that is dry or at least out of the wind so i seldom stop. That was the case today so, even with the hour break for lunch, i found i had walked the twenty-five km (16 mi) to tonight's minshuku by two o'clock.
It stopped raining around one-thirty so the last little bit of my trip was finally in clearing conditions.
Since check-in isn't usually until four o'clock, i found a coffee shop and wasted some time until they closed at three. From there i walked to the minshuku and apologized for coming early but asked if i could check in. The owner told me it was no problem so i went to my room and unpacked everything to let it all dry out again. They have a coin laundry so i am also washing all my dirty clothes.
Once again, the right boot didn't stay watertight (although what is has is not a leak as much as a seep) and the rain cover for my pack let water in at the bottom. I just don't understand that yet.
Tomorrow it is still supposed to be raining in the morning when i set out, but clear up sometime in the afternoon. We'll see what happens. The forecast a little earlier said the next chance of rain is next Saturday and Sunday.
I met no one on the road today, and walked with my nose to the ground, so saw almost nothing. That means that i have nothing in particular to write about so will simply say good night. The next time i write it will already be week four. That is hard to believe.