{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--Thoughts during the weeks and months prior to starting--

My schedule is set based on the walking times from my last trip.

Passport is still valid, so there is nothing to do there.

Reserved a room online at the Business Hotel Nissei in Ōsaka for Tuesday night, 4/5. It's by the Namba Nankai station which makes it convenient for catching the train to Mt. Kōya on Wednesday morning.

Will try and order henro supplies online at www.eitikai.com over the weekend. They say shipping is settai, and the prices look just as good or better than i paid last time on Mt. Kōya and at Temple 1. I don't see anything on the web page that says they won't ship to the US. Won't get everything, but most of it. That way it is paid for up front and i don't need to carry that much extra cash. Plus, it spreads the expense out a little more.

Thinking about the trip back home, i know that i will finish this walk at Saba Daishi, Bangai Temple 4. The question then becomes how to get back to Tokushima, and then on to Ōsaka and Nagoya. Checking online seems to show that there are several trains a day at Sabase station (the station near Bangai Temple 4) on the JR Mugi Line. From there it is about a 45 minute train ride back to Tokushima and then i can take the bus back over to Ōsaka. Or, do i stay in Tokushima that night and just take the bus to Ōsaka and the train on to Nagoya early on Sunday Morning. That may make more sense since i'm in no hurry. I don't leave for Chicago until Tuesday.

Have told Dave Moreton and Don Weiss that i would like to meet them and they agreed. Tom Ward suggested that if he could make it to the island we could walk to a few temples together. It would be nice if he could make it.

--Week of 2/7: About two months before leaving--
Called and made several reservations tonight. That has me so excited i know it will take me a while to get to sleep. I was surprised when the person who answered the phone at Bangai Temple 3 (Jigenji) told me that they closed their Shukubō last year. When i asked if there were any minshuku nearby that they could suggest, they recommended a place just down the hill and i got a room there. Sounded like a very friendly woman. But, they all do so that is nothing new.

While i admit that i am a creature of habit, of the seven reservations i made tonight, three of them are new minshuku for me and that will be nice. New people. New experiences. New friends. I'm even trying a new section of the trail. From Temple 12, instead of taking the main road south, i'm taking the road straight west towards Temples 13 – 17. That should put me closer to Bangai Temple 2 the next morning and give me a little more time for Temples 17 – 13 (i'll visit them in reverse order). I seem to remember that i was a little rushed last time during this stretch. But then again, i remember these temples being very small city temples with not a lot to see. In any case, it will be fun seeing a new section of the trail to get lost on.

Went online to www.eitikai.com and ordered many of my henro supplies about a week ago. The order form went through and i received a confirmation email with my order number, saying thank you, here is what you ordered, and here is the total you owe. That all sounds good. But, i chose credit as my payment option and there was never anywhere to input my card information! Nowhere. So, i don't really know if my order went through or not. It could be, i suppose, that since i got the confirmation email it did go through and who ever delivers the goods will take my credit card information then. Just in case, i went to the bank and got some cash to have around the house when they show up. If they show up. I'll wait a few weeks and see if the goods arrive before trying to call and ask about the order.

Will make more reservations tomorrow.

--Week of 2/22: A little more than one month before leaving--
Well, it's official. www.eitiikai.com does NOT ship overseas. They basically ignored me until i sent them a second email message asking what was going on. They responded by apologizing and saying that they couldn't do it. I guess i'll have to do like i did last time and buy everything there. No big deal - i was curious whether or not foreigners could buy from their site more than anything, and they answered that question.

Haven't made any more reservations because i got sidetracked with several other jobs. I'll try and make some tomorrow when i get home.

Not much else to say at this early stage. More as i get closer to April.

--Week of 3/14: About three weeks before leaving--
I made most of the rest of my reservations tonight and have put those on the web site. Seemed straightforward enough and only had one ryokan ask me if i could eat Japanese food. I first told her yes, anything, but then told her 'well, not really,' just to see what she would say. When i told her i could eat nattō but didn't really like it, she laughed. I then assured her i loved Japanese food and would eat anything she gave me. At least that's what i think i told her — my Japanese has really gone downhill in the last several years.

Everywhere i made a reservation wanted my phone number. When i told them that i was calling from the US, they wanted my cell phone number. WHen i told them i didn't have one, they all (without exception) seemed somewhat perplexed. Do minshuku and ryokan have a problem of people making reservations and not showing up? I wonder why they consistently asked? I don't remember being asked this question once when i was there in 1999. Hmmmm......

The last reservations i have to make are for after i have finished waking — the 17th and 18. The 18th will be in Nagoya, but i haven't decided where the 17th will be. I'm thinking of spending the day in Kyōto. I certainly don't want to spend 2 days in Nagoya, and see no reason to go to Ōsaka. Luckily i still have a few weeks to think about this. Maybe i should run over and see Nachi Falls.

I just recently starting to get anxious and/or excited. As much for the food and the people i will meet on the trail and in the lodging as for any other reason. I really, really miss Japan and it has been a long time since i have been back. My sister used to tell me all the time, "Your'e an American, darn'it, get used to it." That may be so, but why do i always feel like i'm going home when i get on the plane to Japan? And when i get off the plane there, why do i always have this almost palpable sense of comfort wash over me? Hen, deshō.

More next week.

--3/30: The week before before leaving--
On the train going home from work...
I was looking over my list of things to do and pack before leaving the other day and realized that i hadn't written anything here in quite a while.When i thought about that it was obvious that i just didn't feel that i have anything to say this time. I already know what to expect while i'm there, in the generalist of terms. The day-to-day experiences will be different of course, but the general schedule will be the same as last time. So, what is there to write about?

I applied for a GOL account earlier in the week and at first it looked like they weren't going to give it to me. Even though i received an email confirmation with my login id and password, the account went straight to a state of 'temporarily suspended.' I wrote and asked them what was wrong and they said they wanted an address and telephone number in Japan, which i don't have for obvious reasons. In my reply i told them the truth — that i had used their services in 1999 when i was on the henro trail the first time, that i was walking this time kugiriuchi, or more specifically ikkokumairi. I was plesantly surprised when they responded the next day saying 'Have a good walk. Your account is now active.' GOL, you are good people. Thank you.

So, back to the main question ... what is there to write about? I don't know what to expect from this trip. I write the vast majority of the journal pages stream of consciousness and don't edit them for anything except spelling. That means when i sit down each day and write up my thoughts, even i don't know what is going to come out in the end. While i do spend a considerable amount of time writing, and rewriting, all of the other pages on this site, the journal is the one area where i intentionally do not edit. I find it fascinating to write in this way and discover what i'm thinking. Many of you may find it hard to believe, but i was just as surprised as a lot of you with what came out in my 1999 journal. It will be just as interesting to see what will come out this year.

Dave Bolster (Known Henro) wrote to me about my trip and my anger at the commercialization of the pilgrimage route back in 1999. He sent me a great line, "Just because someone you don't like is playing a song you do like doesn't make it a bad song," or something to that effect. While i understand that sentiment, and agree with him completely, i don't think that is the case here. As i told Dave, in my case, it would be that someone i truly love is playing a song i love equally as much — but they are playing a modern, hip-hop version that i hate.When i look at it like that, it seems perfectly obvious on how to deal with those thoughts. I'm an old fuddy-duddy and rarely listen to anything other than classical or jazz now-a-days. The students at the university where i work listen to everything except that, and i just tune it out. If i can do that, why can't i just tune out the bad music beng played by the Reijokai and the temples along the henro trail? I think i can.

Several of you have written me asking why i'm going back. The typical question is something like 'But Dave, you were so disappointed last time. Why are you doing it again?' I think there are two answers. First, i am going to start going back to Japan each year anyhow, so why not to Shikoku? Going back to the henro trail makes just as much sense as going anywhere else and walking around to the typical guidebook tourist sites. And, more importantly, i admit that i'm still looking for something that my gut says i can find on that island. I can't be any more specific than that because when i try, the words just do not come out of my fingers. I think that when the answer is clear, it will come out here — as i type. Until then, i have to be patient, and that is something i am reasonably good at..

In the meantime, i'll take more pictures and collect more information so that i can improve the web site. I'll use the two weeks each year to practice my Japanese, something i never use here at home anymore. I'll use the two weeks to meet friends and to make new ones. I'll use the trip to enjoy two weeks outdoors instead of in an office, and walking instead of driving or riding a train. I'll use the two week to collect memories of the wonderful people of Shikoku.

Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Modified for a book called A Tale of Two Trails, a henro once back home might write of his life and the time spent on the henro trail as: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was moments of selfless giving, it was moments of selfish taking, it was hours of beauty and untouched wilderness, it was hours of concrete and urban sprawl, it was days of unrelenting joy, it was days of unremitting pain, it was weeks of warm acceptance, it was weeks of uncalled for anger, it was the spring of blossoming wisdom, it was the winter of stubborn ignorance, we had everything, we had nothing, we wanted more, we needed less, we were going in circles, we were going ahead. In short, the henro trail was so much like our present lives that the most prominent of memories have insisted on being heard, for better or for worse, in the unsatisfactory vocabulary of contrasts and comparisons."

So, what else to say... Tom Ward and David Moreton (both Known Henro) will walk with me from Temple 11 to Temple 12 and then down the back side of the mountain to Uemura Ryokan. We're hoping to go up to the Okunoin of Temple 12 as well. I didn't do that back in 1999. On the 16th i'm meeting them again, along with Don Weiss (another Known Henro) for dinner in Tokushima City.

I leave in less than five days. I fly to Nagoya and then take the train to Ōsaka. From there i once again go up to Mt. Kōya to great our friend Mr. Daishi-sama. I wonder what he'll have to say to me this time — if he's even speaking to me.

More later.

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