{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--Thoughts during Week One--

Took my normal commute train to the city and then hopped on the 'L' to O'Hare. Was at the airport and the gate by 9:30, but since my plane didn't leave until 12:45, i had a long wait. The time passed farly quicly, though, and it didn't seem all that long until we were loaded and on our way. On time! We left right at 12:45. This is only the second day of American Airline's service to Nagoa and the plane wasn't all that full. I was surprised because i thought that the really low airfares would have people clammoring for seats.

So far i'm impressed with the day and the service. It has been as close to perfect as i can imagine and i thought my fears of Daishi-dama still being mad and not talking to me were unfounded.

Three thirty. Almost three hours into the flight, and i, like most of the other passengers were starting to drift off to sleep after a pretty good meal. Then came the announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you may have noticed that we are making a left turn. We have a slight mechanical problem that prevents us from flying across the ocean. We are going to divert to Los Angeles because there you have the best possibility of making connections on to Japan."

OK, so there will be a little delay. That's not such a big deal. And at least LA is on the west coast and we are making progress....

Three thrity-five. "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to bother you again, but we are turning around and heading back to Chicago. American Airlines thinks the best thing to do is to just go back to where we started and leave again with a new plane. We anticipate arriving in Chicago around 5:30."

OK, so the delay might be a little longer, but at least there won't be the hassle of looking for a connecting flight. Head back to Chicago, grab a new plane, and leave again.....

Four thirty. "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to bother you again, but just to keep you informed, the problem was a faulty fuel indicator and we are not allowed to fly across the ocean with this type of problem. Sorry. We anticipate arriving about 5:45 and agents will be available to assist you." I note an ominous lack of mention of the new plane theory.

Five fifty. We land and pull off the runway with everyone on the left side of the plane noticing that the runway next to ours is blocked by police cars, and every firetruck and ambulance at O'hare was either sitting there or racing down the adjacent runway following us as we slowed to a stop. For a faulty fuel indicator??????? I think not!.

Six o'clock. Still sitting on the taxiway when the captain comes on: "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to bother you, but we are going to be here another 5 to 10 minutes while they clear the equipment from around the landing gate so we can pull in and park." Come on, what were they doing for the past two and a half hours.

Six twenty. "Ladies and gentlemen, when we deboard, everyone in business and first class line up at gate L6, everyone in economy class please line up at gate L8. Agents there will help book you on other fights and/or give you hotel and food coupons as necessary......" It's now official — American Airlines has one flight a day to Nagoya and they aren't going to change that policy just to make a few hundred passengers happy, even if that one flight today didn't make it half way there before having to turn around.

Nine o'clock, i finally get to the front of the line at gate L8 after standing on my feet for over two and a half hours. I am booked on the same flight tomorrow (Tuesday) and given a hotel coupon for a hotel back towards the city and a dinner and breakfast coupon, neither of which is enough to even cover a basic meal.

Nine forty five. Finally got off the shuttle bus and to the front of the new line at the check in desk at the hotel. Was given a room and told where the restaurant is.

So where does that leave me at the end of my first day of vacation — and a long 14 hours and forty-five minutes after leaving home this morning? In a hotel near downtown Chicago waiting to startover again tomorrow.

I guess Kōbō is still really mad.

--Tuesday & Wednesday, 4/5 & 4/6--
The flight was flawless and on time today. Left right at 12:45 Tuesday afternoon and got to Nagoya right at 3:45 Wednesday afternoon. Couldn't have asked for a better flight or better flying conditions.

American Airlines never did tell us anything different about the problems with yesterday's airplane, but someone in the waiting area at O'Hare said that a stewardess told him that there was a hydraulic leak. Once they discoverd it, they originally planned to go to LA so that we could make connections to Japan, but quickly realized it was worse than originally thought and that is why they changed their mind and turned us around for the trip back to O'hare. As i heard it, O'Hare was about 30 minutes closer than LA and they were worried enough that they wanted that 30 minutes in the bank. That would expalin all the ambulances, firetrucks, and police cars as well — hydraulics are used to operate the landing gear, and airlines prefer to have those down when planes land.

When i checked at information at the Nagoya airport, it turns out that you have to take the train from the airport in to Nagoya City to catch connecting trains to anywhere else, including Ōsaka. My information from the internet says that i was supposed to be able to get from Nagoya to Ōsaka in about 3 hours. Given that i was out of customs by 4 o'clock, and then adding an hour to figure out the system, buy a train ticket from the airport to Nagoya, and then get to Nagoya on that train, that should have put me in Ōsaka at about 8 o'clock. What i missed somewhere was that this time was based on your paying the extra money and taking the express train that misses all the local stops. I didn't do that so arrived at 9 o'clock.

I had to ransfer trains several times during the trip. I changed once between the airport and Nagoya Station, and then twice between Nagoya Station and Ōsaka-Namba Station. While waiting at one of the stations between Nagoya and Ōsaka, i called the temple i was scheduled to stay at tonight and cancelled my room. There was no way i as going to make it. The trains would have shut down while i was still halfway there. At the same time i made a reservation there for the night of the 17th. Since i can't go before going over to Shikoku, i will do so when i am finished on Shikoku. Then from Mt Kōya i'll go straight to Nagoya.

I also called the hotel i had a room at for Tuesday night and was told that they were full. So, when i got to Ōsaka, i had no room and knew i had to find one. I was lucky because the first station employee i asked immediately pulled out a map and pointed me to a business hotel right next to the station. I went, they had a room, and i was checked in by 9:20, twenty four and a half hours after i got up. I am so tired, that i am not going to go back out and look for anywhere to eat. I'm just going to type this, relax, and go to sleep.

I was really dumb today. I came to the Ōsaka-Nambu area simply because that is where i would find the train up to Mt. Kōya. I knew, however, even before leaving the US, that getting there today would be impossible and that i would be going straight to Shikoku tomorrow. Since the busses for Shikoku leave from the Ōsaka-Umeda area on the north side of town, i should have gone there instead. I only came to Namba because i was on autopilot and not thinking. Tomorrow morning i willl now have to go to take the subway to Umeda to find the bus station that will get me to Tokushima. Should still arrive in Tokushima by late morning, even if i take my time and eat a slow breakfast.

--Thursday, 4/7--
Was up early this morning. I woke up at 4:15 and just couldn't get back to sleep. I laid in the dark until 5:30, but gave up after that and turned on the light to read. A look out the window shows that it is raining — not very hard, but it will be a wet morning. Luckily i'll be in train stations and protected until i leave for Shikoku. I think.

Will leave in a little while to find some breakfast and the subway to Umeda on the north side of the city. I should be able to find a telephone at the train station to upload this page at the same time.

After dinner
Found a telephone at Ōsaka Station, but could never get it to work. Wasn't sure what was wrong so i gave up for the morning.

I broke my first law this morning. When i went to stand in line for the subway to Umeda, a station employee motioned for me to look down. I had no clue what he was trying to say so told him i didn't understand. He came over and said "woman." That's it. At that, i noticed that i was the only man in the line so i then did look down and saw that the sign on the floor said that this was a line for a women's only car of the train. And when i looked under the feet of the women at the front of the line, i saw some English that probably did say the same thing. The funny part of this to me wasn't just that i was in the wrong line and had to be told to get out of it, but that NONE of the women in the same line had said anything to me. None. I think they would all have let me get on the train and still said not a word. That's how difficult it is for many Japanese to speak to foreigners. Fundamentally, though, there has to be something wrong with a culture that has such a problem with its men groping its women in public that the trains have to set up women only cars.

Found the bus center at the train station and booked a ticket for the 9:00 departure to Tokushima Station where i was scheduled to meet David Moreton. After we departed, guess where the first stop of the trip was? If you said the Namba Station, and less than 100 yards from the hotel i stayed in last night you get the prize. I couldn't believe i had just taken the subway to Umeda just so i could bring a bus back to Namba! It reminds me of when i arrived in Wakayama-shi back in 1999 and took a taxi from the train station to the hotel i was staying in that night. It was raining lightly and i thought it was about a 10 minute drive away, but it turned out to be a block and a half. The driver was probably laughing from the second he picked me up, and was also probably back at the station before i got from the front door to the check in desk. :-)

Got to Tokushima at about 11:30 and met David in the TOPIA offices above the train station. Had lunch and then a few enjoyable hours talking about the henro michi and his research. He verified that i was reading the telephone right and trying to call in correctly while i was there, but we still couldn't get it to work. A little before 3 i took a bus to Ryōzenji (Temple 1), bought my supplies, and visited the Hondō and Daishidō.

The rain that was falling this morning stopped about halfway to Tokushima, and by the time i caught the bus to Ryōzenji there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It turned out to be a beautiful clear day with temperatures of about 70 degrees. Friday and Saturday are forecast to be the same, with rain coming in on Sunday and lasting all next week.

The cherry blossom trees (sakura) are in full bloom right now and are incredibly beautiful. Even more so than i remember them from last time. There are trees with blooms that are sparkling white, some with the slightest tinge of pink in them, and others are are so dark pink as to verge on a light red. And, they are everywhere. The ryokan owner told me that the trees in the mountains still aren't at full bloom, so i could get lucky and be walking there when they reach that stage. In any case, there will be sakura trees in bloom the whole time i am here.

Coming over to Tokushima on the bus i realized once again how in awe i am of the humble yamazakura tree (mountain cherry blossom). It is just impossible to describe to someone who hasn't seen them how beautiful they are. An entire mountain may be covered in trees in all shades of green, and then here and there, grabing your attention, as if living apostrophes, are white or pink yamazakura tree jumping out above the canapy of the other trees in this amazing splash of color.

Most of you out there just don't know what kind of heaven i am in right now. Check in at about 4:30, relax and have a cup of green tea for a half hour, take a hot bath and soak for 15 minutes in pure bliss, eat a dinner of the best food on the entire planet, and then relax in front of a good baseball game on the TV. If this is heaven, then i'm going to convert to Christianity. It can't be any of the Buddhist Paradises, because we all know those are predominantly asian and they wouldn't let foreigners in, so it must be the good old Christian variety.

After dinner i reread the setup files for GOL, and i think i might see my problem with trying to dial into the GOL servers. Have fixed that and will try and upload this again tomorrow morning.

--Friday, 4/8--
Woke up to a wonderful sunny morning with the temperature in the mid-sixties. It was beautiful — even if it was only 5:30 when i woke up.

Had a breakfast of many things, but the highlight was the slice of salmon. I think i drooled for the first hour on the road. I'm still drooling just sitting here and thinking about it. Was out on the road at 7:00, and after taking another picture of Ryozenji, immediately headed west along the road towards Temple 2.

By 9:00 the winds had picked up, the sky had clouded over, and it looked like certain rain. It was even chilly enough with the winds that i broke out a long sleeve shirt to put on. That lasted until around noon when everything cleared up again and we were left with a cloudless sky and a temperature around 72. That was a little hot for the climb up to Taisanji, the first of the bangai temples on the trip. Taisanji is at about 450 meters, or just under 1,500 ft, and the climb is pretty steep at times. Being the first test of my legs, though, i was reasonably happy with the outcome.

By this time in 1999, i had blisters on the front and back of both feet. The climb up and down from Taisanji is difficult for day one — your feet and legs haven't been hardened yet. Tonight, i can say that there isn't one blister in sight. Using the language of the dictatorial Nationalist politicans in Washington right now, i could say that i have two 'areas of interest' on two toes of my right foot, but if i followed their logic i'd have to say they don't look like my other toes now so they should be amputated. Perform a preemtive stirke and get rid of them before any problems can spread. But, those 'areas of interest,' so to speak, aren't blisters and since tomorrow is all on relatively flat land, i don't think i'll even tape them. I don't think i climb over 150 m (495 ft) at any of the temples tomorrow. Today goes in the victory column for the feet. The next test comes on Sunday when we make the climb up to Shosanji, Temple 12, which stands at 700 meters, or 2,300 ft.

Met an American from Portland on the road this afternoon. Never thought to ask his name, but he was just finishing after 45 days. He was relaxing and having tea just east of Temple 4. As another example of how small the world is, he stopped because someone was offering passersby tea in celebration of the Buddha's birthday today. As they sat and talked, it dawned on both of them (the American living in Portland and the Japanese living here on Shikoku) that they both had the same teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. AND, neither knew the other existed before this. Coincidences. If it hadn't been Buddha's birthday, the Japanese wouldn't have been sitting outside, and the American wouldn't have stopped. I wouldn't have then run across the two of them or met the American who lives in the same town as Zen Parry does. He didn't know her, but i told him to look her up.

Walked with a girl from Gifu Prefecture for about an hour today. She decided she need to walk the trail so quit her job and came to Shikoku. I asked her why she had to walk and her answer was a series of 'Oh that's difficult. That would be hard to explain.' I offered that the trail would be a time to think about things, and she basically agreed and said that was true. When i made a right turn to start the climb to Taisanji, she kept going west towards Temples 6 and 7. Very very few henro ever go to the bangai temples. They are out of the way and usually in very hard to get to places — which usually translates as at the end of very steep and long climbs.

On the way up to Taisanji i ran across a retired man from Yokohama so we walked together during the second half of the uphill climb and all the way back down. This is his third trip around the island and we spent those hours sharing stories of the bangai temples and talking about baseball. There are two new teams in the Japanese leagues this year and neither is doing all that well.

In '99, i got lost going up to Taisanji and again on the way down. Completly lost with no clue where i was. That meant i didn't check in to my minshuku for the night until around 5:00. This time, i never got lost and only once on the way back down found myself in a place that wasn't exactly where i thought i was and not exactly where i wanted to be. But, since i wasn't lost, i knew how to get back on track and found myself in front of the minshuku at 3:30. They let me check in and i went through my normal routine. Relax with a cup of green tea for a half hour and then down to the bath. After my first hard day, i soaked in the tub for about 20 minutes and just let the heat soak away the fatigue in my legs. The water temperature was just right, hot enough that i had to work at getting myself to sit down, but not so hot that i couldn't finally do it. And then the heat takes over and sucks everything bad right out of your body. Ahhhhhhh......

I stayed at the same minshuku in '99 as i am staying tonight. I told the owner when i checked in that i could remember exactly what i had for dinner when i was here last time and how it tasted. She didn't beleive me so i told her and she said i was right. Tonights meal was everything i remembered and more. It starts with a ceramic bowl about 6 inches deep and 10 inches in diameter on a single burner hot plate, with a burner instead of a heating coil. In that put some broth of some kind and then add a little of about a dozen vegetables. As everything cooks, you take it out as you want it. And as you eat that down, you have a separate plate with more of the same. I recognized cabbage, lettuce, carrots, tofu, and mushrooms (2 varieties). There were others that i didn't know the name. Then there were a few slices of beef to put in, a HUGE shrimp (about 5 inches long), some octapus, some eel, and some salmon. Then when you get tired of that, there is a bowl of undon noodles that you put in to cook and eat those with the other vegetables. Of course there is still rice. As desert there are a few slices of apple and several cups of green tea. Delicious doesn't do it justice.

I didn't see a gray telephone all day so couldn't upload anything. I'll continue looking tomorrow. I didn't see a convenience store all day either so couldn't buy a postcard. For that matter, i couldn't even find anything for lunch so went hungry. But, even if i had found a postcard, i didn't pass any post offices so couldn't have sent one.

One thing so far this first day is different than last time. The temples, themselves, don't seem to interest me all that much. It's not like i'm trying not to enjoy them, but they seem nothing more than rest stops this time. Of course i light a candle and incense at both the Hondō and the Daishidō, and i chant the Heart Sutra at each, but i just don't have much interest other than that. I don't hang around like i did last time and am much more anxious just to get back out walking and talking to people i pass and meet.

It feels so, so, very good to find myself exhausted at the end of a good day of hiking, a bath, and a great meal. It's sort of like running a marathon; at the end, you are exhausted and us mere mortals can barely walk. Yet, somehow that exhaustion feels good. Mentally it feels like you proved to your self once again that, while there are limits to our bodies and minds, we have the ability to stretch those limits at will and the ability to move those limits out farther and farther with serious work. This walk is the same; how hard can you push yourself? Can you go to the edge and walk back under your own power? You don't really push yourself that hard here, but you do work yourself very hard going to and from the mountain temples, and the tiredness and relief when you stop for the night feels great.

Someone is downstairs chanting their evening sutras, so with that i will stop writing and enjoy the sound before laying down to read.

--Saturday, 4/9/2005--
Finally found a phone today, but that's beacuse my ryokan for tomight is a half hour off the henro trail and near a train station. You can always find the gray telepones at a train station so i stopped there and uploaded this page before going and checking in for the night.

Got an early and uneventful start. Thought it was rather funny when near Temple 8 a couple in a van stopped me to ask directions to Temple 9. It seems that it would never occur to most Japanese that a foreigner can even speak the language, let alone know enough to ask driving directions. But, once you put on the henro garb, you automatically have magical powers and everyone knows we then know everything. :-)

At Kirihataji, Temple 10, a group of women were out handing out small bags of goodies to henro. In return all they asked for was one of my osamefuda, the name slips that we leave in a box at each temple with our name and address on them. The bag contained a banana, some nuts, and a can of tea. Since it was about 11 o'clock already, i was hungry and devoured all but the tea, which i saved for later.

Later, around 2 o'clock, i was hungry again so on the road to Fujiidera, Temple 11, i stopped at a small grocery store like you might find in a small, isolated faming town — i.e., not anything like what most of us think of when we think of a grocery store. I bought a small bento lunch of rice with beans and several kinds of vegetables. The owner gave me the chopsticks to use to eat it, and then told me i could sit right there in the store and eat it. After clearing a spot on a crate near the cash register to sit on, he then went in the back and had his mother make me some grean tea to drink with it. We chatted while i ate and when i left he gave me three bananas for desert.

A little further down the road, a small, grandmotherly looking woman waved me over to her side of the street to give me a present. It was a very small cloth bag about 4 in long by 2 inches tall (10 cm by 5 cm) with a nice pattern in it, and it was full of candy and a slip of paper that i haven't read yet. She made me take everything out of it and then showed me how to open it, close it, and how to attach it to the bag i carry with my stamp book, candles, and incense so i could use it to carry change for offerings at the temples. She then went on to tell me that it is a heso-dome. Anyone out there know what a heso-dome is? Your heso is your belly button and i know this is what she was referring to because when i pointed to it she nodded her head. Dome is probably from the verb 'To Stop.' So whatever this bag is for it has something to do with stopping your belly button. After she showed it to me she decided i needed another bag, which was bigger, but not a heso-dome. Don't have a clue yet what i will use them for.

Two and a half blisters finally popped up on my right foot today. I knew it was starting as i left Temple 8 but figured i could make it to Temple 9 before stopping to tape them up. Bad idea, by then it was too late. Two of them are minor and may be almost nothing by even tomorrow. The one on my little toe, however is of decent size. I stopped again halfway between Temples 10 and 11 to take the tape off and put on new because it had shifted in my sock. I'll have to retape them again before leaving in the morning.

Tomorrow is the climb up to Shosanji, Temple 12. Tom Ward and David Moreton (both are Known Henro) are going to meet me here at the ryokan at 6:20 in the morning and we'll set out then. It will take us a half hour just to get back to Temple 11 where we pick up the trail head. From there, we go up to the top of a mountain range, down the back side, up to the top of the next range and down the back side of that one as well. We then get to climb to the top of the mountain where we will find Shosanji. If we're lucky we'll make it in between five and five and a half hours. After a short brealk we'll take an hour to visit the okunoin (inner temple) at the very peak of the mountain above the main temple. From there, we head down (with a few ups in the middle) another 10 km (6 miles) to the ryokan where two of us will spend the night. All in all we are expecting about 12 hours on the trail. It will be a long and hard day (and i'm pooped after just 9 hours on the trail today).

Speaking of roads, i think they have rerouted parts of the trail since i was here in '99. I seemed to spend very little time on the side of major highways yesterday and today. The vast majority of the time i am on small one and two lane roads in quiet residential areas of the towns i pass through. It has been very pleasant, especially with clear skies and temperatures around 70. The forcast is predicting a 50% chance of rain tomorrow. I'm hoping they are wrong.

--Sunday, 4/10/2005--
Too exhausted to write. The trip up to Shosanji, Temple 12, then up to the Okunoin at the top of the mountain and back, and then another 10km (6 miles) to the ryokan where we spent the night was a long and very hard day, but extremely enjoyable. Tom and Dave showed up as planned and we left the ryokan this morning at 6:30. We got to the ryonkan tonight at 6:00. Great scenery, walked with two great people, and walked over four mounain ranges, i think. My legs are tired, i have blisters on my right foot, and i'm sunburned, but i'm having a great time! I'll write tomorrow — tonight was just for dinner, sit around with a few beers and chat with Tom, the owner, and another guest, and then straight to bed.

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