October 28, 2009: The Last Remaining Natural River in Japan, A Shrine Dedicated to Sex, More of the 88 Temples

Shimanto-gawa

Temple 39

At Temple 39

At the sex shrine in Uwajima

This town is known for bull fights!

The infamous onsen place of Matsuyama

I sneaked into the temple and took a picture of its inner quarters

My hand is too small!

Me in front of Temple 51

Nakamura
I went to a place called Nakamura in Shikoku. I went to go see some dragonflies and the Shimanto-gawa river, one of the few naturally remaining rivers in Japan. It was a beautiful blue river that started wide and narrowed as it curved into the mountains. I had to cross the river to get to the dragonfly park and museum. The only thing that really pissed me off about Shikoku is its transportation system. There was the JR train that ran around the outermost parts of the island, and it only cut through the island once (this was through the middle). There were some buses, but in the most remote places, the buses ran twice a day, in others 5 times a day. The earliest bus that would take me across the river and to the museum was one at 1pm, and it was around 8:30am when I arrived. I walked and it took about 45 minutes to get across to the park and museum. It totally wasn’t worth it. No wonder the buses didn’t run until 1pm, no one wanted to go. Close to November, they told me there are no more dragonflies (unless I go far across into the mountains). I paid 850 yen to look at dead dragonflies and butterflies from all over the world, and some big fish swimming in their small tanks. I was disappointed, that’s to say the least. But the river was a beautiful view.

Temple 39: えんこうじ
In my henro attire I took the train. The temple was about a 30 minute walk away from the train station, so I was excited. I met a woman on the train, told her I am from NY and studying at Doshisha University. She told me she had a son who has been living in California for 5 years and someone that is close to her went to Doshisha University. Because of this she felt that it was fate that we met. Her name was Nishiyo. She asked me about my plans and I told her I wanted to get on the bus from Sukumo (a town slightly east from where I was currently, a few train stops away) to Urajima (it would take 2 hours or so by bus) to continue my adventure. She gave me her business card, and told me she would drive me to the bus stop after I went to Temple 39. She told me that her son experienced a lot of kindness in the US from strangers and she wanted to return the favor.

So, I gave her my phone number, and started walking straight down the highway. When I came to splits in the road, I pulled out my yellow henro walking guide book for guidance, occasionally asking the locals for directions. As I was walking the henro road, the woman from the train came driving up behind me and gave me a ride to the temple. I was already so close to the temple, but if she didn’t pick me up I would have never gotten on the bus in time.

The reason why I really wanted to go to this temple was because I love turtles, and one of the stamps you receive from this temple is a turtle. Not to mention there is a turtle statue with a big bell mounted on his back that is visible as you walk through the main gate. I rushed through throwing my 5 yen coin in the money basket in front of the temple, and walking in front of a group that was praying loudly together.

Nishiyo drove me to the station and directed me to the bus stop. She even gave me a small present (some powder that you mix with hot water and drink like tea that is from Nara)

Uwajima
I came here for one thing and one thing only. To go to Taga Jinga, a shrine dedicated to fertility, which coincidentally is right next to a sex museum. I asked a guy for directions, and he gave me the most shocked look. It’s almost worth going to this town just to watch people’s reactions as you ask for directions to this forbidden place. The shrine has a huge wooden penis placed right next to the temple, along with some penis statues. I went when sun started to set and it was pretty dark.
This town is also known for dog fights and bull fights, but because it wasn’t tourist season, I didn’t even bother trying to find out the schedule. Most likely there would be nothing going on.

Matsuyama
I finally arrived at Matsuyama well after nightfall. I took the tram to my nights stay: a super cheap place, 2100 yen. And it was atop a small hill so there was a beautiful view of the city. I meant to go to Dogo Onsen that night but was so tired and weary from my travels, and so lost amidst the many onsens all around the area that I walked into the wrong one. It was Dogo Onsen’s sister onsen that I walked into and although it’s the same water, I heard that it’s just not as luxurious. It was the onsen that the locals go to because Dogo is always crowded with tourists. I was exhausted, so I sat in the hot water for about 30 minutes before getting up to leave. Dogo Onsen is famous because long ago the royal family used to take a dip here. Because I knew that Dogo Onsen opened at 6am, the next morning I decided to wake at 6am and take a peaceful dip before all the tourists bombard the area. Even though it was 6am, I was surprised. With their cameras hung around their necks, tourists were already roaming the streets. And although I came to experience Dogo Onsen, in my weary just-woken-up state, I forgot that there were 3 different packages to choose from, and I chose the wrong one and ended up in the simple onsen on the 1st floor instead of the whole deal which includes the luxurious onsen on the 2nd floor, the one with the beautiful tiles along the walls that is raved about.

After I changed into my pilgrimage outfit and set out for the next temple on my list, #51 Ishite-ji. When I got to the place, it was around 7:15am and all was quiet except for the sweeping sounds of the brooms of the women who brushed the fallen leaves aside to make a clear path around the temple. I ventured into places I probably wasn’t supposed to enter. For instance, there was a temple building on the top of a staircase. Although the door to this temple was closed, there was no key and I was curious to see if it would open. Sliding the door, I saw the insides and marveled at the beautiful and colorful paintings on the walls of its interior. So this is what temples are made of, I thought to myself. Discerning by the huge spider webs around the area, I decided that the path I took was not often explored and that made the adventure to the top of this staircase and inside of the temple all the more exciting. I also ventured into the basement located behind one of the temple buildings. It was pretty dark, but not a long passageway, and at the end I was greeted by Buddha statues lined up against the wall in a semicircle fashion. There was also this huge pot where they burned incense that was in the center of this temple complex. I received my Nokyo-cho (stamp and signature by the priest of the temple) in my book and went on my way. I spent too much time leisurely walking around this interesting temple, and so I was forced to run back to the tram to get on the JR train in time. Running with a heavy backpack is not fun.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this city. Big but quiet, with a tram service that took you anywhere for 150 yen, it seemed to be just the right mix of nature (with its rolling hills and small mountains) and city.

October 27, 2009, Wednesday: Exploring a Cave for the First Time

And here I start my adventure.

Climbing up

Bats

My tour guide and me.

Tour guide`s family and me.

Ryugado: The CAVE Adventure

Yesterday I went to Ryugado, a cave in Tosa Yamada, a town near the big city of Kochi. It was definitely the highlight/climax of my trip. I called a few days in advance to make a reservation for the “adventure course.” I signed up for the 2pm tour, but because I was going from a bus, which there were only 5 a day and the latest bus that would get me their in time would arrive at 12:39pm, I decided to reschedule a few hours earlier day of for the 1pm, tour. I am glad I did because I don’t think I would have been granted the adventure otherwise.

Now I have never been in a cave before, much less seen one with my own eyes. I paid $15 (1500 yen) plus an extra $5 (500 yen) for an overall outfit rental. The tour guide book said it would be $30 total (3000 yen) for the adventure course, so I was a bit confused, but why complain.

I found out later that 2 other people signed up for the 2pm tour, so I would have been with a small group, but a group nonetheless. I am glad they allowed me to change last minute. I got a personal one-on-one tour. One of the tour guides heard that a study abroad student was coming and got very excited and insisted that she give me the tour. She was so bubbly and energetic and excited to meet me, and she spoke so very fast in Japanese; but she was truly awesome. She originally was from Osaka, but came to the town when she was a teenager and went to the local High School there. She worked part-time at the cave in HS and has been there ever since. Her name: Mitsuru.

So I found out later that the adventure course was—a climb into the even more inner reaches of the cave. They called it the B course. Apparently I didn’t pay for that. Even though I made the reservation for it. But my tour guide was awesome, remember? She said because I came all the way from NYC, she would show me the B course, on the house! Crawling through small holes that no ordinary fat American could fit through, I baely squeezed my shoulders and hips through at times. Climbing wet and slippery inclines with a rope, walking through water, and literally using my whole body (butt and back on one side/wall of the cave, feet on the other) to get across was thrilling. I climbed up place that my tour guide wouldn’t follow and watched me from a distance yelling, “Be careful!” Occasionally I would climb up but forget how I got up there, and had to carefully but blindly slide my feet across the way down to find some grip. There were places where it just looked like a 30 foot drop into darkness, and my tour guide assured me that it might look like a lengthy drop, but told me there were places for footing and that the floor is actually very close, not a deep drop at all. At first I was a little hesitant, but as I got used to the cave, I was sliding down and jumping into murky puddles that came up to my knees (not a good idea because water went inside my boots and I got really dirty and only brought 3 pairs of socks on this 5 day excursion). I also saw and heard tons of bats. I hoped that they would swoop down by me but they never did. They stuck to the ceiling no matter how much light we shined on them.

My tour guide also never hesitated to take a picture of me, and so I have too many. She took me through the B course as a secret, but her manager with the 2pm tour group found us, and she might have got in trouble for that. He gave her some rocks that he found in high places that might serve as a potential danger and ordered her to toss them in the water somewhere. She tossed the big one, and as a secret gave me the smaller one as a souvenir.

I insisted I was in no rush, and what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour tour turned into a 2.5 hour. Toward the end exhaustion kicked in, and I felt a bit light-headed, but kept this to myself and we kept moving on. At one point Mitsuru came up with the great idea that we should turn off our helmet lights and sit in complete darkness, to experience the darkness of the cave. Through this experience, I finally understand that us humans are not, and definitely never can be nocturnal. We sat there for about 5 minutes talking in Japanese, all the while I tried to get used to the dark surroundings. Sadly, as I put my hands before my eyes and admitted I could never get used to this darkness, I gave up. I couldn’t see anything—not even the trail before me or the trail behind. I have never been immersed in such darkness before and felt swallowed up by complete nothingness.

Although I didn’t panic, I felt stuck, useless, and immobile. I couldn’t go anywhere without light. Mitsuru turned on a very dim light but even then it felt so bright. We were using 2 lights to navigate the cave and even then I thought it was dark, but now I felt it was easily accomplishable with this singular dim light. Oh, and the appreciation for light develops! Thank you Con Edison!

Even though I made a reservation (the day before) at a cheap hotel in the next town, the woman never asked for my name or number and because Mitsuru insisted that I go stay at her place, I thought, why not? I felt dirty from crawling on my hands and knees and so Mitsuru even drove me to the nearby onsen (Ryugado onsen). Although it smelled slightly of chlorine and there was only one onsen, an indoor one, I basically had the place to myself and it did its job—I was relaxed and clean afterwards.

Then I went to Mitsuru’s house. She had 2 huge houses right next to each other. Her parents lived in the older one next door, and she and her family lived in the huge new one. She had 2 boys (ages 5 and 8) and a husband that comes home a bit late from work, as well as a really cute dog. I slept upstairs in a very clean, spacious room. And dinner was amazing. We drank beer, I ate some sashimi (Tuna), and Kochi’s specialty fish (I forgot the name, maybe it was a kind of bonito), kabocha (pumpkin), rice from this year, beef, pork, peppers, mushroom, everything. It was all so delicious. And then we had desert. Mitsuru also tried to help me to tighten my plan for the next day and let me use her computer and internet.
In the morning I was fed breakfast and driven to the station and she bought me lunch, too. I was treated so well by complete strangers that took me into the security of their home. It amazes me that people even with small children could welcome a complete stranger into their house. Japan is amazing.

October 27, 2009, Tuesday: Rise Before the Sunrise to a Vine Bridge

Tokushima-ken

I woke up at 5am and left at 5:50am. The place where I stayed at for the night, near Temple 3, drove me to the train station before sunrise. I bought a 4 day ticket to use the JR train unlimitedly in this island; it costs 20000 yen ($200). After that, my wallet has never been the same.

I got on the first train out of town to Ohboke to see Kazura-bashi. A bridge made of vine, it hangs above an emerald green river. To cross the bridge, which should be for free, costs 500 yen. It kind of pissed me off that Japan makes such natural wonders and temples a tourist commodity. Tourists desperately hold on and with every shaky step the bridge sways and shudders. You literally have to watch your step or you will most definitely fall through the wooden planks that are tied together with the vine. My whole foot could fit through the wide spaces. I tried to suck it up and just walk in the middle of the bridge without holding on to the handrail, but it was enough work just trying to hold the camera and keep it steady to take pictures. The water below the bridge was a beautiful emerald green color (as was all the water around this area as I saw from riding the train).
Then I went to see Biwa-no-taki, a 50m waterfall. I have never seen a waterfall before, and though it was nothing compared to Niagara Falls for sure, I wished I could take a dip in the emerald green pond below it. If only it was a bit warmer and less touristy.

I was misinformed that there would be a bus in a timely fashion that would get me to the train station so I could catch the next train out of town to visit a cave. That only happens during tourist season, and unfortunately this wasn’t tourist season. Luckily the tiny store nearby my walk to the vine bridge had a nice old woman who would call and ask the train schedules for me and call me a taxi. I paid $30 (3000 yen) for that 15 minute ride taxi. I was so pissed. I already paid $8.80 (880 yen) to get there by bus earlier.

As I was sitting on the train, I was contemplating why I came to this island, Shikoku. Why I liked the country so much more than a big city and came to a realization. Most people who live in the country, much more so than those who live in the city, stay in the country. It doesn’t work the other way around. But even if they leave the country, their house will most likely be in their family for years, maybe even generations to come. These people, then, would always have a place to call home, a home that belongs to them, not some coop that’s rented out monthly, but a place with a backyard and a garage and fresh air. These people always have a place to call home, somewhere calm, somewhere peaceful and quiet, a place where a home belongs. Coming from a big city, my home is an apartment, which we moved from 5-6 times within the past 20 years of my existence. In actuality, where is my home? It has become impermanent, intangible, a concept that might exist in my mind but nowhere else. My house, my home, is something I have created temporarily as a place where I can live, but I don’t own this comfort, at least not for long.

Even though the country is not my home, it brings me a sense of relief, a sense of tranquility that I only wish I could call my own.

October 26, 2009, Monday: Hello 88 Temples of Shikoku!

In the three hour bus ride to Tokushima, Shikoku from Kyoto (from my journal that I wrote it as I travelled):


10/26/09-12:02pm

The bus makes a stop for a 5 minute rest. There is nothing but ocean to the right. As the typhoon completes its course, the sky is a peach color—almost as if it is sun rise. The ocean reflects this welcoming sky with a misty pink. The slopes of the surrounding mountains are intricate yet beautiful and as the remaining mist floats above the mountain peaks I feel at peace.


10/26/09-roughly 1:00pm

Walked from Temple 1-3. It took about 2 hours in all. I took a train from the big city of Tokushima to the bandou train station and Temple 1 was very close by. I bought my gear and it all felt like a rush. The experience was a blur, beauty I took for granted because I was eager to get to Temple 4 or 5. I forgot temples close at 5:00pm and they prefer if no one came after 4:30pm. Yep, that’s the country all right for you. Next time I won’t let that stop me from going from temple to temple. I don’t need the stamp/signature of the priest to prove my worth (“trophy”) of the temple, I am here for the experience.

Walking through 1-3 was all highway and thru quiet neighborhoods that were populated with old fashioned houses that at most had a second floor. There were such few people and it was so quiet that I thought I was walking through a ghost town. I have decided to enjoy my trip rather than rush from temple to temple trying to get the “trophy.” I need to soak in the atmosphere and what good would rushing do if I am unable to accomplish just that?

As I packed up my henro wear (the outfit worn during the pilgrimage) in my backpack, tomorrow I will be a plain tourist.

October 24-25, 2009: The Bridge to Heaven

My Fall Break started by going to one of Japan’s ‘three great views,’ Amanohashidate, translated as the Bridge to Heaven. My host father drove for about 2.5 hours north of Kyoto city, felt like 4 or 5 because we took so many breaks in between to get lunch/etc. We stayed at a really nice hotel by the beach (and I was the guest of honor!) and I have wanted to swim for the longest, so we all brought our bathing suits and got in the pool for about 30 minutes. It was a shallow pool, but felt nice to get some exercise. Then we had dinner together, and drank some alcohol/beer. In the morning, they woke me up early to see the sun rise out of the ocean. It was beautiful. I only wished it was warmer so I could have swum in the ocean!

The ‘bridge’ of Amanohashidate is actually a long, narrow strip of sand covered with thousands of pines trees (8000 pine trees with hundred of different species) and surrounded on both sides with water. It is 3.5 km in length and at both ends is a ropeway with a beautiful view from above (one side much more heavily populated with tourists than the other). There was a cable car, but also a chairlift. I have never been on a chairlift and was a little anxious at first, but going down is definitely scarier than coming up. Although I was quite fearless, not holding on, squirming in my seat and waving like a 5 year old to my host mother and father, who were a seat in front and a seat behind me, my host father told me I should hold on tight. When we got to the top, the view was beautiful. I never could have imagined that nature could create something like it. I kept asking questions to my host family in Japanese like, “did that happen naturally?” or “did someone plant all those trees there or did it just happen?” and was surprised to hear that it’s a natural phenomenon. And here my appreciation for natural has developed even more so.

Ever since I’ve come to Japan, I have slowly developed an appreciation for nature that I’ve never had. I was such a litterbug in America, not caring about throwing garbage on the streets because I knew it was someone’s job to do it anyway, and no one really seemed to care (minus some of my OCD tree-hugging friends). In Japan, I never throw garbage on the streets, recycle, and because there rarely is a garbage can on the streets, I bring my garbage home with me. Who knew I would grow up into such a responsible adult! At home in Kyoto, I even separate my garbage. My host family doesn’t even dump the oil used to fry foods down the drain, and instead goes out of their way to spend money at the supermarket buying this white powder that makes oil into a solid substance, thereby creating it into a disposable substance that will not harm the environment. I have never heard of this before, do people even do this in America? Does this substance even exist in America?

Anyway, I kind of took a detour, but back onto my weekend. Anyway, seeing Amanohashidate from the top is breath-taking. But, there is this weird custom. Everyone bends over and views the bridge through their legs and it’s supposed to make Amanohashidate look like it’s ‘floating.’ Well, I had to try this, and I tried a couple of times and didn’t understand the whole floating idea. So I gave up and took a picture of my host mom performing this feat. We also all rented bicycles and roamed the bridge of Amanohashidate. It was a nice bicycle ride through the enormous pine trees. At the end of Amanohashidate is a huge temple and tons of little shops. We also went to a famous temple on top of a mountain nearby and the bus ride up was so rocky and curvy that I was literally smashed from one side of the bus to the other as we went up.

Earlier that day we took a boat tour to Ine, a village in between the mountains that makes their living by fishing. Each house is connected to the sea with a garage for their boats and it has been like this for hundreds of years (maybe centuries). I was surprised that people can live and flourish in such a seemingly desolate place.

My host family and I also fished together, and it was so easy to catch so many little fish. They were about 2-3 inches in length and we caught about 65. That night we fried the fish and ate them all. It was so fresh and tasty. I never ate fish that I have caught myself and felt quite proud of myself. I wanted to do it the next day, but we didn’t have time.