After a long, fitful night I awoke around dawn. It was peaceful, and I might have even enjoyed the “camping” if I was better prepared. With the sky lightened by the rising sun, there was no compelling reason to continue laying uncomfortably, so I got up and, after a bit of pacing around to warm up, changed out of the multiple layers of warm clothes into what I’d be wearing for the day. I spent some time fiddling with my luggage and a length of rope I picked up at a Daiso the previous night. I know there must be some way to rope the suitcase to my back. Unfortunately, I had bought bicycle rope (bungee cord material) which was a little too stretchy to be of any use.
The next temple was very close. Despite being so early, there were already a handful of worshippers. I was prepared to wait around until 7 when the temple office opened to get my book stamped and signed, but it wasn’t necessary. Monks wake up early. So, as part of the 88-temple circuit, you collect inkstamps and a page of calligraphy as proof that you have visited (if not worshipped) at each of the temples. Of course, one has to pay (a flat rate of 300 yen) for that proof. With the 20 dollar book that it all goes into, it will be a very expensive book by the time it is completed. Nevertheless, it might be the most exciting part of the pilgrimage–to watch so many experienced hands deftly handle a brush and ink stone.
On my way to the next temple, I popped into a convenience store for a coffee and breakfast, enjoying a bit of a break with free Wi-Fi. After the second temple, I saw on the map that I was pretty close to a beach, so I took a short detour to enjoy the scenery. I spotted a Daiso and popped in for another batch of supplies (a second picnic blanket for more coverage, a hat to block the sun*, proper rope, and an impulse purchase of a snack). As the next temple was some 34.6 km away and I was dragging luggage, I decided not to spend the day on a arduous trek and hopped a train at the next village station. Another old Japanese woman stroke up a conversation with me while she was waiting for her train headed the other way.
The train was fairly crowded and I almost regretted not walking as I saw how close we were to the coastline and how most of the highway had some sort of sidewalk alongside it. I still had a 4 km hike from the train station to the next temple. Afterwards, I followed the marked path over a cemetary hill (which required a few stretches of physically lifting my suitcase), but otherwise it wasn’t much of a problem dragging my suitcase along city streets. Other than the sheer exhaustion of a heavy backpack and a heavy suitcase. I visited two more temples before calling it quits.
Along the route, I kept noticing the same fellow pilgrims at each of the temples. We walked at different paces but due to various factors we kept overtaking each other. Other than a visual recognition, there was no real comraderie, however. Before my last temple, I spotted an Aeon and decided to make a quick pass to look at blankets and backpacks. The biggest backpacks were more reasonable priced, but with the soreness in my shoulders I knew there was no way I was going to fit all my stuff in a backpack and carry on as if that was an improvement. Getting back on track and running into the slower of the henro at an intersection, a woman rushed up on her bicycle. I assumed I was in her way or something, but she popped off and dug out some coins to offer us. Wow.
On the way out of the last temple, I saw my first foreigner for some time. He was strolling up from the parking lot with his Asian girlfriend. They gave me a look, and I was reminded of how ridiculous I am doing this in the most difficult manner imaginable. I stopped for the night at a henro hut about a kilometer on the way to the next temple. It was a fairly basic shelter next to and taken care of by the nursing home. It faced an empty unpaved parking lot. I half expected at least one other henro to come along at some point but no one ever showed. I’ve seen bedrolls and other camping gear strapped to some backpacks, so I assume others are also sleeping rough.
My feet were super sore and I changed into sandals to let them rest. I dumped my stuff, not really caring if anyone would disturb it and hobbled over to a nearby Family Mart to use the restroom and have dinner. Not wanting to linger too long, I was back at the shelter by 8. I put on a podcast, and dozed off. The night was a few degrees warmer and I slept on a bench with “walls” on three sides, long enough to stretch out and wide enough to roll over. Maybe I was just too tired, but I slept fairly alright other than waking up because I had kicked off all the covers.
32964 steps for the day.
| Breakfast at Lawsons | 400 |
| Temples x 5 | 1500 |
| Daiso supplies | 486 |
| Train Ticket | 550 |
| Family Mart Lunch | 453 |
| Family Mart Dinner | 908 |
| Total: | 4297 JPY (275 RMB) (USD 40.85) |
Running Total: 27428.9 RMB (USD 4074.16)
Daily Average: 301 RMB (USD 44.77)
*So part of the traditional henro gear is a conical straw hat. I think it would be a little too weird to wear that, or at least, I could definitely see how posting photos of me in it would be edging on racism. Fortunately, the idea of paying 20 dollars for a straw hat made it an easy choice. I picked up a straw hat (in a more Western looking style) at Daiso for $1.50.