I was awake at first light. I packed up quickly and hit the road. The overnight rest did not do much to mitigate the pain, tiredness, and exhaustion, but I was able to move a little bit faster.
As soon as the sun cleared the horizon, I busted out the solar charger and started the slow process of recovering my phone power. It was a good hour long walk to the first temple of they and I came across a convenience store about 2/3 of the way there. I stopped for a quick bite to eat, standing in the parking lot before pushing on the final distance.
It was just after 7am when I reached Ichinomiya-ji (83). I dropped my stuff next to a familiar backpack and looked around to find the German guy. I explained what happened to me last night hoping for some sympathy. I got none. He had made it all the way here on foot yesterday after closing and camped out at a temple next door, where quite a few people also stayed.
When I collected my stamp and the Noukyosho office, the calligrapher gave me a little osettai (rock sugar?), creating a symmetry with the first temple of the first day (where I was given a handful of chocolates). I wandered south of the temple to find the Kotoden rail station and save myself the 5km trek into town. At the Hanazono station, I hopped off and hobbled over to the guesthouse I had booked. I had emailed the owner about dropping off my stuff in the morning, and he was in the living room chatting with some guests when I showed up. He actually checked me in at 8am, and I got rid of everything (including my computer for the first time) before heading back out the door.
It was a pretty long walk to the next temple, which was on top of another mountain (Yashima–which means “roof island”). En route, I swung by a 7-Eleven to grab a 2L bottle of water and a package of peanuts. I would have preferred a supermarket or drug store, but it was still too early for any of the ones I passed. The road up Yashima was busy with hikers and joggers. I met a little old lady and walked with her the final stretch up the hill. The conversation was limited, but I learned this was her 500th time up Yashima (in 10 years). Towards the top, there was a little box with a folder inside where locals could put a check mark next to their name. A bulletin board listed the climbing records of about a hundred people participating in this community activity.
The namesake Yashima temple was quite nice, and it had a garden section I did NOT visit because it entailed an entrance fee. The sun was high in the sky and bright and the views of the city from the tabletop plateau were quite breathtaking.
The next temple was on a neighboring mountain, which meant I had to climb all the way down (the onward path) walk 40 minutes across, then head back up. On the way, I passed a very famous udon restaurant (recommended by the LP). Being nearly noon, I thought I might pop in for a quick bite. I was mistaken. The place was packed. So I carried on. In order to save time and energy, I took the funicular up the second mountain (enjoying a half price ticket as a foreigner). I didn’t spend too much time on top of that mountain either, completing the rituals in a perfunctory manner and taking a minute at a lookout point.
I rode the funicular back down and swung back by the restaurant, assuming the lunch rush was over by 1 pm. It was even more packed. I saw the hostess had about six sheets in her hand, I counted roughly 100 people milling about the courtyard (it was a really old, traditional building). Giving up, I headed down to the Kotoden rail station to take another shortcut. On the way down, I realized there was a queue of maybe 50 cars waiting to get into the parking lot of the restaurant. Holy fcking cow, this is insane. Most of the cars were from different cities on different islands. These people had driven all the way here (or were here anyways on holiday) just for these noodles.
It was a good thing I bought those peanuts because they were able to tide me over. I rode the train over and visited my penultimate temple. Shido Temple (86) was quite interesting in that the grounds were basically an overgrown forest. It was a jungle maze trying to find the different temple halls. The Noukyosho office gave me an osettai (a pin). Outside the temple’s main gate, I paused to look at the map and was given a bottle of tea by a woman who had been sweeping up. Wow, so many offerings in the last day.
I had about a two hour walk (given my slowish pace) to reach the final temple, but as I had saved some energy, I knew I could make it. I stopped at the last convenience store for an iced coffee and chocolate pound cake before crossing the expressway and going back into the rural countryside. As I was still walking along the highway (before cutting down on the scenic route among farms), I received my final osettai from a man who was just driving along with his dogs in his car.
It was probably the best walk yet with beautiful scenery. I could see the distant mountain peaks behind which lay the 88th temple that I was not going to visit this time. There were a couple of rest stops on the way, but I needed to pee and I hurried along. I reached Temple 87 (Nagao-Ji) about 4pm. It was spacious and dusty. A group of (French?) cyclists were milling about acting like tourists. I completed my final ritual and said goodbye to the pilgrimage.
The terminal station of one of the Kotoden train lines was right there and the train had just arrived as I was walking up. The station agent beckoned me to jump straight on without stopping for a ticket (otherwise I would have either delayed the train or missed it).
I was back in the guesthouse before long. I took a long shower, put on clean clothes, and consulted the owner about dining options. Being Sunday, a lot of places were shut. Still wanting udon, I took his advice to walk about 20 minutes to a place that kept long hours and was popular among people as a place to sober up. It was basically empty and extremely confusing because I didn’t know there was a whole culture/process to ordering udon and was utterly unprepared.
I devoured the bowl (topped with meat and a raw egg) in maybe three or four bites and was still ravenously hungry. I swung by a convenience store on the way back for some dessert. I chilled in the living of the guesthouse for a bit, just relaxing and observing. Most of the guests, only a handful at this point (the last night of the Golden Week), were Japanese, but one Taiwanese guy came in. It was weird. He was taking a three day trip just to visit two of the art islands (side note: several of the small islands between Shikoku and Honshu are full of art museums and outdoor art works). Between the flight, the ferry, the museum tickets (including making reservations to enter the museum), and accommodation on the little island during the triennial art festival, it seems like quite a lot. I had considered visiting one of the islands on my way, but hearing about it in more detail really turned me off the idea.
48847 steps for the day.
Pilgrimage total: 362,257 steps.
| Breakfast | 256 |
| Tram | 350 |
| Guesthouse (2 nights) | 6000 |
| Water and peanuts | 311 |
| Funicular (roundtrip) | 460 |
| Tram | 240 |
| Afternoon tea (Family Mart) | 360 |
| Temples * 5 | 1500 |
| Tram | 410 |
| Udon | 980 |
| Ice cream | 259 |
| Total: | 11,126 JPY (712 RMB) (USD 105.6) |
Running Total: 29678.2 RMB (USD 4379.3)
Daily Average: 302.8 RMB (USD 44.69)
Well, back to paying tons of money every day… being homeless was “nice” while it lasted…