Microblog

Took the train to Asakusa, Tokyo, walked back until I ran out of time. Along the way it was my kind of urban hike: huge temple; buildings not intended to last (that’s OK); the only Le Corbusier building in east Asia (went in); stark transit infrastructure (love it); and the gardens of the Imperial Palace.

Kyoto is over-loved like so many A-list places. For this reason I’ve avoided the city for over ten years. Today I visited for a few hours, took the subway to places that have escaped top-ten lists.

Dwight’s uncle was posted to Kyoto at the end of WW2. Today, I walked around his old stomping ground trying to reconcile some of his photos with today’s Kyoto. When I matched this 1946 photo I must’ve reacted: people started to gather around me and were excited to see the old photo. More…

Walked across Teshima, one of the “art islands” in the Seto Inland Sea, looking for art installations. At one point, sat on the floor in a vast concrete inside space while little rivulets of water slowly formed around me, only to “find” tiny drain holes. (Photography wasn’t allowed.)

It was the one rainy day on this trip, so went to Osaka to ride transit, duck into buildings, and experience Tadao Ando’s architecture. Felt like a groupie, standing outside his office, touching the signature Ando concrete. The security sticker probably deters theft of the nameplate.

Incorporated part of the Shikoku 88 (temples) pilgrimage and temples 80 and 81 into today’s hike.

Broke the journey from Matsue to Okayama to visit San’inkaigan National Park to walk on massive sand dunes beside the Sea of Japan. Okayama Station was bustling, a contrast to my last few days. An elevator took me to the welcome solitude of a hotel room high above the station.

Couldn’t resist including this rural Shinto shrine in today’s journey. Three or four times an hour a train crosses the shrine’s approach path, between the torii gates, like a scene from an anime movie.

I’m staying in Matsue on the northwest coast of Honshu. My project today was to hike trails on Mount Daisen in Daisen-Oki National Park. A train and a bus got me from Matsue to trailheads. Lots of steep climbs, magnificent fall colors, and occasional ancient temples and shrines.

Rapid footsteps and giggling behind me. Schoolgirl, now in front of me, directs me back towards a table. Shrieks of delight when I turn and walk to the table. To much applause and giggles, I buy a packet of cookies. Three teachers simultaneously take photos. Lots of goodbyes.

Cycled above the Seto Inland Sea on bridges and islands. In 2016 I did the whole Shimanami Kaido, 45 miles between two of Japan’s four main islands, Shikoku and Honshu on a creaky bicycle. These days, I take a scheduled bus or boat then cycle about half that, and can sit down comfortably afterwards.

Checked into Hotel Cycle (yet again, third time), Onomichi, in a repurposed warehouse on a wharf. You can cycle right up to the front desk, then leave your bike on a rack outside your room. To mitigate bicycle separation anxiety, you can hang your bike on a wall rack in your room. I’ll rent tomorrow.

Today’s picnic lunch, hiking an OLLE Course. Onigiri: rice, filled with pickled mustard greens, wrapped in nori (seaweed). Egg sandwich, tuna sandwich. Caramel custard. Pocari Sweat. Less than US$5 from one of Japan’s more than 50,000 wonderful konbini (convenience stores).

After a day of walking, gratefully steeped my feet in the volcanic warmth of an unusually long (100 meters) footbath. Watched a plume rising above Sakurajima, a volcano that regularly rains ash on the city of Kagoshima.

Hiked in Aso Kuju National Park with Mount Aso, Japan’s largest active volcano, smoking in the distance. A few years ago, I walked up to close to the edge of Mount Aso’s sulfurous crater. Today, it’s off-limits. The whole area is set in a huge caldera, 75-miles in circumference.

Visited Nanzo-in Temple, near Fukuoka. Here, the reclining Buddha, fully enlightened, enters Nirvana in death, released from cycles of rebirth. The bronze sculpture is 135 feet long. It was good to explore more human-scale temple features, and the lovely grounds on a hillside.