Over the Mountains to the Sea Again

 

Leaving Kubokawa and temple 37 Iwamotoji, the route carries on south towards temple 38, a long way a away down at the tip of Shikoku, Cape Ashizuri.

It is December 1st, the twentieth day of my walk along the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage, and it's cool and damp with the clouds clinging to the forested mountain slopes and the rain intermittent.

It's not a day for dawdling and exploring.... I pass some small shrines but do not check them out...

Much of the way is narrow roads with little or no traffic, and a few times, tunnels replace what would have been passes in earlier times...

After the tunnel, it is pretty much downhill all the way...

The rain picks up a little..... I have now crossed over from Shimanto to Kuroshio.

By the time I reach the coast at a place called Saga, it gets windier too...

I take a break in a seaside park and cook up some oatmeal....

The park shelter is not enough to keep the rain and wind out, so I use my umbrella as a windshield...

The tiny stove I have runs on the little paraffin blocks used in restaurants..... with the tiny kettle they only weigh a few ounces, but I can make tea, coffee, soup, oatmeal, instant noodles, pretty much anywhere....

I carry on down the blustery coast....

I had heard there was a free place to stay not far away and I hope I can find it....

The previous post in this series on the space between the temples on the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage was on the Kominka Cafe near to Iwamotoji Temple.

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Kominka Cafe Hanpei

 

Just around the corner from Iwamotoji Temple, one of the Shikoku Pilgrimage temples, in Shimanto Town, Kochi, is this delightful old house.

It seemed open to the public and there was no etry charge so I went in to have a look.

At that time one of the rooms was being used as a cafe but the rest of the house was open and explorable...

As I understand it, the cafe has expanded a little but the situation is still that visitors can explore the rest of the hose...

It was built as a second home / villa in 1901 for a local businessman Hanpei Tsuzuki.

As far as I can tell, the second building seen in some of the photos with a tarp-covered roof no longer exists.

There are some nice features on the interior including  the ranma, the carved panels above te room dividers that allow light and air to curculate...

When I visited there were several ikebana displays....

The gardens, while not stpendous, were nice enough...

The previous post was 25 photos of Iwamotoji Temple.

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From Mountain to Temple

 

December 1st, 2011, and day 20 of my walk along the Shikoku Pilgrimage begins at the first hint of a lightening sky.

It was not far down from my sleeping spot on the mountain before I reached civilization where a few lights were already on...

A lovely thatched house right next to one of Japan's famous porn vending machines.... maybe not the ancient-modern juxtaposition most often thought of....

The walking pilgrims route to the next temple pretty much follows the rail line, the JR Dosan Line

As was my habit, I stopped in at most shrines I passed.

This one was a Daiyamano Shrine and it was necessary to cross the railway tracks to reach it, a not so uncommon occurrence.

Behind the rather utilitarian worship hall, the honden was protected by a roof. Theer is no information on the shrine history or kami.

There has been no Autumn colour this morning other than some gingko leaves on the ground at the shrine...

There is still some mist in the Niita River valley.....

a small roadside shrine....

and then one final shrine visit before I get into the town and the next temple Iwamoto-ji...

Unfortunately, onece again, I can find no information on the shrine kami or history...

The previous post was on the previous days walk up into the mountains.

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Laying Down in the Mountains. Day 19 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

November 30th, 2011, and after visiting the bangai temple of Daizenji in Susaki, the route heads along the coast for a while.

It soon cuts inland and heads into the mountains...

From here ther is a choice between two routes over the mountains, the Soemimizu Trail, or the Osaka Trail. I chose the Soemimizu trail, though I cannot remember why. It seems to be the tougher.

At this elevation the colours are still full on....

One of the funky rest stops made and maintained by local people...

Whimsy is always appreciated...

As are big, old, gnarly trees....

This is one of the official henro rest huts, number 31.This one was fairly open but any roof  is welcome when it's raining.

The Soemimizu Trail gets steep in places. My pack was pretty heavy. I didn't carry a tent, but everything else needed for an overnight outdoors, including ample food and water plus a small stove and pot for boiling water. I didn't have a phone, but did carry a laptop so that when I did spend the night in accomodation I could connect....

The pilgrim trail comes to where a new expressway has been constructed. The trail is just across on the other side of the construction. They could easily have constructed a small pedestrian bridge for pilgrims, but instead made a diversion that was a very steep drop followed by a very steep climb. Boy, was I pissed.

The last view of the sea for a while...

Not sure of how high the climb is. Also not really sure of how far I walked each day. I know some people seem to obsess about exactly quantifying such things... I'm not one of them....

Looking down on the construction of one of the few sections of the new expressway that is not in a  tunnel.

In the higher elevations the autumn colours were close to the end... time to start keeping my eye out for a suitable spot to sleep tonight.....

The previous post in the series was on Bangai Temple 5, Daizenji.

If you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.