Shikoku and 88 temples

Day 5 started with me getting up at 6 only and not earlier, as in on the parking lot on the inland outskirts of Tokushima there was no way I could get a nice sunrise photo… so I thought I could „sleep in“ a little.. I drove to temple 18, and continued with the temple tour… as usual I took my time at each temple, and especially at the mountain temple No. 20. Finally I drove to temple 21, which can be reached also via a ropeway… what a nice chance to get flying and see the landscape from above… and what a nice temple that is!

The evening of day 5 I wanted to drive to a nearby Onsen again… but my cars engine would not start… it had shown some strange behavior when starting up for the last few times, but would always get its act back together and work fine, but for that Onsen drive, it started briefly but as if only 2 of the 3 cylinders would work and then shut down… So a few WhatsApps back and forth with the owner of the RV rental company, Tamura-san, and it was clear that the next day would be a day off of my planned schedule… we got picked up by a tow truck, hauled back to Tokushima to a big car repair shop, and after 3 hours of hard work they concluded it is not a fast fix… so Tamura-san offered a normal van as a replacement, which he converted within one hour to a kind of RV… took out the back seats, came up with solutions for covering the windows for the nights, and even provided a big mobile power pack.. And then he put that replacement car on a truck, drove it the 3 hours from Osaka to Tokushima arriving there at 7 PM, and then put the small Nissan RV on the truck to drive back to Osaka. Wow, thank you very much Tamura-san for this service! So as of today, I am driving a Toyota Voxy, much nicer, bigger and with a bigger and more powerful engine 🙂

Day 7… back in business… I could continue with temple 22, and made my way further down the coast of Tokushima prefecture… along a very beautiful coastline with many photo stops… and during a coffee break at a beautiful secluded ocean bay, I went for a swim – on November 1! Nice! This time I was putting up camp for the night at a parking lot right next to the ocean just below temple 24. After sunset and setting up camp, I went to the coast again looking for the stars. And I thought… what is that red thing there in the left corner of my eye? Looking there.. I saw, in an almost black sky, a red moon rising out of the sea. Wow!! Unfortunately, it was not possible to photograph that properly, I have tried, so it will just be a memory in my mind…

Now today, by the way I am in Kochi prefecture now, it was again sunny and a very beautiful day. But somehow the feeling here is different, the climate and the vegetation seem more southern, sub-tropical, I almost feel like doing a round around Hawaii.. the ocean waves, palm trees, open car windows… I don’t know, usually one would think of a pilgrimage as a tour with at least a little bit of suffering, but, while of course the temple tour is meditative and done in calm mindfulness, I don’t suffer at all. I am perfectly fine camping in the car, if not in Japan where else would one feel safer alone on a parking lot somewhere on the dark coastline. And, since I am not suffering schlepping my rucksack for kilometers without end through the scorching sun, I really enjoy the beautiful landscape, the towns, the people I get in contact with… The day ended with a landscape highlight… the Ioki Cave and gorge, just a few kilometers before Kochi City, is right off the walking pilgrims path, but I doubt that many will walk through it with their backpacks… plus it is easy to miss… And, of course, the day ended with Onsen…

And now it begins. Getting to temple 1 of the pilgrimage and purchasing all the necessities is one thing… quite another to get into the vibe of finally doing this… winding down, especially after all the flying, then Osaka, then driving here in a strange Japanese car on Japanese highways… this now is supposed to be quiet, mindful, here and now. But all those qualities can be lived also while flying, while in Osaka, while in a new situation on a Japanese highway, can they not? Well, in theory yes.

Well, I like to think that normally I live in a quiet and mindful manner, but somehow the feeling of doing a pilgrimage is different. Standing there at the temple, bowing in, doing the ritual water cleansing, ringing the big temple bell, going to the main temple hall, lighting a candle, and 3 incense sticks, ringing the little gong, a little money offering and putting your osamefuda slip into the box, bowing, reciting the Hannya Shingyo (heart sutra), bowing again, and then all this again at the temple hall for Kobo Daishi, then going to the temple office for the stamp and calligraphy into your pilgrims book… taking a few pictures… and then bowing again when leaving the temple… This needed a little getting used to, not only in what to do, but to do it in calmness and mindfulness…

Now, another aspect of my pilgrimage is that I do it by camper car, which so far I have seen no other pilgrim doing. Most go by car (they probably stay at hotels, inns or where available temples), some walk, and very few do it by bicycle. I have not yet seen anyone else with a camper (but that might change, I have just started). And I noticed many are older than me. And by far most are Japanese. So far it is going well with my camper. My first night I could park right outside temple 6, there was a parking lot with toilets.

The second day started right after sunrise with a few temples (6 to 11)… and since I take my time at each one, this took me until noon. Then I drove into the mountains to go up Tsurugi-san (1955m). Unfortunately, despite a nice weather forecast, when I got there, a big thunderstorm moved in and covered to whole mountain. We, I and a few other crazy ones, went up anyway, since we had a booking at the mountain hut on top. It all went well, and the delicious dinner at the hut, together with the storm ending and making way for a beautiful sunset, more than compensated for the unpleasant way up. But hey, am I not on a pilgrimage? A little suffering I have to have too, right, not only the walking pilgrims.

The next morning started in the clouds (see the picture above with me next to the sign)… but that made for a wonderful mysterious photo walk down the mountain… Then I drove very joyfully into the Iya valley enjoying the views, and letting faster cars overtake me as needed… I am not fleeing a hunter here. This valley I had visited before with my wife… but back then did not bring a proper camera (I still cannot believe it)… simply beautiful this whole valley! Vine bridges, river gorges, the scarecrow village, and finally I arrived at Ochiai village, which is basically a bunch of houses dotted on a huge mountain side all the way up. There I found a parking spot for my third night, with a beautiful view (and a toilet that smelled like pine trees, because it was made of that wood and was really clean and fresh – if you only know European public toilets… come to Japan to see and smell how it can be).

Today, the day I am writing this blog, is Sunday, and as I came back out of the mountains to continue the temple tour, I saw a difference… quite a few more people at the temples than during the week (many Japanese do the pilgrimage on weekends by car in stages, a number of temples each weekend). But it was not crowded by any means. Still a relaxed atmosphere, not so lonely, one could say – during the week it can happen that you are the only one visiting a temple.. Today, after arriving at the beautiful mountain temple 12 around noon, I continued to do temples 13 to 17. Then it was 5 PM, temple closing time, and shortly after – sunset. So I called it a day, and went into the direction of temple 18, but stopped halfway at a nice onsen. Ahhh… It is kind of outside of town and has a big parking area… so I will stay here for the night (it is open until 11:30 PM .. so I can use its toilet one last time after uploading this blog article 😉

Finally. After four years of involuntary waiting, first due to the corona thing and then for Japan to re-open their country again, I am finally back 🙂 But, before I say anything else, I have to thank my wonderful wife for letting me do this while she has to stay home working and taking care of the house and the dog! Thank you!! And I also would like to thank my advanced Aikido students, who take care of the dojo and stand in teaching while I’m gone.

Now, for a long time I had the dream of going on a longer trip to Japan just by myself. I have 5 weeks now, and what to do with that? Why not do the Shikoku 88-temple O-Henro pilgrimage? Perfect! I love Shikoku, Japan’s 4th largest of the main islands, and from our last visit there I think Japan’s most beautiful one. Well, traditionally one would walk the 1200km along the coast all around the island to do the 88 temple tour, but that would take 7-8 weeks. And, it is mostly on paved roads in urban areas, sometimes on busy roads, and only a rather small portion is actually in nature and in the mountains. But I know that the islands innards, so to speak, have beautiful river gorges, forests and high mountains which are not to be missed… I love nature photography, meditative photography – how can I make the perfect trip and see both?

So I decided to do it similar to the way many Japanese do the pilgrimage today – by car. But instead of renting a normal car and then staying for the nights in hotels or ryokans, I instead rented a small camper car (a so called K-car) which ticks all the boxes for me. Now I can get around the island in the 5 weeks I have, I can take detours inland into the mountains if I feel so, it’s much easier now to take all my photography gear and tripod with me, and… I always have a place to sleep with me! It’s not more expensive, either, because the 45€ per day this car costs is actually less than many would spend renting their rooms for the night. Doing the O-Henro pilgrimage and doing a nature photography trip at the same time – perfect!

Now I am finally here… wow, did I miss this (this is my 8th trip to Japan). I arrived in Osaka, and had a day to spend there before I could get the car. No problem, so I get to see Osaka.

This is in Dotonbori, Osaka’s famous district for eating and shopping, and people watching 😉 But most of my time I spent around Osaka castle, with its extensive surrounding moats and parks.

After a beautiful day it was time to pick up my car, and, while getting used again to driving on the left side of the road and sitting on the right, I was making my way to Shikoku. It’s a 170km drive, firstly just highways though Osaka and Kobe, but then…

… over the largest suspension bridge, the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge. Wow, but as always with expansive views like this, the picture can’t do it justice… Onwards crossing the Awaji island, and then over the Naruto bridge…

Now finally Shikoku is actually within reach…

What can I say, I arrived safely on Shikoku, at temple No. 1, got all my things and could start my pilgrimage. But this is a topic for my next post… I am still in the process of changing gears and getting into the feel of it… I am still adjusting and finding my way… until then, stay well!