Day 2: HND-TKS, Tokushima, Bandō, T1
It’s 20 minutes before dinner here in Bandō, which is about 20 minutes from Tokushima station. It’s late (for me), I’m tired, I have a blister to attend to (the same one I get every time I go walking, the one that always takes a week or so to toughen up), and I’m hungry - but part of the reason for this newsletter is making me Write Some Stuff Down Every Day.
So.
I woke up way too early again this morning and went through the same routine as the previous day: head to the spa and have breakfast. This time, I opted in to the hot stone sauna, which wasn’t at all interesting, but which did cost me five bucks extra. If your idea of a good time is lying on a warm floor while being assaulted by some subpar incense, well, go for it - it isn’t mine.
Breakfast resulted in my first food challenge of this trip - they served an enormous grilled fish with no obvious way to eat the thing with chopsticks alone. I did my best, but man, what a mess; the broth with clams was far easier and more satisfying. And I know I forgot to mention it yesterday, but Japanese omelets are probably my favorite egg dish (OK, German breakfast soft-boiled eggs come close). Anyhow, back up to the room, packed my trash, and headed down to check out.
The day before, someone from Housekeeping (I assume) left an enormous plastic bag on my outside door handle filled with a few dozen rolls of toilet paper. I moved it to the elevator lobby last night, but it was still there this morning… so I took it down to reception and asked what I should do with it - yeah, I know, I was just curious how they’d react. They were of course apologetic in a nicely bland way.
It was a short walk back into Haneda Terminal 3, where I found the free shuttle bus to Terminal 1, which is where JAL domestic flights depart. I left way too early - I had no idea how efficient Japanese airports are! The automated bag check didn’t work for me, but an attendant quickly and easily checked in my bag. Security only took a few minutes, the only hassle being mandatory hiking boot removal. And then I wound up in a Priority Pass lounge for a bit where I discovered Japanese drinking vinegar - yum. More, please. But no snacks at all, yawn - and what the heck, it’s always more interesting to wander the airport for a while, which I did.
The flight started boarding exactly 15 minutes before pushback; I have no idea how many people got on that plane so quickly, but they did. I was sitting up front in Class J, which I think means a wider seat; it was very comfy with plenty of legroom. I was surprised to see a large bridge-like thing with aircraft on top of it; we followed them over to a runway that was built in the sea. Very cool!
Sadly, it was overcast, so no Mt. Fuji views for me. In less than an hour, we landed in Tokushima; the airport was tiny and also efficient. It was easy to find the bus into town - there’s just the one and it waits for everyone to get out of baggage claim. I’d spent much of the morning wondering what I should do with my three hours free time before the scheduled pilgrim orientation at the Tokushima tourist office - mostly fretting that the ryokan I’d booked was expecting me at 16h30 but that would be impossible as I wouldn’t get there until 18h00 instead. So, I decided to just go straight to the tourist office, ask if I could leave my bag there, and then ask them what to do with two and a half hours or so. Easy!
They spoke perfect English, hid my bag in the back, and directed me to a brief boat tour followed by a live dance performance. The boat tour was kind of silly, but it was nice to see one of the town’s most famous structures: a three-way bridge with a stoplight in the middle of it. I mean, I love random tourist attractions and engineering oddities, right?
After the boat tour, I walked over to the Awa Odori (i.e., the local traditional dance) museum through a shopping arcade that frankly looked mostly abandoned…
The dance performance was diverting enough; more interesting was the absolutely huge gift shop that made me kind of wish I was headed home soon so I could take a lot of cool swag with me. The oddest thing there was a line of beauty products called LHOOQ - strictly for Duchamp fans, I guess?
Figuring it was time to at least start assembling the basics in preparation for worshiping at temples and getting stamps, I bought name slips, incense, and candles; I brought a lighter from home that I’ve had for maybe a decade - it came from some weed delivery store in San Diego called Flash Buds, has a bottle opener, and figured it was trashy enough to serve as a religious object because why not, right?
I also had a bowl of matcha with a few grilled mochi stuffed with bean paste - not bad, but it was at least enough to stave of hunger for a bit. And then, back over to the information center to settle in for a long pilgrim orientation setting developed and delivered by a friendly Hawaiian who’d been living here for a couple of decades. That wasn’t particularly useful to me - I think it was meant more for anyone who might have hiked the Camino and who was curious about doing the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage but hadn’t really planned anything - but it was thoughtfully considered and I was grateful for the experience. A younger Aussie joined in as well who’d just hiked the Kumano Kodo; I imagine it was hugely helpful to them, at least.
The office was kind enough to phone my hotel in advance for me and let them know I’d be late, which was great, especially as the same two American guys had been in the office for nearly two hours trying to find somewhere to sleep (I guess they’d meant to do the pilgrimage but hadn’t planned ahead). So I took off on foot for the train station and got to chatting with a Dutch father-daughter couple who were waiting for the same train - they also seemed fairly unprepared and hadn’t bought anything yet, so I gave them a set of osamefudo as an osettai and wished them well. It started raining as the train took off; twenty minutes later and there I was, at the start of everything…
Weirdly, there weren’t any signs to Temple #1, Ryozen-ji, so I used Google Maps to get there. That didn’t bode well, but it did indeed work; I got to T1 quickly, didn’t go in (it closed at 17h00), and turned left on block to my ryokan…
I’ve kind of been chasing after a really good ryokan experience ever since my first time and you know, it hasn’t really happened. Just after 9/11, I bought a ticket to Japan because it was cheap, I wasn’t working at the time, and I wanted to get away from the USA for a little bit. I landed in Osaka, took the bus to Kyoto, and asked the tourist office at the train station to find me a room, which they did: that was my first time in a Japanese inn and it was sublime. Ohanabo still exists and I’d love to return again someday, but I’ve never been able to find availability there again, sadly!
I probably should’ve guessed that tonight’s lodgings would be relatively simple, but you know what - that isn’t really the point of the thing. Yes, everything has the look of a faded Soviet summer camp celebrating the glorious production of revolutionary wheat threshers or something, but the people are friendly and oh man, the food is very good indeed. No Japanese guests that I could see, all Europeans (or maybe Brazilians?), but hey. It’s just a sign that the Shikoku 88 is changing as everything tends to do in this life.
It’s bedtime now; I’ve eaten more unagi than I thought was possible, drunk a half-bottle of good quality local sake, walked a few more miles, and have repacked my bags so that I’ll be ready for tomorrow’s first temple visit, more or less; I think I have the rituals more or less correct, but I’m also not planning on reciting the Heart Sutra from memory or anything truly challenging. Instead, I’ll just summon up my inner Californian and do something vaguely spiritual like… uh, Google yoga mat sales at Erewhon, or something, while expressing hashtag gratitude for all of the wonder I’ve been hashtag blessed to experience in this world.
Random notes:
Japanese drinking vinegar seriously needs to be the next LA food fad. Structured water? Kombucha? Apple cider vinegar? Step aside! You haven’t lived until you’ve tried Japanese drinking vinegar.
There needs to be a color chart for Calorie-Mate food bars - the only ones I saw today appeared to be something with chocolate chips in them, which sounded weird. I just need to figure out which ones are the maple ones, thanks.
Thanks to my friend Aaron, I had a bag of Cheezies along until today - no longer, though, as the Hawaiian at the tourism office looked like he would enjoy them. I hope he does!