Shikoku and Kansai Part 2

Day 2:
We began the day early and leave Matsuyama bound for Shimanto-gawa, a river known throughout Japan as the cleanest in the country. Being an island nation, Japan has struggled to master its rugged environment throughout its history. For this reason, coupled with the strange Japanese obsession with concrete, Shimanto-gawa remains as the only major river in Japan that is not dammed. I live in a town that has the largest river in Kyushu, Chikugo-gawa, running through it. Having come accustomed to seeing this river, lined on both sides with concrete embankments and controlled by a series of dams and channels, I was anxious to see the legendary Shimanto-gawa. I have to confess, I was a little disappointed. Perhaps because of the time we visited, before the rainy season, the river was very low. Though the river could not compare to the beautiful rivers of America (The New River comes to mind), it was very different than any river I have seen in Japan. We took a road that was very narrow and followed the river as it cut through the mountains.

It was about this time that Tsukamoto’s huge Toyota SUV, “The Tank”, developed a problem with the turbo charger. I was worried that this would slow us down but Tsukamoto reassured me that it was no problem. He called his mechanic from our town in Kyushu. The mechanic immediately loaded a replacement car on his flatbed truck, got on a ferry and came to meet us in Shikoku. Following us by GPS, he arrived several hours later (during which we continued through the valley), switched cars and left. We were stopped maybe five minutes as Tsukamoto’s mechanic unloaded the loaner car and loaded the wounded truck. Then, the man left to return home. It was the most amazing service I have ever seen! Later, I found out that the man did the service free of charge as a favor to his client. This would never happen in America. The biggest downside to the car swap is that the loaner didn’t have GPS and Tsukamoto was dependent on maps for navigation. It was evident that he had become so accustomed to having GPS that map reading was difficult for him.

That afternoon, we went to Ashizuri Cape, on the southwest tip of Shikoku. This area was stunning. The Cape faced the Pacific Ocean. The Inland Sea areas are far less rugged because there is much less erosion. The Ashizuri area features huge cliffs that drop several hundred feet to the ocean. There are no beaches in the area. The view from the point of the Cape was fantastic. As we watched fishing boats out far from the shore, we joked about being able to see America on a clear day.

The Cape has a very nice Buddhist temple, Kongofukugi-jinjya. Throughout our trip in Shikoku, we often saw pilgrims walking along the roads as they traveled from one temple to the next. The pilgrimage, the only of its kind in Japan, is famous among Japanese people. In the 8th century, a man credited with popularizing Buddhism in Japan, Kobo Daishi, started several temples in Shikoku. He also visited many others as he spent most of his life walking around Shikoku from temple to temple. Kobo Daishi is one of the most respected and venerated men in Japanese history. There are thousands of folktales about him and he embodies the Japanese notions of virtue and merit. Even today, people frequently invoke his name as model for correct living and religious devotion. Throughout the years, 88 Buddhist temples of Shikoku have become part of a pilgrimage that requires people to travel all over the mountainous island. Though many pilgrims do the route in the traditional way of walking the arduous 1,647 km route in 7-8 weeks, many opt for a 4 day guide assisted trip on air-conditioned buses. Most pilgrims are old people (some as old as 90 years!) but I sometimes saw young people making the pilgrimage with older family members like grandparents. The number 88 is significant. The number 88 represents the number of evil passions that Buddhist doctrine identifies as defiling the soul and preventing spiritual advancement. The idea is that each temple visit will destroy a corresponding passion. Therefore, completing the entire route will ideally get rid of all of the evil passions. In Japan, there is a special title that marks people that have made the pilgrimage and these people are often regarded as “cleansed” or “purified”. Pilgrims are easily identified because they wear a special all white garment, walk with traditional walking sticks, and carry a special book, “Nokyo-cho”, with space for an official stamp from each temple. It is regarded that to make the pilgrimage brings great religious merit and it is estimated that about 100,000 people do it every year. Throughout my time in Shikoku, I saw many pilgrims at temples and walking along steep mountain roads and I never failed to receive a kind smile and warm greeting. I am constantly amazed at the rare ability that Japanese people have of fully embracing modernity and yet preserving and maintaining the importance of ancient cultural traditions. Everywhere in Japan, the implications of this are evident. You can find a computer programmer that spends his free time cultivating bonsai or a young urban woman that splits her time between fashion design and learning the subtleties of the Japanese tea ceremony. I am sure that there is no place in the world that simultaneously embraces the most modern of lifestyles while retaining ancient cultural elements in a way in which Japan does.

The aforementioned temple at Ashizuri, Kongofukugi-jinjya, is one of the 88 temples. One of the head monks there spoke good English and talked to me for a couple of hours. This man was full of energy and was enthusiastic to talk to a foreigner interested in the temple. He explained the basics of the pilgrimage and we talked a little about the tenets of Buddhist theology. He also showed me a new section of the temple that was being built and showed me how the woodworking of making Pagodas was done. On this day there was a brief rain. I bought a set of Buddhist wood beads to remember the temple and the monk blessed them and wished me happiness. This man resonated with me, I think as the years go by, I will remember the conversation I had with him as being particularly significant. As the sunset, Tsukamoto and I drove to Kochi, the largest city in south Shikoku and the spot of our second overnight.