Temples 77-81: Roads, trails and mountains

 The lady at the weird hotel unlocked our room door at our request after dialing the number she has given us and let us out. That was such a creepy experience! Whew, we were glad to be out of there!

Setting out on our day, we were in the neighborhoods and walked the roads from one temple to the next, catching a few short train rides to avoid junk miles due to our time constraints and Josh's injury. Having said that we still ended up walking for 8 hours today. 

One observation I haven't mentioned yet are the absence of trash cans almost every where, so you have to always pack your trash and carry it home with you to dispose of it, or as we have to do, take it to the konbinis (stores) as they have trash cans. Having said that, there is very little litter.

Temple 77: Doryuji: A very sweet monk gave us "osettai" in the form of two drinks and a packet of treats. As we were packing  our bags to proceed on our journey, another lady on a group tour gave us "osettai" in the form of a bag of candy. The lovely thing about receiving these gifts is seeing the pure joy that it gives to the person giving them.

The city of Marugame since olden times has been making paper fans and they have been a treasured sourvenir. As a result numerous manufacturers have sprung up and now the area produces 90 percent of the national production.

Temple 78: Goshoji: We heard drumming coming from the Daishi hall and as we went up the stairs, saw an underground vault that was accessible with hundreds of miniature golden statues in it. From the grounds was a lovely view of Sakaide City.

Temple 79: Tennoji: Also situated in Sakaide City, the entrance was a painted red Shinto style entrance. A tree in the grounds cast a dragon shadow on a wall.

Temple 80: Kokubunji: The bell and main hall have escaped damage over the centuries and are important cultural treasures.

From here the trail lead up towards the mountains. It was a very steep climb up over 400m then back down the other side of the summit another 200m. About three quarters of the way up the mountain was a gazebo rest stop which we used and enjoyed, giving us a vantage point for incredible views of the way we had just come.

In the thick of the jungle, we came across a Manirin Stone Pagoda which is significant to represent the final stage of the arduous Buddhist training path to enlightenment. It was past 5pm by the time we arrived and the temple was closed. I asked a group of young men at the temple who seemed to be working there where we could camp and they said it would be fine to camp 400m down the road at a scenic overlook. Wow! What a spectacular campsite. We set up beneath the overlook and I settled down to write but just then we heard rustling in the bushes around us. We had noticed pig traps on the path nearby. I could not spend the night listening to all that rustling and wondering what was going to try to enter the tent, so we moved camp in the dark onto the platform of the overlook. I'm hoping we'll have a better sleep here!.

Temple 70-76: Out of Ehime and into Kagawa

We awoke from our tent camp at Temple 69 at 0430 am and broke camp in respect of the permission granted to us by the temple monk to sleep on the grounds. Before day break we departed, leaving no trace in gratitude for a safe place to camp.

By 0530am we were hiking the trail, along a river and into the villages to visit the neighborhood temples on the pilgrimage route. The weather today was perfect for walking and we enjoyed a spectacular sunrise. 

Temple 70: Motoyamaji: In 807 Kukai founded this temple.We arrived before it opened and enjoyed the ambiance before the Noukyocho office opened.

The rest of the day was spent weaving
through neighborhoods interspersed with with some wild areas. 

Temple 71:Iyadaniji: Originally called Eight Province Temple" because from here you can see eight surrounding provinces. It is situated on the side of a hill and needless to say it required climbing many, many steps to reach it.

Temple 72: Mandalaji: This temple was built in 596. This was the clan temple for the Saeki family, the ancestors of Kukai (Kobo Daishi).

After leaving temple 71 we were directed by the arrows and waymarkers onto a nature walk through a bamboo forest for awhile. At some point in the walk we connected with Charlotte from Holland who joined us for the rest of the day until Temple 75. The day was filled with delightful conversation as we weaved our way through neighborhoods from one temple to the next.

Temple 73: Shusshakaji: Stands at the bottom of the imposing Mount Gahaishi. From the temple is an expansive view over the plains.

We sat here with Charlotte and enjoyed a lunch of orange pieces, candy cheese and Pringles, discussing our life journeys that had lead up to this point.

Temple 74: Koyamaji: Temple of the Helmet Mountain: Continuing on for the day with great conversation, we meandered on, avoiding the pitfalls of falling into the drainage canals along the sides of the roads and enjoying the local architecture, dykes and food growing lots along the way.

Temple 75: Zentsuji: The Temple of the Right Path: This was the first Shingon Temple in Japan and the birth place of Kukai. It's the largest temple complex in Shikoku and counted as one of the three great sacred places of Kukai (Kobo Daishi). The five story pagoda was completed in 1902 and is 40m tall. There are 509 stone statues called Arhats which represent people who have achieved a high degree of Buddhist enlightenment.

At this point we departed from Charlotte and had to fast hike to get to Temple 76 before it closed for the day. 

Temple 76: Konzoji: The Temple of the Golden Storehouse: founded in 774, the same year Kukai was born. The Noukyocho office shut its doors as Josh exited the building. He got locked in the bathroom by the grounds and who wanted to get home asap and had to pound on the door to be released. 

As we sat outside the temple grounds in the evening we tried to book an hotel but it was a Saturday and everything was booked out. We searched on the Internet and then searched again in desperation, wondering where we would sleep that night, being in town with no camping options. Sunset was approaching fast. Suddenly, Josh found the only room available on the Internet and booked it real fast. We were elated as this was the only available hotel room in town. As we arrived we started noticing unusual situations. There was no front entrance to the hotel. We had to enter through the parking garage and the car parking bays had curtains. We found this to be unusual. We found our way to the front desk which was closed but as soon as we approached, a lady appeared out of nowhere from behind a curtain. She only spoke Japanese and told us via a translator app that if we needed anything we had to dial her number. She took us to our room and told us that it was keyless and that the doors were on auto lock. As we sat down in our room, we realized that we were locked in which was creepy. The only thing we could think is that we were not meant to make contact with other patrons. The whole thing was crazy but we were exhausted and just needed to lay out heads down for the night after 13 hours of hiking. The room was huge with a giant bed, a giant bath tub, a love seat and table, so who's complaining....

Temple 61- 66: The last phase of the "enlightenment" section of the journey.

 Temple 61-65:

We departed from Saijo city in the morning to walk from Temple 61-64 along the flat streets of neighborhoods. It's so interesting to walk through " real" Japan and see how the average person lives. One of the major reasons that we love doing these long distance hikes through different countries is the "cultural immersion" aspect of it and moving slowly through the local communities, seeing how people live their everyday lives.

Temple 61: Koonji: As the story goes, when the monk Kukai arrived here, he found a pregnant woman who was in pain, so he lit incense and prayed for her. As a result a boy was safely born. The temple is known as " Koyasu Daishi"- Daishi of protecting children.

We followed the arrows and way markers through villages with narrow streets. Trees are laden with heavy oranges and early cherry blossoms. The air is crisp and cold but the sun is shining.

In almost every street the house styles range from olden traditional architecture to ultra modern, clean straight styles with immaculately manicured gardens.

Every empty patch of ground in-between the houses is used to grow some type of food.

Often a local resident would stop and happily point us in the right direction towards the next temple in Japanese language and hand motions without us asking. We are in awe at the level of politeness and respect people seem to have for each other.

Temple 62: Hojuji: The temple was built in the 8th century and due to the war in 1585 it fell into ruin. It was restored in 1636.

Temple 63: Kichijoji: There is a rock with a hole in the middle. It is said that if you can walk from the main hall with your eyes closed while saying your wish and put your staff through the hole that your prayer will come true. We did not try this but we saw others try and fail. Josh didn't want to trip and fall again on his injured shoulder.

The lady at the Noukyocho office gave us "osettai" in the form of an apple and orange. We felt very grateful at her kind gesture.

Temple 64: Maegamiji: A place of worship for nobles and military families. On the 20th of each month, the three Zao Gongen statues are opened to public viewing and it is believed that if one rubs a part of your body on it that the sickness will be healed. Unfortunately we only read about this after we had visited.

We did meet up with Allessandro from Italy again which was fun.

We then caught a train to the town of Shikokuchuo, the biggest paper manufacturing town in Japan and the location for Temple 65.

Another example of politeness is that the train conductor bows as he enters and leaves each coach.

Temple 65: Sankakuji: The name of this temple is "triangular temple". People believe that the main diety will ward off misfortune and allow for easy childbirth. It is situated high up on a hill with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and the city below. There were many ancient trees on the temple grounds that were so huge and burdened that branches had to be held up with supports.

We stayed at an outdated hotel called the LiveMax located near the train station but it certainly was value for money at $35. For the first time since we arrived we had a late afternoon and evening off from the trail. We shopped for provisions from a local supermarket called Fuji and it was fun to walk down all the aisles and see what they had in the store. For dinner we ordered take-out veggie pizza from an Italian restaurant which was delicious and Josh had a burger at a McDonald's. 

I forgot to mention that a previous city we stayed in called Imabari is a famous towel manufacturing city. We received a small hand towel gift at the hotel we were staying at there.

It would seem that Shikoku is a manufacturing power house in Japan, with each city specializing in a specific product or industry.

Temple 66: Unpenji: " The temple of hovering clouds" This is highest temple on the Shikoku pilgrimage. It's situated on a mountain top at 911m. Fortunately there is a cable car ropeway that takes you up the mountain which gave us spectacular vistas of the surrounding countryside.

The mountain top was covered in snow which made everything even more beautiful. In the temple grounds are 500 statues each uniquely carved with different expressions. We ran into Frank again which was a fun surprise.

Once we reached the base of the ropeway on our way out, we walked for about 2 hours to Temple 67: Daihoji. On the way we met up with Cathy and Stas again who walked by us as we were resting for a few minutes in a roadside Henro Hut. We were also given a packet of candy from a passing truck driver as a gift of "osettai", who just leaned out of his window while driving past and handed it to me. We were so amazed at his random act of kindness!

An enormous Camphor tree in the grounds of Temple 66 was said to be planted by Kukai which makes it about 1200 years old 

We walked for another hour to a bus stop and as we were standing on the side of the road trying to to decipher the bus time table, a lady pulled up in her car and asked us whether she could help us. We told her that we wanted to catch the bus and she responded by offering us a ride, saving us from walking another 8km in the late afternoon. Wow, we were blown away by her gift of "osettai" in giving us a ride. 

Free fast hiking through the city of Kanonji to reach Temple 68: Jinnein & 69 which sits side by side and made it just in time before the Noukyocho office closed.

It's a Friday and all the hotels are fully booked. We got permission from the monk at Temple 69: Kannonji to camp off to the side of the property. We're here right now beside a huge ancient tree, with the beautiful temples around us. What an epic day!