Mishima - the 11th station of Tokaido

Having bypassed the Hakone mountain by the modern means of travel, train, I am feeling a little guilty this morning.

However, nothing is more important than life.  Marching into dark paths alone is dangerous, so it is a judgement call I had to make.  Hakone is a path I will walk with a companion - some day.

Back on the Tokaido path.  I am now at Mishima.  I walk straight down the road from the station, turn right at the old tokaido, and the first sign I see on the right is the Seko Honjin (main lodging).  Again, no old lodging house, but just a sign.

There is another Honjin, Higuchi Honjin across the street from this mark, so this is the center of the Misima-shuku.

As I walk, it started to rain.  Not a lot, but enough to have to take out my umbrella.  So with the guidebook in one hand, the umbrella on the other, and iPhone Google Maps now in my pocket, it is becoming more difficult to find the path and marks of the highway 400 years old.

And I almost passed the Akiba shrine!  This shrine is nice, but what is important is the sign that stands at the foot of the gate.  It is Nishi Mitsuke (formal sign that marks the western end of the station town).

On and on I walk in the rain, and the next place I visited was the Tamai Temple Ichirizuka (4km mark).  This is one of the rare locations where the Ichirizuka still exists in pairs, as did all Ichirizuka 400 years ago.  The ichirizuka on the right hand side is also the Ichirizuka, preserved just the way it was 400 years ago.

A small hill with a tree at the top to give shading for the travellers.  NOW you can see, it was really created so that people can rest here.

Back on track, walking through the modern bed town, crossing the river, I reach Nagasawa Hachimangu Shrine, where the "Taimen Ishi" where two brothers of the Minamoto family met each other during the war, sat down face to face in joy of reunion.  (It is in the far left corner of the Temple)

Then comes the long long walk toward Numazu, a long and miserable walk in the rain.  By the time I reached this Jizo-son (marks the place where Hirasaku traded in his life for information on the person who killed an important person for him), I was only thinking about finding marks from 400 years ago, and nothing else.

 Then, I found Ichirizuka (4km sign) near Numazu.  Ichirizuka is becoming something I look forward to seeing, because I can tell how much progress I made.

Rain is getting harder.  It was a bad idea to press forward in the rain.  But I had made it a rule to at least walk 10km per day.  It is just like work - you set the objective, and you execute.  (Which proved to be the wrong mentality when you are trying to communicate with the past, but it took me 1 more day to realize this)

So I walk into Numazu-shuku, not yet the end of the journey for today.

Hiratsuka-shuku - the 7th station of Tokaido

Good morning.

Sore back, sore legs, aching feet - I am feeling the consequence of very poorly planned trip.  Before I left the hotel, I decided to send back home 3kg of things I don't think I will be needing on the trip.

Now, my knapsack is 7kg - feeling much better.

The day started where Edo Mitsuke used to be.  Mitsuke is where the formal markings of the edge of the station town.  Edo Mitsuke means it is the end that is closer to Edo (Tokyo).

From here, you can see the whole Hiratsuka-shuku - which looks like this now

No resemblance, what so ever, of the past.  But the straight road shows that this used to be the lodging town.

I walked down the road, walked past the Honjin (main lodging), and Waki-honjin (secondary lodging), and then a Kousatsuba??

Kousatsuba was where the public bulletin board was.  It had news postings by the government, as well as tariffs to take transportation to the next station.  It is rare for Kousatsuba to be marked, so I was lucky to find it.

And then this building caught my eye - the fire union's office.  But this place also was Toiyaba (horse stables) 400 years ago, where the paperwork was done for the whole station town, and they also lent horses for important people to travel.  Isn't it great that the people of this town decided to leave something for the tourists to look at?

In about 100m, comes the end of the station town, and then the 3km walk to Oiso-shuku starts.  This path was difficult to find - I couldn't find important marks and missed many of them.  But I did find the Kewaizaka where women used to make up and dress up.

This place is now a bed town, but the residents managed to preserve the beautiful road that used to cross the town.

Then I walked...walked...walked...and reached Oiso.  However, I was too tired to look around, so I skipped Oiso, took a train to Kozu, walked to Odawara, by then dragging my feet as I knew I acquired more blisters on my poor toes.  Sorry - I will come back some day to walk the town of Oiso.

And finally reached Odawara-shuku, the 9th station on Tokaido.

The path past Odawara is a very dark and lonely path, also known as one of the toughest mountain path - Hakone.  Being  alone, I can't climb Hakone, so I decided to take the train to Numazu, and stay here overnight.

I must award myself - having walked 2 days and approx. 40km.
Here is the last shot from Numazu - a dinner at a good Sushi restaurant!

Sweet dreams!

Numazu - the 12th station of Tokaido

Numazu is famous for it's fresh seafood today.  In the past, this location hosted a very powerful leader, so there remains a park where the old castle was.  Unfortunately nothing else remains from 400 years ago, so I decided to press on - on towards Hara-shuku.  I am going to walk as far as I can today.

The road in the city is complex - the streets change as the town changes, so the old Tokaido jumps from one street to the other.  Also the large streets have overpasses for walkers so that they don't get run over.  However, this overpass is painful when you have sore feet, sore back, soaking wet with 7kg load on your sholder.

The street becomes very narrow as I move forward.  I get splashed every time a car or a truck passed by.  Bad idea to walk in the rain.  After a while, I felt I formed another set of blisters on my toe from all the humidity.  Wet, heavy, miserable, painful - and hungry.

The local people do not have the custom to "eat out," so it is very difficult to find restaurants once you are outside the city.  I had no choice but to go into the first restaurant I spotted.  It was a restaurant called "humming bird," and, to my surprise, there I had the best pot pie I had in years.  Look at this!  (This has nothing to do with the Tokaido 400 years ago)

A good meal gives you a lot of power, and it also give you power to think.  I decided to walk to the next station town and end the day.  This is not work.  This is supposed to be fun.  I had completely forgotten why I was doing this.

So off I go, happily tredding down the road.  I saw another couple who seems to be doing the same thing I was doing.

They are looking at something several hundred meters away.  There must be something.  And there it was on the right hand side of the road, the Ichirizuka (4km sign) - my beloved sign of accomplishment.

This town is very nice.  I reached the Hara station at about 15:00.  Good time to end the day and get some rest back in the hotel in Numazu.

It is funny how you run across old friends.  While I was walking today, an old friend of mine pinged me on Facebook, and told me he was living in Numazu.  So we decided to get together and enjoy good food, sake, and talk at the famous "Saemaru Sengyoten."

He was passionate about his work, about people around him, and he gave me a lot of power and courage.  Friends are life's treasure. 

Thank you, and good night!

Fujisawa-shuku, the 6th station of Tokaido

It is near noon.  Sun shining down on me, my knapsack with 10kg of belongings hanging heavily from my shoulders.  By then, my head was completely blank - the first time in several weeks that "work" completely left my head.

After walking 7km from Totsuka, I finally reached Fujisawa-shuku, the next station.

Again the mark for "Honjin" (main lodging where only high ranking people can stay) - this one being the Makita Honjin.

Needing to rest every 200m, I decided to have my lunch in this town and rest.
I had unagi at a restaurant called "Unagiya" - don't ask me what it is, because you won't like it. (Eel!)  But it was delicious.

After lunch, I left Fujisawa and started on another long walk of 13.7km.

400 years ago, men were said to have travelled 40km in one day.  Women, 20km.  So, having very good shoes, I figured I would walk 30km a day - so on this first day, I had layed out a plan to walk 21.5km.  An easy walk, right?

WRONG!

We modern human beings are not used to walking long distances.  Therefore, it was a huge mistake to have thought I can walk more than people in the past did.

In reality, a pace of 15km a day would be a good pace.  So, feeling blisters forming under my toes, I dragged myself to walk through a bed town, and then onto a huge highway (cars speeding past), across rivers...and when I could not walk a step further, I found the modern day version of "Ichirizuka" or 4km mark - McDonald's!

After resting in a well air conditioned place, all refreshed, I once again started walking towards the next station "Hiratsuka."

Walked past the old "Ichirizuka."  (4km sign)

Walked past several shrines, and past an old pillar which used to support the bridge that crossed the river.  How could this pillar have survived 400 years?  It is magic!

Walked, walked, walked and reached Hiratsuka!
This is my lodging for tonight.  The same town people lodged 400 years ago.

Having completed my 21.5km walk, carrying a load of 10km - I was left with a sore back, blank head, and 4 blisters on my toes.  Not bad for day 1.

Totsuka-shuku: 5th station of Tokaido

The thought of walking through Edo (old name for Tokyo), the city I work in every day, did not feel too attractive at first, so I decided to take the JR Tokaido train to outside of the metropolitan area.  For that reason only, my walk started at Totsuka the 5th of the 53 stations located between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyo (Kyoto).

Here, I took my first step on the Tokaido Highway.  The pavements and buildings are new, but this surely was the road people walked 400 years ago, when Ieyasu Tokugawa decided to build a robust logistics system that spans across Japan.  Tokaido being the busiest among the 5 Highways he built.

The first place I visited by was the Seigen-in Temple.  This temple is the place where Omannokata, the famous mistress of Ieyasu Tokugawa, was cremated.

This monument is built at the top of the hill behind the temple.  At the foot of the hill are several monuments with famous poetry written on them - one of them being the poetry by the famous poet Matsuo Basho.  It is difficult to imagine that such icons of Japanese history has left foot steps that I can visit and see in this modern world - the Japanese history still lives today.

I return to the Tokaido Highway, and with the guidebook in one hand, Google Maps on the other, look for monuments that mark where the Main Lodging was.  

This is what the monument looks like.  This place used to be the Uchida Honjin, where only very high ranking people can stay.  It was said that, when important people lodged here, the place was furnished with curtains that has the family symbol, so everybody knew who was staying in town.  Well, but everything is gone now, so I cannot really imagine what it was like 400 years ago.

As I walk down the road, I passed Sawabe Honjin (2nd main lodging), Yasaka Shrine, Tomitsuka Temple and there was supposed to be Mitsuke-ato (edge of the shuku or station town), but being a novice Tokaido traveller, I couldn't find it.

After I left Totsuka-shuku, there was 1 more interesting sight.  The Ichirizuka which stands 1ri of approx. 4km apart and marks the distance from Edo (Tokyo).

Nothing here but a sign - but by this time my back was so sore from carrying a load of 10kg, that I knew what the people 400 years ago did here - REST!

Long time ago, there were pine tress lining the Tokaido Highway, so people enjoyed the shade as they walked to and from Kyo.  But today, most of the trees were cut down, so I have the sun shining down on me.  By then I have learned the lesson.

DON'T CARRY TOO MUCH STUFF WITH YOU WHEN YOU TRAVEL ON FOOT.

Very basic, but very easily forgotten rule #1.

Beginning...

April 25, 2013.  It was just 1 day away from Golden Week, the largest holiday week in Japan.  It was also the first time I had completely forgotten about the holiday week.  I sat in front of my calendar, shocked.

I have let my work rule over my life - rule so much of my life that I had forgotten the holiday week I look forward to every year.

What can you do, just 1 day from the holiday week?  All of Japan is ready to enjoy the week.  Vacation spots are all reserved and full, traffic jam packed, flights out of Japan all booked.  Everybody is packing to enjoy what they have planned far ahead.  And I HAVE NOTHING.

Returning from work, I thought "well, I can at least pick up a book I can read during the holiday" - and strolled into a bookshop in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.  And one book caught my eye - "Walking the Tokaido - 492km."

Walking?  Well, for that you don't need to plan ahead.  Even I can do that!  The idea of walking down the highway built 400 years ago really intrigued me for some reason, so I picked up the book, walked home, and packed just enough things to keep me going for 3 days.

I did not know at this time that this would become my greatest hobby.  But now I know - this was probably the best course of action I took in decades.

So, here I am, at the starting point of roads in Japan - Nihonbashi, Tokyo - to embark on a long jorney of 492km towards Kyo (= Kyoto), and also a long journey to understand the heart and soul of Japan.