hiking – Your Pilgrimage in Japan

Finish Line?

October 21, 2016October 21, 2016cometokagawa

This week I visited the final three temples on the pilgrimage. I “got it done”, so to speak. It was a very nice morning when I headed out, and this time I did not go with the tour group. I got up in the morning, had a quick breakfast, jumped in my car and was at temple number 3 (Konsenji) in Tokushima within about an hour. Simply beautiful. No one was there yet and it was quiet, and peaceful, and perfect. After that I zipped down the road to number 2 (Gokurakuji) and that was nice too. The final visit to number 1 (Ryouzenji) was met with a lot of people, tour buses, and foreign visitors too. I was surprised as to the contrast between number 3 and 1. Of course, it is understandable that at the very first temple people need some kind of orientation, places to buy their ohenro gear, and to get the whole process started, but it was surprising how busy it was, and how the energy seems a bit nervous and unsure as groups lumbered in and out.

But I “cleared it”. My “noukyouchou” (temple stamp book) was complete, I performed my final sutras (for this trip) and I was done.

Was there an epiphany? Was there a moment of satori (Buddhist enlightenment)? Was there the movement of clouds above while the light of heaven shone down upon my upward beaming (and unshaven) face?

Nope. None of that. But I did feel something, or maybe I just thought something. I can’t be sure. I felt that I had done the thing I was supposed to do. I felt that now that I finished my first pilgrimage around the whole of Shikoku, I was ready to get back to my life.

I felt compelled to leave. I felt like I was given something that I needed and that I now needed to do what I could in my work and my everyday moving about to be of use and purpose for those around me.

Even a few days later I still have the same feeling. So, there are few things to get done.

Keep working on this website and fill in as many gaps as possible. Promote this website and invite other to contribute where they can. The pilgrimage is something that is best shared, and although many have private feelings and reasons for doing it, there is something of a communal experience that occurs and needs celebrating.
Keep doing the job I am doing in building and growing our language schools for kids. I am lucky to have a job where the results of “giving” to others can have very quick and tangible results. Teaching is a noble and important job. I am delighted to work with a great team of teachers in building our schools and serving our community. There is much more to do, so I need to get back to doing it.

The Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage is in a circle. The metaphor is not lost on me. You finish the circle, but you could easily go through again and again and find more to learn and discover. I appreciate that, and I find it beautiful and attractive. I can see why there are people who are dedicated ohenro and why they walk this path for as long as they can put one foot in front of the other.

But for me, I am perhaps not designed to be in a circle only. I come from a culture where linear movement has its own value and place. In a circle you can let the situations and circumstance “be” while you move through them, and you are changed in ways you do not realize or fully understand. A linear movement is more like a rocket trajectory perhaps. I feel compelled to move in this way, for now.

My work, our schools, the students who need our help and service wait. If I am to remain in the circle they would not be there by the time I went around again. For me, it is time to come out of the circle and to use what I have in my mind and heart to do what I can to get kids better in English. I have a privileged position in this world, and I intend of leveraging my abilities for these kids. They need it and deserve it.

After the trajectory of these years to come may falter and slip, I will need to come out of the linear world again perhaps when I am forced to retire. I know where there is a circle where I can walk and think and reflect on the person I am, and how I may participate in the world around me. I know where I could start, and the path stretches out ahead, like an old friend who is inviting you to come along for the walk of your life.

Sleeping with the People Who Sleep with Fishes

October 10, 2016October 10, 2016cometokagawa

I am a member of a Facebook “Ohenro” group and there are some very nice people on that list. Several of them have reviews of their websites here, and it is very clear from their participation that they are passionate and thoughtful about their pilgrimage experiences.

There was one recent posting to the group admonishing, in some vague manner, about how to “behave” in Japan. Typically, I find such kinds of admonishments stiff and condescending. They are usually proffered by someone who has been in Japan for several years, has a good mastery of the language, but somehow and someway kind of lost their own identity in the search of being more “personally acceptable” to an imaginary Japanese “standard” of what is passable to the “typical” Japanese person.

Wow. That is a lot of apostrophes for one paragraph.

Part of the irritation I experience, at times, is the self-aggrandizing passive aggressiveness of these typical pieces of advice. They are well-meaning, I suppose, but they are coupled with a superiority complex that is hard not to see. They often begin with a phrase like, “The Japanese people are ….”, as if one person can understand how an entire nation thinks…. or “In Japanese culture you must …”, followed with a series of instructions you need to follow, lest you bring great shame upon yourself, your family, the Emperor, and all civilized people. Usually, it is all a bit much.

For me, having been around a bit myself for the last couple of decades in Japan, I tend to tune out such advice. It is often dull and uninspired, humorless and preachy. I hope you can take it from me that there is really only one thing that you need to do, well, maybe two.

Be nice.
Don’t be a jerk

That’s it. Just like back home, wherever home might have been before you came here. You know what good manners are, and you know what bad manners are. Figure it out. Use the golden rule. Recall you girl scout or boy scout code of conduct. Be friendly. Be yourself. That should keep you in good shape.

But… the aforementioned posting by one of the members did in fact have one thing that he mentioned that really stood out. And that guy was totally correct. He had heard through friends of his on the ohenro trail that some foreign travelers were, and get this, SLEEPING IN A CEMETERY.

Great Scott.

That one is a new one on me. That is pretty stunning I think.

I had no idea that there were actually people out there on the ohenro trail who thought that sleeping in a cemetery in a country not their own would be a good idea. Do we really have to tell people NOT to sleep in the cemetery? Really? I mean, how dumb can someone be? That is pretty rude, and to some, very serious behavior.

To the people who thought that it might be okay to sleep in a Japanese cemetery, “What the hell were you possibly thinking?” Were you tired? Did you have a long day walking? Big deal. Everyone has those. Did you not plan your trip properly? That is your fault. Don’t foist your crap on someone else. Didn’t you think that some people visit their loved ones at the cemetery regularly, and that to them it is holy ground? Don’t you think that for them, finding your lazy carcass sprawled out next to their dead family members might be a problem?

Frankly speaking, I think that sleeping in any cemetery, in any country around the world is not a good idea. Really. What kind of person sleeps in a cemetery? Are you some kind of zombie? Don’t you have any common sense?

I guess my own two pieces of advice, be nice and don’t be a jerk, needs one more. Here it is:

3. Don’t be an idiot by sleeping in a graveyard.

Walking and exploring the ohenro trail should be a good experience. It should be good for you. It should be enriching and expansive for your soul. It should be good for people you meet on the way. How can we be of benefit to those we meet? How can we serve or uplift our fellow humans? This nonsense of sleeping on someone’s family grave just feels wrong, because it is. That behavior comes from a spirit of “taking”, whether the people doing it are aware or not. There comes from some people an immature feeling of “getting something” or “taking something” wherever you go. “What can I get?” and “How much for me?” is the underscoring tone. If you feel sleepy or tired, get yourself further down the road to a place you know you can stop at. If you have to pay for a bed, do it. If you have to slog on, keep going. That is just how it has to be. That is the world of responsible adults. You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.

I think that these feelings of greed and entitlement need to be turned around. You don’t need to give all your worldly possessions away and live like a beggar, but when you meet someone, when you meet anyone, the thought of “What can I do for this person?” is simply a better, and happier, way to live.

So, that is my rant for today in its entirety. For those chowderheads sleeping on graves, knock it off. For the rest of you kind friends and neighbors, have a great day and travel safe.

Mark

Getting Closer and Closer to the Beginning

September 13, 2016cometokagawa

It has been another great couple of sessions for getting out on the pilgrim’s trail. This blog has not been updated for a little while (sorry about that), but sometimes my work takes on a life of its own and needs my attention. But it sure was nice to get away for a little while to visit temples, to study more about the Ohenro trail, and see some things that were unique, elegant, beautiful, and surprising.

It has also been very interesting to see a few more foreign pilgrims on the road. The most amazing thing that has been similar with several is that they have come to Shikoku with limited or without any proficiency in Japanese. They just get out on the trail and start walking, filled with a spirit of determination and a lot of guts. I really admire that. I think it is awesome. I had a chance to stop a few and ask how they are doing, ask where are they from, and ask what they would like to see for some changes or improvements to the whole experience. Some travel by foot, but I also met a family that just came here, rented a car, and started driving all over the place. How cool is that?

There is usually a brief comment about how the current English guidebook is not enough, but then another quickly following comment that the guidebook is indeed indispensable. I could not agree more. The guidebook is GREAT, but a guidebook cannot, by its very nature hold all the information that a pilgrim would like to have. So, we will do what we can here to chip away at what people want to learn and know more about over time. For me, I am still learning, so we can learn more together, and talk, and share ideas, and try to figure out a few things along the way.

There are also comments about how the trail could be better identified and also for some better computer maps. I think that those things are coming along, and in my time talking with some of the people in the Shikoku Ohenro Friendship Society, a lot of volunteer man-hours are going into those exact things. I think that despite the frustrations that pilgrims have today, things will be better for people who are coming later in the weeks and months to come.

For me, on this first time around, we got to Temple 12. Coming in reverse order this year that means that I have visited 76 temples so far. That is a lot, and they are beginning to blur a bit around the edges. From now I have to kick things into gear and get more updates on each temple. I would like to include more folklore, locals sights and sounds and flavors, and all of that will take time. But this project has given me much more than I have given it. Must get back to it to balance that out a little better, if I can.

There are a couple more outings yet scheduled, so I am looking forward to those. And then off to Mt. Koya. I am, as you can imaging, pretty jazzed about that.

Hope this blog finds you well, safe, and dry on this rainy day here in Shikoku!

Yours,

Mark

Latest Lamentations

August 31, 2016August 31, 2016cometokagawa

Oh… this site needs much more work. Oh…. I have no idea when I will get the time to really get it looking better. Ohhhh… there are so many topics and things that need to be addressed here. Ohhhhhhh….. I am still not finished the first time through the 88 temples.

What are you gonna do? In Japanese you can say, “Shikata ga nai” or “Shouga nai” (which as a gag can also be translated as “I have no ginger.”

I just got back home after a two-day installment of temple 27 (Kounomineji) down to… temple 18 (Onzanji). Remember, that this is a “gyaku-uchi” year so many pilgrims are visiting temples in reverse order. This was an overnighter for me, so I was away from my family, and I stayed at a very “Showa-era” standard hotel in Tokushima (The Rivera) with all the flavors and textures that go with that. It is just across the Kochi border looking out on the sea. The view from my window was marvelous. The onsen, however, was divine.

I get out on the ohenro trail once a month, but it is very much like a kind of respite from running our company, and gives me a little space to think, to daydream, and to think about what we are all about, and how we must focus better on serving our students, and beyond that-serving our fellow humans.

I fill up my camera with unbelievable pictures and I love doing that. This last trip has some real gems in it, and it was a very good time for me to learn, to stretch my mind a little, and to calm my overly anxious heart.

I will try to get the photos up on the site, and get back to the grindstone of filling in some blanks too. I really need to thank you guys who visit for being so patient as I slowly stumble along here.

Please stay tuned!

Mark

Your Essential Guidebook

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016cometokagawa

This guidebook is a must-have for anyone who is traveling on foot for the 88 Buddhist Temple Pilgrimage. If you are planning on coming out this way, you simply must have this book in your pack. There are times that cell phone batteries die, internet access is not possible, or if you are like me, you actually lose your phone in the sea. It is times like this that you must prepare to go “old school”. Yes, that means that you will need to harken back to the “good old days” when our knowledge was somehow stored on pieces of paper which were fastened in a stack either by thread, staples, or glue. You know what I am talking about! You got it!

Books! Yay. I love books.

So, this book is full of maps and little synopses of the various temples and surrounding area attractions. It is really quite a marvel that so much information could be packed into a single book. It is very inexpensive too. Mine cost 1,600 yen, so that is about 16 bucks.

But this book is not without controversy! Yes, indeed. There is scandal. There are divisive voices as to its worthiness for taking precious space in your backpack.

The first criticism I heard is that the information is not completely accurate as to what places are open for lodging and which are closed. The people who make this criticism are unhappy that the book does not behave as an electronic data holding machine that updates its information instantaneously. It is an outrage! Yes, how can a book not be like the internet! I demand all my books to behave like my computer!

The second criticism I heard is that the book is too heavy. I read of a critic who suggested that the book be printed on lighter material, perhaps the glue in the binding could be cut down, or that there is simply too much useful information that had better be deleted. Another outrage! Yes, we all know that the movement of ohenro is much like an Olympic competitive swimmer who shaves all their body hair off so that they can move much quicker through the water. We need the ohenro to be more streamlined and aerodynamic.

My own response to these two criticisms is 1) Books are not computers. Plan your trip better and get the information you need from a bunch of sources before putting the responsibility for YOU have a place to sleep on the guys who made this book. 2) If you think you will be too tired to carry around this “heavy” book made of sturdy useful pages of maps, just imagine how tired you will be walking 20 kilometers off course when you have nothing on paper to properly guide you.

This book is the labor of love of a whole bunch of people. It is updated regularly and there are Facebook groups and websites that update the status of places to stay. Mr. Tateki Miyazaki, Mr. Naoyuki Matsushita are the authors of this book. Translation done by Mr. David Moreton. Publishers is Buyodo Co. Ltd.

Remember that before you get out on the trail you need this in your pack. There is no real reasonable way around this. I can walk around with it in a big side pocket of my jacket or in a small pocket in my carry-around bag. It really doesn’t weigh much, and the information in it could really help you when you need it.

Hope, real Hope, for the Future

August 18, 2016August 18, 2016cometokagawa

I am getting old. I am getting grouchy. My knees and back hurts in the morning. I am very unfriendly before I have a cup of coffee in the morning. I am what I thought my grandfather must have been like. Old grouchy man.

Young people today! Terrible! They have crazy hairstyles and listen to terrible music! Young people make trouble. They are lazy. They don’t study enough. They have no plans or hopes for the future. Young people are a pain in the neck.

I think that might have been me when I was 16. But what you will see in the videos below are kids that are nothing like I was. These are the real shining gems of tomorrow. I watched all the speeches and I was very impressed, some of them are quite touching. I have hope for tomorrow, and I always believe that the next generation will bring good with it. Our job, as the grouchy old generation of today, is to clean up some of the debris and destruction that we inherited from the generation before ours.

Shikoku Pilgrimage Japan Heritage Council put together this speech contest. It falls under their, “Project to Promote the Attractions of Japanese Heritage”. The results of this project were probably quite unexpected. The speeches are very heart-warming and authentic. I encourage you to check out all the video on this page.

Here are the videos I could find of the individual speeches. They are really quite lovely. And before you think that sometimes the pronunciation is not clear or perfect, please keep in mind that Japanese, as a language, has no natural sounding “F”, “L”, “R”, “V”, or “TH”. Before you criticize, you should try to put together your own speech in Japanese that requires navigation through grammar and vocabulary that would make your eyes bleed.

I thought that these young adults did a tremendous job, and provided a marvellous and elegant service to the theme they wrote and spoke on. Not only did they create these speeches, committed them to memory, but they had to stand in front of room of people to deliver their ideas and feelings. It takes guts and courage to do a speech, and then to do it in a foreign language too… wow. The only thing missing from their high school uniforms are capes.

Awesome! And…. up … up… and away!!!!!

Check these out!

Tour de Ohenro

Momoko Ochi

Core Value of Henro

Honoka Tsujihara

The Spirit of Hospitality (Omotenashi)

Yu Aono

The Shikoku Pilgrimage: Continuing Calmly

Risa Inaba

A New Encounter That May Change Your Life

Nami Yanagihara

Teachings of Kukai

Kirara Shinozaki

From Shikoku to the World

Akari Fujiwara

Would You Like Some Tea?

Rina Oike

To Be a Person Who Can Do “Oseetai”

Sakura Sasao

Wishes from Taiho-Temple, the 44th Temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage

Yasuteru Oonishi

“Go-en”, Yukari on the Shikoku Pilgrimage

Yukari Kubo

Awa Wasanbon Sugar

Moyuka Fununishi

I am an English teacher and I am learning more and more about the Ohenro experience as I go along these weeks and months. It is a great privilege to hear these future leaders speak about their homes, their culture, and their identity as it connects to this pilgrimage. It is of the heart and from the heart. It is great to bear witness to these messages.

These students, no doubt, make the hearts of their parents, grandparents, and teachers just burst with pride.

Simply beautiful.

Baritone Ohenro Lesson

August 18, 2016August 18, 2016cometokagawa

When I was a kid, way back when the earth was still cooling, we had a magical device called a “filmstrip machine”. It looks like this:

I was forced to go to a Christian private school and we had to watch many of these filmstrips that were instructional and formative lessons on how one ought to behave. A low baritone voice would come in with something like:

“And that is how we now know that the study of evolution and the fanciful belief in dinosaurs was largely a man-made fiction used to confuse the younger generation. We must be aware of Satan’s never ending plan to confuse our hearts with empirical data and scientific theory.”

The dialogue throughout whatever we were watching, played either on vinyl record or later on cassette tape, would pause and a PING! would sound out. Then the teacher knew to advance to the next frame of the filmstrip. Our filmstrips were not limited to indoctrination sessions alone. We had filmstrips for geography and science as well. I must have heard that PING! about a billion times.

Imagine my utter amazement when I found this Youtube gem. I hit the play button and then BEHOLD! There was THE VOICE!!! Well, maybe not the exact voice I heard as a kid, but remarkably similar in the tone, the pace, the carefully crafted sentences and scripted dialogue that told you:

“You are back in school. The teacher is speaking. You must listen carefully. There may be a quiz at the end of the filmstrip.”

But, in truth, I found this quite lovely. It is dated, but may be interesting to people first looking at what the Ohenro experience is all about, and how it looks and feels. I watched it a couple more times and I thought that, in the end, it is pretty all right. Check it out!

I also, strangely had an urge to run out and purchase a bucket of juicy fried chicken, something that would be coated in some secret combination of herbs and spices, along with a healthy side order of coleslaw, but I am not sure why.

Pitstop in Takamatsu

August 8, 2016cometokagawa

About a month or so ago, I met a very nice gentleman as our Ohenro tour bus was cruising through Kochi. Manfred, from Germany, was at Kokubunji and seeing a fellow expatriate, as I always do, I said, “Hello.”

Now, there are different kinds of expatriates who come to Japan. Some are very friendly, like Manfred. Some are not so friendly. And yet others, may feel insulted that other expatriates are “intruding” on their unique experience of drinking in the Japanese atmosphere, culture, and all things “wabi-sabi”. In the worst cases, my greeting is ignored and a cold shoulder turned. I have a dubbed this phenomena, “the gaijin snub”.

Manfred was having none of that. I said “Hi”. He said, “Hi.” And within moments we were talking and getting to know each other. Sadly, my group was hustling through the temple and I had to get on the bus with them, or fear being left behind in the parking lot. I passed my contact information to Manfred and invited him for dinner in Takamatsu when he arrived. He graciously accepted and we had a very nice visit, complete with pasta and beer (yay!).

Talking with Manfred made me realize that we should have something on this site about the experiences that expatriate pilgrims are having on the 88 Buddhist Temple Pilgrimage. So, with that in mind, Manfred again graciously accepted to be “interviewed” by me and answered a set of questions that I have prepared.

My plan is to interview a bunch of different people with the same questions and then post them all together in a new section on this site. I think that would be interesting and maybe of some use to people thinking about coming this way and giving the pilgrimage a shot themselves. So, if you are someone who would like to be “immortalized”, or who would not mind the intrusion, I would very much like to send you my set of questions and have you send them back my way, with a photo of yourself as well. Send me an email at: englishbiztakamatsu@gmail.com.

There are many people who walk these miles, and we have a chorus of pilgrims who have tales to tell. I am hoping to bring these voices to the forefront so that others can hear, and learn, and feel the same inspiration that brought you to walk all those miles.

Manfred in on his way towards Temple 88!

All the best! Travel safe!

Mark

Ohenro NPO

August 6, 2016cometokagawa

I love digging around in Youtube and online to find cool things that are related to the Ohenro (pilgrimage) experience here in Shikoku. There are many unseen, and unvisited sites and videos out there. Some real gems can be found. I like this video. I thought is was so organic and natural. No preaching. No big explanation about the “deeper meanings” of things, and what you should do and say, and who you should try to be. Just clean, pleasant, “in the moment”, and simply beautiful.

Produced by the Ehime International Tourism Support NPO, and designed by “Takeshi F”, this video transports the viewer into the pilgrim’s experience. You are just hanging out with these three out-of-town pilgrims and just walking the trail. What could be better? The music is very soothing, and the visual images of the forests, the fallen leaves, the reading of the Heart Sutra, make it a very tangible experience.

Thank you Takeshi! You made a beautiful thing here.

Tokushima Start!

July 27, 2016cometokagawa

After finding the Mad Henro! video, which is still so charming and fun, I found another made by the same producer, “Tokushima-ken CHANNEL”. This is also very fun. I think that the producers have a great sense of humour, and have a passion and sense of “mission” to promote the Ohenro experience. I love it.

The feeling of rushing from one place to another is a common unhappiness with many pilgrims on the trail. Our pressurized lives force us to hurry up our respective enlightenments so that we can hurry back to our pressurized lives from which we felt a need to seek spiritual calm in the first place. That is the very definition of a “vicious circle”.

While it may not be practical to take all the time we would like to enjoy each and every element of the pilgrimage, sometimes it is a good idea to just stop, breathe, and take in the moment.

Great video here. Check it out.

Mark