The Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage - Of Fish And Men
Becoming a monk and walking almost 900 miles barefoot in one month through cold mountains, dark forests, and blazing heat, while dealing with wild animals and harsh weather, isn't something someone decides to do on a whim...
but it's something that I decided to do on a whim...
I didn't actually know what I was getting myself into...
Returning to Japan for a few months of summer training I contemplated what my Shugyo for the year would be... Then, serendipitously, there was a lady next to me with a guide book to Japan open. I looked over her shoulder and saw a quick blurb that would dictate my summer.... and alter many years to come.
The flight to Japan was surprisingly smooth. I wound up flying directly from Toronto to Tokyo; but because I had been in the states before hand, by the time I made it too the money changer I had a wallet full of a mix of Canadian Dollars, United States Dollars, and Japanese Yen (from the last time I was there...).
Of course, upon getting into town the first place I went was the Kyokushin Karate Dojo. It was late though, and there weren't many people there. I left to go wander and return the next day. The next day, training was in full effect. I walked in and everyone was all smiles. Mori said "Well well well, if it isn't the killer from America. Hey everyone! The street fighter's back!" Everyone was very happy and we had a good work out.
The next day was the once a month sumo / pro wrestling training. Everyone kept remarking "you look so much stronger, and younger? You must have trained hard." Once it was my turn to wrestle, I surprised everyone by stalemating with Kamada, who is much larger than me. When it was my turn to do the Sumo body push training, I surprised everyone again. This time by moving the assistant instructor around like he wasn't even there. A good time.
That night my friend Jeff, who studies Kenjutsu, took me out for a heaping bowl of ramen. I do not use the word "heaping" lightly. Mountainous!!
At the next Kyokushin Karate training, it was revealed that I had learned some massage technique, and so the sensei had me give him a massage. While I massaged him I was also teaching Mori about some of the massage skill I had learned. "You've really been studying." He said. He then said that I should give the students of the dojo massages and have them pay me. He insisted this would be a good job ( to get me to stay in Japan longer). I didn't realize he was serious. When I finished giving the sensei his massage, he got his wallet out and paid me. I refused the money for a long time, but eventually he won, handing me the money.
I insisted I didn't need the money. He said that someone of skill should be paid... and that he knew I did too need the money. I tried to leave the money in the dojo a few times " accidentally" but it kept getting returned to me. I'll get it to them eventually, one way or the other. In the meantime, masseuse became one of my part time jobs.
Mori and the sensei then where questioning me about what I planed to do while in Japan.
I responded : martial arts.
"Besides that."
Well, when I was on the plane, this girl sitting next to me had a guide book she was reading. The page was open to a page about the 88 temple pilgrimage in Shikoku...
"What!?! How long is it?"
Supposed to take 2 months. It's only 1200km (700miles).
"What!? And you didn't plan for this?
No. And I'm gonna do it in half the time. One month. Barefoot, if I can.
"Impossible! There's mountains and rivers... it's all back country, and it's monsoon season! You'll never make it!
Oh, I'll make it....
The Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage is a famous pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku, in Japan. The journey is supposed to recreate the journey of one of Japan's most famous Buddhist figures, Kobo Daishi. Kobo Daishi is said to have gone to China and studied Buddhism for a number of years before returning to Japan and introducing said Buddhism to the Japanese. Also during this time in Japan Kobo Daishi is said to have invented the Japanese kana system (alphabets) and journeyed through Shikoku, ultimately gaining enlightenment. It is this enlightenment that those on the 88 temple pilgrimage hope to achieve by following in Kobo Daishi's footsteps. In fact, the stick you walk with during the pilgrimage has the phrase "two journey together" written on it, meaning you and the spirit of Kobo Daishi are traveling together. The people who undertake this journey are called "henro" or pilgrims.
The year is 20.X.
I hadn't really planned in advance to go on the journey, but while reading about it in the guidebook of the woman sitting next to me on the plane on the way to Japan, I decided that that would be my shugyo for the summer.
Before I left Tokyo, Mori made a big deal at the dojo. I had said I wanted to do it barefoot, and that because I had climbed Mount Fuji barefoot about 10 months prior, it should be doable. That and the fact that I was attempting to complete the pilgrimage in a month, when the average time is two months. These two things made Mori fairly certain I would die or at least fail. I reminded him that he said the same thing about my training mission to Mt. Fuji 10 months back. He reminded me that there was someone he knew who doubted I even actually did that because of a lack of pictures of my feet. "Everyone gather 'round! Nash is going on a training mission to Shikoku, barefoot, trying to do the 88 temple pilgrimage in half the time. Take a picture of his feet before he goes. He's probably going to die... but if he doesn't, and his feet look fine, he must have cheated."
This prompted me to take plenty of pictures on my journey. Too many.
Even though the only research I'd done was reading a blurb over a girls shoulder in a travel guide on a plane, I was set on going. “I'm going in 3 days!” I announced to Jeff triumphantly. That night I awoke in the middle of the night and could feel that the time was then. “I'm leaving in the morning!”, I said. “What!? Aren't you going to get supplies or do some research!?” No need. It's now or never, I can feel it. I'm sure it'll be fine. How hard could it be? With that, I waited until sunrise and set forth.
Jeff gave me a heartfelt sendoff, worried about me as always. If you worry about your friends, I may be one of the worst to have.... “See you when I see you” I said, and walked off majestically into the rising sun...
About two hours later there was a knock on the apartment door. Jeff opened it, and there I was standing on the doorstep. “I just realized I have no idea where I'm going. Can you get me a Google-map or something to the island?” That whole exchange should illustrate perfectly my level of preparedness, but like always I was blissfully unaware of the difficulty of the task in front of me. With that and my characteristic immoderation, I set off to be a wondering Buddhist monk, this time for real.
Leaving Tokyo, I rode the Shinkansen all the way to Osaka, and from Osaka I took a bus to Shikoku. Upon arrival in Shikoku it was made clear to me that this was not the glittery-neo-Japan I had just come from. This was the country. I had figured this would be the case, but Shikoku's tag line " Shikoku, the 4th largest island of the main islands of Japan!", caused me to imagine otherwise. The people on Shikoku seemed fond of repeating that line, but never mentioned that there are only 4 main islands of Japan....
After wondering around Tokushima city for a bit (One of two actual cities. The rest is wilderness, fields, towns, or small villages.), I stumbled onto an awesome festival. Watching everyone dance to the taiko and shamisen was really great. Than night I took the train to "Bando train station" where I spent the night. They call it a train station, but it might as well be a bus stop. There is nothing there.
That night I contemplated what lay before me. A 1,200km hike through who knows what. I thought about my supplies: a small bag with a sleeping bag, toothbrush, towel, body wash, notebook, sports tape, and tatami sandals (in case of an emergency). No cloths, no tent, no maps, no electronics (save for the camera), and a compass I got at the 100yen store that only pointed at me... I also kept coming back to the words of Kobo Daishi himself: "Do not just walk in the footsteps of the men of old, seek what they sought." So, what was I seeking? Shugyo is an act of aescetic training, or a training mission. The purpose of which is to strengthen the spirit, not the body. So in a sense, I was seeking spiritual strength, but what I was really hunting after was freedom. The freedom that comes from a strong spirit and knowing who and what you are.
When I was younger I was so involved in the physical side of my martial arts training for a while that I could not take a day off from physical training. This was good. EXCEPT, because of the inflexibility of my training regimen, I could not go places I wanted if they didn't have the training equipment i needed. As a result, I missed many life experiences and chances. If there is a place you want to go, and you can't go there, you are not truly free. I had become a slave to my training. There is a saying that " Those who gain power are afraid to lose it.". Because I was only relying on physical powers I feared losing them. After many years I freed myself from this. This journey was the final step. By going on this training mission I was guaranteed to become week, and therefore stronger than ever.
I seek not to surpass my limits, but to remove them.
I awoke to weather colder than I would have imagined for this time of year (May), for the part of the world I was in. After brushing my teeth and doing my morning exercises, I set out for the first temple. There I procured my pilgrim staff, hat, robe, and the stamp book. The stamp book is important because at each temple, you collect the temple's seal and stamp (nokkyo) within the book; then return to the first temple to collect the 89th and final stamp. The first day I managed to make it to the first ten temples. By the time I had made it to temple #10 they had closed, and so I slept on a stone bench in their garden.
That first day I learned a lot. Namely that one of the reasons the pilgrimage is so hard is because people make it that way. The temples are only open from 7am to 5pm. If you arrive after that, you must wait until they open again. Also, those hats are really uncomfortable. They stay on your head by drilling wicker spikes into it.
The next day I walked on over to temple 11, and then to temple 12. Warning: temple 12 is considered by many to be the hardest part of the whole thing. I did not know this. Temple 12 sits at the top of a very large mountain. To get to it takes about 10 hours or more of mountain climbing. I was not expecting that at the time. After finally getting to temple 12, after stumbling around in the dark, they where of course closed. That was fine. I laid my sleeping bag down on a bench in the temple courtyard. The grounds keeper by chance just happened to be there at the time, and after many back and forth exchanges, he made me leave (he had quite the attitude, and seemed to be without logic). "where am I supposed to go?" He replied that there was a rest shack for pilgrims on the side of the mountain and that I should go there. Ok. I went, and when i opened the door, I was greeted with a scene from a horror film. I decided I would rather brave the elements and sleep outside. I made a fire pit and went to sleep. (note: I'm pretty sure it was that guys job to keep the grounds of the pilgrim shack as well. Lets say it was not kept well. That's ok though. Next to the shack was a large stone wall holding back that side of the mountain. I decided to rip out some of the stones from said wall to make my firepit. Thanks for the donation!)
The days passed and my journey continued. On and on I went, sleeping outside, living with nature and traveling from temple to temple. Most "pilgrims" these days go by car, and are paid no mind. However, if people see an actual walking pilgrim they will go out of their way to help them. Not because the pilgrim needs it (though usually he does), but because the people giving the contribution are asking a favor of the pilgrim. These are people that very badly want to walk the pilgrimage, but for some reason cannot. Maybe they have a job, a family, are sick, or have become too old to physically make it. Whatever the reason, they will probably not ever be able to actually make it, and so upon seeing someone who is in the middle of actually living their dream they contribute to them. It's as close as they will ever get to living their fantasy. Upon receiving their gift, you are receiving their hopes and dreams. They are saying "please don't fail", and you carry the spirit of these people with you. When you succeed, they all have succeeded in a way. I received so much kindness from various people, I was carrying the hopes and strength of so many people, I did not have the ability to fail.
Though that isn't to say it was easy.
Shikoku, as it turns out, is actually a fairly dangerous place. one reason for this would be the disturbingly huge amount of garbage. Sometimes it's abandoned vehicles full of garbage, and sometimes it's broken glass everywhere. I thought long and hard about it, and decided to where my sandals in these parts. Another reason Shikoku might be considered dangerous is the weather. When I got to Shikoku, all the natives kept talking about how incredibly and uncharacteristicaly cold it was. One night in the mountains especially brought this to the forefront of my mind, and i wrote a haiku about it:
"
Henro by the fire
shivering, watches his breath.
What? This is summer?”
Though after a few weeks the cold was replaced by unrelenting heat and mosquitoes, and the threat of the monsoon was always present. The next threat was brought to my attention by a native okonomiyaki chef in a small town. I was passing through and decided to get some hot food for a change. While he was preparing my food, he thought to give me the "heads up" on the fauna of the area. "Don't you think it's dangerous to be walking around in kapris barefoot?" Why? "Because of mamushi." What? "It's a super poisones snake that is native to the island. If you get bit, you'll die if you don't get to the hospital quick." ... (realizing that I am hundreds of kilometers away from a hospital at all times.) "Then there’s the monkeys." Monkeys? "They're small little monkeys, but still dangerous." ...I see. " Oh, watch out for foxes and tanuki." Anything else? "Big poisones spiders." of course. "Giant bees. There are giant bees here. They aren't poisonous, but they are big enough to really do damage." Bees. Great. "Theres a few bears too. Really though, the thing you have to watch out for more than anything are the wild boars. Everything else will usually run away if it sees a human, but a wild boar will actually go out of it's way to kill you." Fantastic.
I later found out that by "giant bees and spiders" the man wasn't kidding, and by "small monkey" he meant "man sized baboon"! Those are two different things! Oh, and the mamushi showed up six different times.
Of course, the most dangerous thing about Shikoku may very well be the island itself. The "pilgrim road" is treacherous. I mean it. There are many pits and chasms where it would be easy to fall, and where falling would mean death. If you didn't die, you would sure wish you had. In fact, I hear that it wasn't uncommon for many people to die from falling, back before everyone decided that using a car and completing the whole thing in 2 days was a good idea. I probably should have done at least some basic research about this place before I left for it. I actually wound up wrenching my ankles at one point because of the terrain.
With my ankles wrenched my speed was reduced. I was already waking up at 4:30 every day and walking between 13 and 15 hours a day, which gave me at least 40km a day. There was no way I could make the lost time up. Fearing I wouldn't finish, I decided I would hitchhike a day or two until I healed. Out of 1,200km I hitchhiked about 150km. As a result, I met some amazing people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Maybe that was something that needed to happen. The two most amazing people I met where Kariya and Kaz. These two gave the biggest contributions of all. Kariya invited me into his home, and his wife made us dinner. Kariya and I talked late into the night and became friends. He's in his 40's and owns his own business making seaweed, and has a house on Okinawa. He said that if I had an interest I could stay at his house on Okinawa free next summer (there is most certainly an interest). He even introduced me to his 82 year old friend, katayama, who has an awesome garden. Katayama even gave me a huge bag of vegetables from his garden. Speaking with kariya, he said his mother lived near one of the temples, and I could stay there when I got in the area. Before I could say anything, he called his mother to let her know I would be on my way! He is very nice, and also bought me a map.
Then there is Kaz. Kaz also gave me a lot. Kaz is a thoughtful guy and had lived in Los Angeles for a few years. He's an acupuncturist by trade, but also practices massage, acupressure, moxibustion, and Judo style bone setting. He taught me a new stretching technique that improved my abilities. He also let me sleep at his clinic one night when I was in the area. Kaz is a worrier by nature, which is unfortunate if I am your friend. Every so often I would show up at a temple, and there would be a note from Kaz taped to the gate reading something like "To the pilgrim Nash, please call kaz, he wonders if you are still alive".
I also met a lot of other really interesting people, such as the bicyclist hiroshi who I met briefly one day, then again a couple weeks later. We traveled around together for a couple of days before parting ways. He also gave me a poncho.
Then there is the bar I was pulled into in one town that just so happen to have a guy living there who grew up in the town I took some college classes at. David. David has a friend,Katsuura, who is a calligraphy exponent, and Shotokan Karate Practitioner. We stayed up late talking about the differences between kyokushin karate , shotokan karate, and Okinawa karate.
I even met a 50 year old Japanese man (though he looked in his 30s) who was also in the middle of a karate shugyo. He practiced daido juku kudo karate, and when it came to baggage, he took the opposite approach to myself. He seemed to be carrying everything. He had a tent, extra cloths, a sleeping bag, a Vietnam war helmet, a stuffed animal, and a shamisen! He said his baggage weighed over 35 kg. He was a funny guy, and kind of reminded me of Kazushi Sakuraba.
Akio is another guy a met. He was a 23 year old monk who was doing shugyo as part of being a monk. Surprisingly his sister is studying abroad near the university I take classes at sometimes.
Outside of these spars human interactions, it was just me and the road. Sleeping in the mud or in forests or on the beach. Bathing in rivers or wherever I could. Always moving. It felt good to be in that lifestyle. Liberated.
"Eat when you can, sleep when you must, and above all - keep moving". This was the way I lived and it felt right. You never knew where your "next" was coming from. Or what your "next" was. Your next meal, next brush with danger, next bed, next meeting with a friend you never knew you had. This way of living shaved away all that had been artificially placed on me by society, and left only the real me. "Why doesn't everyone do this?" I thought.
I pondered this while sitting next to a river in the middle of a forest, staring at the fish. Loving fish, and not knowing much about them sparked a moment of sudden realization within me. There are many kinds of fish, and many of them look the same. Though they may look the same, some fish can only survive in salt water, while others are strictly fresh water fish. Further still, there are certain depths, and temperature ranges that a certain fish must be in. People are the same. When I look at a fish I can't tell what depth, temperature and such a fish must be in ( though there is probably a way). If you put a fish in the wrong environment, it would most likely die, or at the very least, probably not thrive. People are the same. People are generally person shaped, and though they may have different markings and be slightly different size, they look relatively the same. Society tries to place some people in certain environments and roles that they are not native to. The person won't know why, but will continue not to thrive and be unhappy. I now know why I'm drawn to the things I'm drawn to. That's the type of fish I am. I may look similar to another person, but I have my own circumstances I must be in to thrive. So do you. Are you trying to be the fish you are, or are you the fish something has tried to make you be?
I had also been in the sun for a very very long time and was dehydrated when I had said epiphany. This was around the time I was walking and passed a strange rock in my path. Walking on, I turned around to find the rock right behind me. Thinking nothing of it, I continued. A minute later I turned around to find the same rock behind me. Upon closer inspection it wasn't a rock at all. It was a crab! I looked around and realized all the rocks in the road where crabs! The whole island turned out to be covered in all sorts of different kinds of crabs! I wasn't sure if I was having a heat stroke or if I had just actually seen a rainbow colored crab, but Lucky for me, the whole island is covered in fruit trees so dehydration wasn't too big a concern. Oranges, Cherries, biwa, grapefruit, konatsu, plums, blackberries, and peach, to name a few. I took plenty of pictures, so I knew I hadn't imagined the crabs or anything else! Around the same time I discovered the fruit is the same time I discovered the pilgrim gear can be multi purpose. For instance, the hat makes an excellent bowl for liberated fruit. The staff is great for walking, climbing, crossing giant pits, or if a mamushi is around and you panic, you can use it like a golf club and hit the snake off the side of a giant mountain(true story. Take THAT mamushi).
Into my third week on the island I wound up stopping at a minshuku (pilgrim inn), to do laundry. I was more than a little smelly at this point. I did wind up staying the night there, because the people where so nice. I was told the monsoon would be to the island soon. I had been racing this whole time to try and beat it before it got to the island. It didn't happen. For about 6 days I was bombarded with torrential rains, but by that point nothing bothered me at all.
Eventually time passed and I was on my way back from the 88th temple, heading towards the first temple. I had seen all of Shikoku. A place that, outside the two main cities, seemed to be frozen in time in the 1950s. I had seen farms, mountains, cities, the ocean, the beautiful things man can do, and the damage man has done. I was reflecting on the things I had learned. The times when there was more than a hundred kilometers between temples. The amazing kindness I received from some, and the surprising coldness I got from others. As I was thinking all this, I was pulled into a bar by girl who worked there. Her and her father owned the place and wanted to know if I wanted some food. Yes. We all talked and had an amazing time. I got to talking to one of the regulars about fighting, and he said I looked like Andy hug (which made my day. In fact, that was the fifth time someone on Shikoku had said that.). The father said I had the spirit of Miyamoto Musashi, and was sure I'd been doing Dojo Yaburi on the island. When he parted ways, the father slipped me a 1,000 yen bill, and with a smile told me to do my best and to get strong.
I walked for a couple more days to the docks. While sitting in a nearby park, a guy struck up a conversation with me. We talked for a while and he mentioned his house was near by if I wanted a shower. I supposed I did need one, so I took him up on his offer. I showered and his wife fixed us dinner. We talked for awhile before I headed back out into the night. In the morning I arrived at the boat yard to buy a ticket for the ferry back to Tokyo, but the cheapest fairs where gone. Another pilgrim (who had gone by motorcycle) heard and bought half my ticket as a final contribution. I thanked him profusely. If you added up all the money I received on the journey, it would be close to 20,000 yen. But if you factor in good and services, it would probably be about 60,000 yen.
I was on the fairy for a couple of days and made a couple of new friends. Chie and Akita. Chie was traveling around practicing zazen, and akita was touring around and had an interest in Karate, though had never practiced it before, and had a special interest in the sanchin stance (they came to the right person, maybe). We celebrated the completion of my training mission together with socializing and celebratory booze, and I did a handstand. On a boat. In the roiling ocean. While drunk.
30 days had passed since I left. I had done it. The second we made port in Tokyo I left for the dojo to prove I succeeded. I walked in and was greeted with a combination of cheering and disbelief. That night there was a nomikai and we all caught up. I was so ragged out from going straight from intense ascetic training to partying that I passed out walking... I'm sure the alcohol didn't help either.
I had a great time, though that night trying to sleep in a regular apartment (Jeff’s) for the first time in a while, I couldn't shake the words of a henro I had met. " This is the second time I've walked the whole thing. The first time I did the 88, but then I learned that there are an extra 20 temples on the island. This time I'm doing the 88 plus 20. I just couldn’t' leave it alone without coming back and doing them all. If you've got the fire in you, you won't be able to ignore it...". And I can't ignore it. Why? Because that is the type of fish I am.
"Eat when you can, Sleep when you must, And above all - Keep moving."
-Nash
Epilogue:
A two month journey through the wilderness done in one month. Barefoot.
I made many new friends and acquaintances, as well as got to see old ones. Here's what was happening upon my return:
Zenjuro celebrated his birthday.
Happy Birthday! Everyone had cake (except me of course. I don't like it.)It's expensive!
I ate at CoCo's Curry house. On request of a friend. Challengeing and succeeding at the hottest curry.
The All-Kanto kyokushin karate tournament was held. (I couldn't register, due to my missing the deadline.) I was in attendance to chear on Ale, and Fab, and everyone else from the Josai shibu.
Chie, who I met on the boat back from Shikoku, continued her zen journey up to Hokkaido, but not before we went to the Asakusa Shrine. I'd never been.
We went out for manju afterward, and she bought me red bean paste treats as a souiveneer! (Of course, I gave one to Jeff as well.)
Yoko, who I had also met on the boat back, and had expressed interest in kyokushin Karate (especially sanchin kata :)) ,came to shinjuku dojo on my recomendation, to get a first hand look. She liked what she saw and has joined the kyokushin kaikan! Osu! Welcome to kyokushin.
She also brought me a photo album of the pictures she took on the boat, and of her motercycle trip, as well as a bunny-hanging-decoration she made by hand!
The only minshuku I wound up stopping at, keeps a running list of pictures of the people who have stopped there througout the year, and a comment about them.
The Minshuku I wound up at put me on their website.
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~noriko87/JE-100-henronohiroba.html
You can really tell which guys are from Osaka. They always have silly poses...
Nash's Entry:
ナッシュ様
アメリカより武道家です。
足元見て下さい
本当ははだしで回るつもりだったそうですがやはり山の中では無理ですよね。修行 修行がんばれ！！
It reads:
Mr Nash...
More than just coming from America, he is a Budoka.
Please, look at his feet.
It would seem he is seriously doing the pilgrimage BAREFOOT.
But, it's impossible to go through the mountains like that right?
Training mission, Training Mission DO YOUR BEST!!
Not bad. I'm glad I got to see everyone, and to think, Yoko started training in the combative arts because she met me.
Nash:
As for me? Well I jutted off for adventures and martial arts of course, but I first wound up fighting Air Canada. A couple years later I learned that the fruit I was almost exclusively living on while I was on the 88 temple pilgrimage, the expensive one, is a sedative!!! I was walking all day, dehydrated, overworked, fighting heat illnesses and the like, all the while hopped up on sedatives!? If I had some stimulants I could change the world in a matter of days!! Also, no wonder I was having such spiritual revelations.... at least the pictures prove the things I saw were actually real.
but it's something that I decided to do on a whim...
I didn't actually know what I was getting myself into...
Returning to Japan for a few months of summer training I contemplated what my Shugyo for the year would be... Then, serendipitously, there was a lady next to me with a guide book to Japan open. I looked over her shoulder and saw a quick blurb that would dictate my summer.... and alter many years to come.
The flight to Japan was surprisingly smooth. I wound up flying directly from Toronto to Tokyo; but because I had been in the states before hand, by the time I made it too the money changer I had a wallet full of a mix of Canadian Dollars, United States Dollars, and Japanese Yen (from the last time I was there...).
Of course, upon getting into town the first place I went was the Kyokushin Karate Dojo. It was late though, and there weren't many people there. I left to go wander and return the next day. The next day, training was in full effect. I walked in and everyone was all smiles. Mori said "Well well well, if it isn't the killer from America. Hey everyone! The street fighter's back!" Everyone was very happy and we had a good work out.
The next day was the once a month sumo / pro wrestling training. Everyone kept remarking "you look so much stronger, and younger? You must have trained hard." Once it was my turn to wrestle, I surprised everyone by stalemating with Kamada, who is much larger than me. When it was my turn to do the Sumo body push training, I surprised everyone again. This time by moving the assistant instructor around like he wasn't even there. A good time.
That night my friend Jeff, who studies Kenjutsu, took me out for a heaping bowl of ramen. I do not use the word "heaping" lightly. Mountainous!!
At the next Kyokushin Karate training, it was revealed that I had learned some massage technique, and so the sensei had me give him a massage. While I massaged him I was also teaching Mori about some of the massage skill I had learned. "You've really been studying." He said. He then said that I should give the students of the dojo massages and have them pay me. He insisted this would be a good job ( to get me to stay in Japan longer). I didn't realize he was serious. When I finished giving the sensei his massage, he got his wallet out and paid me. I refused the money for a long time, but eventually he won, handing me the money.
I insisted I didn't need the money. He said that someone of skill should be paid... and that he knew I did too need the money. I tried to leave the money in the dojo a few times " accidentally" but it kept getting returned to me. I'll get it to them eventually, one way or the other. In the meantime, masseuse became one of my part time jobs.
Mori and the sensei then where questioning me about what I planed to do while in Japan.
I responded : martial arts.
"Besides that."
Well, when I was on the plane, this girl sitting next to me had a guide book she was reading. The page was open to a page about the 88 temple pilgrimage in Shikoku...
"What!?! How long is it?"
Supposed to take 2 months. It's only 1200km (700miles).
"What!? And you didn't plan for this?
No. And I'm gonna do it in half the time. One month. Barefoot, if I can.
"Impossible! There's mountains and rivers... it's all back country, and it's monsoon season! You'll never make it!
Oh, I'll make it....
The Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage is a famous pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku, in Japan. The journey is supposed to recreate the journey of one of Japan's most famous Buddhist figures, Kobo Daishi. Kobo Daishi is said to have gone to China and studied Buddhism for a number of years before returning to Japan and introducing said Buddhism to the Japanese. Also during this time in Japan Kobo Daishi is said to have invented the Japanese kana system (alphabets) and journeyed through Shikoku, ultimately gaining enlightenment. It is this enlightenment that those on the 88 temple pilgrimage hope to achieve by following in Kobo Daishi's footsteps. In fact, the stick you walk with during the pilgrimage has the phrase "two journey together" written on it, meaning you and the spirit of Kobo Daishi are traveling together. The people who undertake this journey are called "henro" or pilgrims.
The year is 20.X.
I hadn't really planned in advance to go on the journey, but while reading about it in the guidebook of the woman sitting next to me on the plane on the way to Japan, I decided that that would be my shugyo for the summer.
Before I left Tokyo, Mori made a big deal at the dojo. I had said I wanted to do it barefoot, and that because I had climbed Mount Fuji barefoot about 10 months prior, it should be doable. That and the fact that I was attempting to complete the pilgrimage in a month, when the average time is two months. These two things made Mori fairly certain I would die or at least fail. I reminded him that he said the same thing about my training mission to Mt. Fuji 10 months back. He reminded me that there was someone he knew who doubted I even actually did that because of a lack of pictures of my feet. "Everyone gather 'round! Nash is going on a training mission to Shikoku, barefoot, trying to do the 88 temple pilgrimage in half the time. Take a picture of his feet before he goes. He's probably going to die... but if he doesn't, and his feet look fine, he must have cheated."
This prompted me to take plenty of pictures on my journey. Too many.
Even though the only research I'd done was reading a blurb over a girls shoulder in a travel guide on a plane, I was set on going. “I'm going in 3 days!” I announced to Jeff triumphantly. That night I awoke in the middle of the night and could feel that the time was then. “I'm leaving in the morning!”, I said. “What!? Aren't you going to get supplies or do some research!?” No need. It's now or never, I can feel it. I'm sure it'll be fine. How hard could it be? With that, I waited until sunrise and set forth.
Jeff gave me a heartfelt sendoff, worried about me as always. If you worry about your friends, I may be one of the worst to have.... “See you when I see you” I said, and walked off majestically into the rising sun...
About two hours later there was a knock on the apartment door. Jeff opened it, and there I was standing on the doorstep. “I just realized I have no idea where I'm going. Can you get me a Google-map or something to the island?” That whole exchange should illustrate perfectly my level of preparedness, but like always I was blissfully unaware of the difficulty of the task in front of me. With that and my characteristic immoderation, I set off to be a wondering Buddhist monk, this time for real.
Leaving Tokyo, I rode the Shinkansen all the way to Osaka, and from Osaka I took a bus to Shikoku. Upon arrival in Shikoku it was made clear to me that this was not the glittery-neo-Japan I had just come from. This was the country. I had figured this would be the case, but Shikoku's tag line " Shikoku, the 4th largest island of the main islands of Japan!", caused me to imagine otherwise. The people on Shikoku seemed fond of repeating that line, but never mentioned that there are only 4 main islands of Japan....
After wondering around Tokushima city for a bit (One of two actual cities. The rest is wilderness, fields, towns, or small villages.), I stumbled onto an awesome festival. Watching everyone dance to the taiko and shamisen was really great. Than night I took the train to "Bando train station" where I spent the night. They call it a train station, but it might as well be a bus stop. There is nothing there.
That night I contemplated what lay before me. A 1,200km hike through who knows what. I thought about my supplies: a small bag with a sleeping bag, toothbrush, towel, body wash, notebook, sports tape, and tatami sandals (in case of an emergency). No cloths, no tent, no maps, no electronics (save for the camera), and a compass I got at the 100yen store that only pointed at me... I also kept coming back to the words of Kobo Daishi himself: "Do not just walk in the footsteps of the men of old, seek what they sought." So, what was I seeking? Shugyo is an act of aescetic training, or a training mission. The purpose of which is to strengthen the spirit, not the body. So in a sense, I was seeking spiritual strength, but what I was really hunting after was freedom. The freedom that comes from a strong spirit and knowing who and what you are.
When I was younger I was so involved in the physical side of my martial arts training for a while that I could not take a day off from physical training. This was good. EXCEPT, because of the inflexibility of my training regimen, I could not go places I wanted if they didn't have the training equipment i needed. As a result, I missed many life experiences and chances. If there is a place you want to go, and you can't go there, you are not truly free. I had become a slave to my training. There is a saying that " Those who gain power are afraid to lose it.". Because I was only relying on physical powers I feared losing them. After many years I freed myself from this. This journey was the final step. By going on this training mission I was guaranteed to become week, and therefore stronger than ever.
I seek not to surpass my limits, but to remove them.
I awoke to weather colder than I would have imagined for this time of year (May), for the part of the world I was in. After brushing my teeth and doing my morning exercises, I set out for the first temple. There I procured my pilgrim staff, hat, robe, and the stamp book. The stamp book is important because at each temple, you collect the temple's seal and stamp (nokkyo) within the book; then return to the first temple to collect the 89th and final stamp. The first day I managed to make it to the first ten temples. By the time I had made it to temple #10 they had closed, and so I slept on a stone bench in their garden.
That first day I learned a lot. Namely that one of the reasons the pilgrimage is so hard is because people make it that way. The temples are only open from 7am to 5pm. If you arrive after that, you must wait until they open again. Also, those hats are really uncomfortable. They stay on your head by drilling wicker spikes into it.
The next day I walked on over to temple 11, and then to temple 12. Warning: temple 12 is considered by many to be the hardest part of the whole thing. I did not know this. Temple 12 sits at the top of a very large mountain. To get to it takes about 10 hours or more of mountain climbing. I was not expecting that at the time. After finally getting to temple 12, after stumbling around in the dark, they where of course closed. That was fine. I laid my sleeping bag down on a bench in the temple courtyard. The grounds keeper by chance just happened to be there at the time, and after many back and forth exchanges, he made me leave (he had quite the attitude, and seemed to be without logic). "where am I supposed to go?" He replied that there was a rest shack for pilgrims on the side of the mountain and that I should go there. Ok. I went, and when i opened the door, I was greeted with a scene from a horror film. I decided I would rather brave the elements and sleep outside. I made a fire pit and went to sleep. (note: I'm pretty sure it was that guys job to keep the grounds of the pilgrim shack as well. Lets say it was not kept well. That's ok though. Next to the shack was a large stone wall holding back that side of the mountain. I decided to rip out some of the stones from said wall to make my firepit. Thanks for the donation!)
The days passed and my journey continued. On and on I went, sleeping outside, living with nature and traveling from temple to temple. Most "pilgrims" these days go by car, and are paid no mind. However, if people see an actual walking pilgrim they will go out of their way to help them. Not because the pilgrim needs it (though usually he does), but because the people giving the contribution are asking a favor of the pilgrim. These are people that very badly want to walk the pilgrimage, but for some reason cannot. Maybe they have a job, a family, are sick, or have become too old to physically make it. Whatever the reason, they will probably not ever be able to actually make it, and so upon seeing someone who is in the middle of actually living their dream they contribute to them. It's as close as they will ever get to living their fantasy. Upon receiving their gift, you are receiving their hopes and dreams. They are saying "please don't fail", and you carry the spirit of these people with you. When you succeed, they all have succeeded in a way. I received so much kindness from various people, I was carrying the hopes and strength of so many people, I did not have the ability to fail.
Though that isn't to say it was easy.
Shikoku, as it turns out, is actually a fairly dangerous place. one reason for this would be the disturbingly huge amount of garbage. Sometimes it's abandoned vehicles full of garbage, and sometimes it's broken glass everywhere. I thought long and hard about it, and decided to where my sandals in these parts. Another reason Shikoku might be considered dangerous is the weather. When I got to Shikoku, all the natives kept talking about how incredibly and uncharacteristicaly cold it was. One night in the mountains especially brought this to the forefront of my mind, and i wrote a haiku about it:
"
Henro by the fire
shivering, watches his breath.
What? This is summer?”
Though after a few weeks the cold was replaced by unrelenting heat and mosquitoes, and the threat of the monsoon was always present. The next threat was brought to my attention by a native okonomiyaki chef in a small town. I was passing through and decided to get some hot food for a change. While he was preparing my food, he thought to give me the "heads up" on the fauna of the area. "Don't you think it's dangerous to be walking around in kapris barefoot?" Why? "Because of mamushi." What? "It's a super poisones snake that is native to the island. If you get bit, you'll die if you don't get to the hospital quick." ... (realizing that I am hundreds of kilometers away from a hospital at all times.) "Then there’s the monkeys." Monkeys? "They're small little monkeys, but still dangerous." ...I see. " Oh, watch out for foxes and tanuki." Anything else? "Big poisones spiders." of course. "Giant bees. There are giant bees here. They aren't poisonous, but they are big enough to really do damage." Bees. Great. "Theres a few bears too. Really though, the thing you have to watch out for more than anything are the wild boars. Everything else will usually run away if it sees a human, but a wild boar will actually go out of it's way to kill you." Fantastic.
I later found out that by "giant bees and spiders" the man wasn't kidding, and by "small monkey" he meant "man sized baboon"! Those are two different things! Oh, and the mamushi showed up six different times.
Of course, the most dangerous thing about Shikoku may very well be the island itself. The "pilgrim road" is treacherous. I mean it. There are many pits and chasms where it would be easy to fall, and where falling would mean death. If you didn't die, you would sure wish you had. In fact, I hear that it wasn't uncommon for many people to die from falling, back before everyone decided that using a car and completing the whole thing in 2 days was a good idea. I probably should have done at least some basic research about this place before I left for it. I actually wound up wrenching my ankles at one point because of the terrain.
With my ankles wrenched my speed was reduced. I was already waking up at 4:30 every day and walking between 13 and 15 hours a day, which gave me at least 40km a day. There was no way I could make the lost time up. Fearing I wouldn't finish, I decided I would hitchhike a day or two until I healed. Out of 1,200km I hitchhiked about 150km. As a result, I met some amazing people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Maybe that was something that needed to happen. The two most amazing people I met where Kariya and Kaz. These two gave the biggest contributions of all. Kariya invited me into his home, and his wife made us dinner. Kariya and I talked late into the night and became friends. He's in his 40's and owns his own business making seaweed, and has a house on Okinawa. He said that if I had an interest I could stay at his house on Okinawa free next summer (there is most certainly an interest). He even introduced me to his 82 year old friend, katayama, who has an awesome garden. Katayama even gave me a huge bag of vegetables from his garden. Speaking with kariya, he said his mother lived near one of the temples, and I could stay there when I got in the area. Before I could say anything, he called his mother to let her know I would be on my way! He is very nice, and also bought me a map.
Then there is Kaz. Kaz also gave me a lot. Kaz is a thoughtful guy and had lived in Los Angeles for a few years. He's an acupuncturist by trade, but also practices massage, acupressure, moxibustion, and Judo style bone setting. He taught me a new stretching technique that improved my abilities. He also let me sleep at his clinic one night when I was in the area. Kaz is a worrier by nature, which is unfortunate if I am your friend. Every so often I would show up at a temple, and there would be a note from Kaz taped to the gate reading something like "To the pilgrim Nash, please call kaz, he wonders if you are still alive".
I also met a lot of other really interesting people, such as the bicyclist hiroshi who I met briefly one day, then again a couple weeks later. We traveled around together for a couple of days before parting ways. He also gave me a poncho.
Then there is the bar I was pulled into in one town that just so happen to have a guy living there who grew up in the town I took some college classes at. David. David has a friend,Katsuura, who is a calligraphy exponent, and Shotokan Karate Practitioner. We stayed up late talking about the differences between kyokushin karate , shotokan karate, and Okinawa karate.
I even met a 50 year old Japanese man (though he looked in his 30s) who was also in the middle of a karate shugyo. He practiced daido juku kudo karate, and when it came to baggage, he took the opposite approach to myself. He seemed to be carrying everything. He had a tent, extra cloths, a sleeping bag, a Vietnam war helmet, a stuffed animal, and a shamisen! He said his baggage weighed over 35 kg. He was a funny guy, and kind of reminded me of Kazushi Sakuraba.
Akio is another guy a met. He was a 23 year old monk who was doing shugyo as part of being a monk. Surprisingly his sister is studying abroad near the university I take classes at sometimes.
Outside of these spars human interactions, it was just me and the road. Sleeping in the mud or in forests or on the beach. Bathing in rivers or wherever I could. Always moving. It felt good to be in that lifestyle. Liberated.
"Eat when you can, sleep when you must, and above all - keep moving". This was the way I lived and it felt right. You never knew where your "next" was coming from. Or what your "next" was. Your next meal, next brush with danger, next bed, next meeting with a friend you never knew you had. This way of living shaved away all that had been artificially placed on me by society, and left only the real me. "Why doesn't everyone do this?" I thought.
I pondered this while sitting next to a river in the middle of a forest, staring at the fish. Loving fish, and not knowing much about them sparked a moment of sudden realization within me. There are many kinds of fish, and many of them look the same. Though they may look the same, some fish can only survive in salt water, while others are strictly fresh water fish. Further still, there are certain depths, and temperature ranges that a certain fish must be in. People are the same. When I look at a fish I can't tell what depth, temperature and such a fish must be in ( though there is probably a way). If you put a fish in the wrong environment, it would most likely die, or at the very least, probably not thrive. People are the same. People are generally person shaped, and though they may have different markings and be slightly different size, they look relatively the same. Society tries to place some people in certain environments and roles that they are not native to. The person won't know why, but will continue not to thrive and be unhappy. I now know why I'm drawn to the things I'm drawn to. That's the type of fish I am. I may look similar to another person, but I have my own circumstances I must be in to thrive. So do you. Are you trying to be the fish you are, or are you the fish something has tried to make you be?
I had also been in the sun for a very very long time and was dehydrated when I had said epiphany. This was around the time I was walking and passed a strange rock in my path. Walking on, I turned around to find the rock right behind me. Thinking nothing of it, I continued. A minute later I turned around to find the same rock behind me. Upon closer inspection it wasn't a rock at all. It was a crab! I looked around and realized all the rocks in the road where crabs! The whole island turned out to be covered in all sorts of different kinds of crabs! I wasn't sure if I was having a heat stroke or if I had just actually seen a rainbow colored crab, but Lucky for me, the whole island is covered in fruit trees so dehydration wasn't too big a concern. Oranges, Cherries, biwa, grapefruit, konatsu, plums, blackberries, and peach, to name a few. I took plenty of pictures, so I knew I hadn't imagined the crabs or anything else! Around the same time I discovered the fruit is the same time I discovered the pilgrim gear can be multi purpose. For instance, the hat makes an excellent bowl for liberated fruit. The staff is great for walking, climbing, crossing giant pits, or if a mamushi is around and you panic, you can use it like a golf club and hit the snake off the side of a giant mountain(true story. Take THAT mamushi).
Into my third week on the island I wound up stopping at a minshuku (pilgrim inn), to do laundry. I was more than a little smelly at this point. I did wind up staying the night there, because the people where so nice. I was told the monsoon would be to the island soon. I had been racing this whole time to try and beat it before it got to the island. It didn't happen. For about 6 days I was bombarded with torrential rains, but by that point nothing bothered me at all.
Eventually time passed and I was on my way back from the 88th temple, heading towards the first temple. I had seen all of Shikoku. A place that, outside the two main cities, seemed to be frozen in time in the 1950s. I had seen farms, mountains, cities, the ocean, the beautiful things man can do, and the damage man has done. I was reflecting on the things I had learned. The times when there was more than a hundred kilometers between temples. The amazing kindness I received from some, and the surprising coldness I got from others. As I was thinking all this, I was pulled into a bar by girl who worked there. Her and her father owned the place and wanted to know if I wanted some food. Yes. We all talked and had an amazing time. I got to talking to one of the regulars about fighting, and he said I looked like Andy hug (which made my day. In fact, that was the fifth time someone on Shikoku had said that.). The father said I had the spirit of Miyamoto Musashi, and was sure I'd been doing Dojo Yaburi on the island. When he parted ways, the father slipped me a 1,000 yen bill, and with a smile told me to do my best and to get strong.
I walked for a couple more days to the docks. While sitting in a nearby park, a guy struck up a conversation with me. We talked for a while and he mentioned his house was near by if I wanted a shower. I supposed I did need one, so I took him up on his offer. I showered and his wife fixed us dinner. We talked for awhile before I headed back out into the night. In the morning I arrived at the boat yard to buy a ticket for the ferry back to Tokyo, but the cheapest fairs where gone. Another pilgrim (who had gone by motorcycle) heard and bought half my ticket as a final contribution. I thanked him profusely. If you added up all the money I received on the journey, it would be close to 20,000 yen. But if you factor in good and services, it would probably be about 60,000 yen.
I was on the fairy for a couple of days and made a couple of new friends. Chie and Akita. Chie was traveling around practicing zazen, and akita was touring around and had an interest in Karate, though had never practiced it before, and had a special interest in the sanchin stance (they came to the right person, maybe). We celebrated the completion of my training mission together with socializing and celebratory booze, and I did a handstand. On a boat. In the roiling ocean. While drunk.
30 days had passed since I left. I had done it. The second we made port in Tokyo I left for the dojo to prove I succeeded. I walked in and was greeted with a combination of cheering and disbelief. That night there was a nomikai and we all caught up. I was so ragged out from going straight from intense ascetic training to partying that I passed out walking... I'm sure the alcohol didn't help either.
I had a great time, though that night trying to sleep in a regular apartment (Jeff’s) for the first time in a while, I couldn't shake the words of a henro I had met. " This is the second time I've walked the whole thing. The first time I did the 88, but then I learned that there are an extra 20 temples on the island. This time I'm doing the 88 plus 20. I just couldn’t' leave it alone without coming back and doing them all. If you've got the fire in you, you won't be able to ignore it...". And I can't ignore it. Why? Because that is the type of fish I am.
"Eat when you can, Sleep when you must, And above all - Keep moving."
-Nash
Epilogue:
A two month journey through the wilderness done in one month. Barefoot.
I made many new friends and acquaintances, as well as got to see old ones. Here's what was happening upon my return:
Zenjuro celebrated his birthday.
Happy Birthday! Everyone had cake (except me of course. I don't like it.)It's expensive!
I ate at CoCo's Curry house. On request of a friend. Challengeing and succeeding at the hottest curry.
The All-Kanto kyokushin karate tournament was held. (I couldn't register, due to my missing the deadline.) I was in attendance to chear on Ale, and Fab, and everyone else from the Josai shibu.
Chie, who I met on the boat back from Shikoku, continued her zen journey up to Hokkaido, but not before we went to the Asakusa Shrine. I'd never been.
We went out for manju afterward, and she bought me red bean paste treats as a souiveneer! (Of course, I gave one to Jeff as well.)
Yoko, who I had also met on the boat back, and had expressed interest in kyokushin Karate (especially sanchin kata :)) ,came to shinjuku dojo on my recomendation, to get a first hand look. She liked what she saw and has joined the kyokushin kaikan! Osu! Welcome to kyokushin.
She also brought me a photo album of the pictures she took on the boat, and of her motercycle trip, as well as a bunny-hanging-decoration she made by hand!
The only minshuku I wound up stopping at, keeps a running list of pictures of the people who have stopped there througout the year, and a comment about them.
The Minshuku I wound up at put me on their website.
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~noriko87/JE-100-henronohiroba.html
You can really tell which guys are from Osaka. They always have silly poses...
Nash's Entry:
ナッシュ様
アメリカより武道家です。
足元見て下さい
本当ははだしで回るつもりだったそうですがやはり山の中では無理ですよね。修行 修行がんばれ！！
It reads:
Mr Nash...
More than just coming from America, he is a Budoka.
Please, look at his feet.
It would seem he is seriously doing the pilgrimage BAREFOOT.
But, it's impossible to go through the mountains like that right?
Training mission, Training Mission DO YOUR BEST!!
Not bad. I'm glad I got to see everyone, and to think, Yoko started training in the combative arts because she met me.
Nash:
As for me? Well I jutted off for adventures and martial arts of course, but I first wound up fighting Air Canada. A couple years later I learned that the fruit I was almost exclusively living on while I was on the 88 temple pilgrimage, the expensive one, is a sedative!!! I was walking all day, dehydrated, overworked, fighting heat illnesses and the like, all the while hopped up on sedatives!? If I had some stimulants I could change the world in a matter of days!! Also, no wonder I was having such spiritual revelations.... at least the pictures prove the things I saw were actually real.