第十四日 倉敷 - 天城

 

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 佐賀関で九州にさよならをし、瀬戸大橋の与島で四国にさよならをし、ふりだしの倉敷にもどる。昨夕ホテルで直島の美術館のサイトをあけると、予約制で２５日は１６時過ぎまで空きがないことを知り、また私の「抜けぐあい」を今更ながら知ることになる。直島を訪ねる計画をなさる方、くれぐれもご注意ください！まずは日程を決め、予約です！
そこで旅の最終日、14日目は比叡山も見ないで、ひたすら帰路につくことにした。内心これで天城に早く着け、翌日葬儀に出かける準備も出来るし、ワルターをこれ以上歩かせることもない、と安心する。静岡に入ると空模様は怪しくなり、雨がぽつぽつ降り始める。天城に着いたら、4日間雨だとワルターは言うけれど、どうかな？旅の間中、雨らしい雨に会うことなく過ごせたことに感謝。”もちっと”曇りだったらこんなに焼けなかったのに、などと贅沢なことは口にいたしません！？

後はワルターの足がまだよくならないので（痛みは軽減したみたいだけれど・・） 、月曜日には整形外科かな？と思っている。５年ほど前の富士登山の後に膝の水を抜いてもらって以来だが、私の印象としては旅から帰る度に整形外科！、これは年寄りの冷や水のせいでしょうねえ・・・。それでもワルターは３度目の四国遍路を夢見ています。ヤレヤレ・・・。

Arrived at home on Saturday, May 25 at 16:30 after a long and interesting trip to Kyushu and Shikoku. Total milage: 3.005 km.
I take a rest and Yumiko is going to attend a funeral today!😥

第十三日 松山 - 雲辺寺 - 観音寺 - 善通寺 - 倉敷

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今日もワルターが知っている四国を私に見せる旅になった。ワルターのお気に入りのお寺雲辺寺、ここは５００体ぐらいの羅漢さんの群像が圧倒するお寺。

日本人離れした顔あり、鬼の様な顔ありで、一つずつが個性的な顔をしている。次が観音寺市にある銭形砂絵、４００年ぐらい前に初めて作られた砂による寛永通宝、楕円だそうだが、上から見ると丸に見える。

大名を喜ばすために始められ、以来毎年作り直され、補修されているらしい。札所である本山寺と善通寺も見学。どちらにも五重の塔があり、センサーをつけ動きを記録しているという研究をしているとあり、そこに私が以前働いていた木造建築関係の団体の数人の先生方の名前を見つけた。懐かしい・・・先生方、まだ頑張っているらしい。

瀬戸大橋の中間のパーキングエリアの展望台で橋や周囲の島々、山々を見た後、さぬきうどんで遅いお昼とする。

これで四国ともお別れ、明日は直島で一つ美術館をみて、帰路につきたいと思う。

We have to change our travel plans. It was with great sadness that we learnt yesterday that Yumiko's friend from university,had died suddenly. Yumiko wants to say goodbye to her on Sunday in Funabashi.

We will therefore not be travelling to Kyoto to see Hiei-san, but will visit Naoshima briefly tomorrow and then drive home at night.

Today is purely a "pilgrimage day", as I show Yumiko some of the highlights from my two hikes. First there is Unpenji (No. 66), the highest temple at just over 900 metres. 

After a boring drive on the motorway, we take adventurously narrow paths to just before the temple. Hardly anyone but us drives up here. Most visitors take the (fastest) cable car in Japan. The Unpenji is famous for its countless stone figures. 

Stone masonry must have been a highly esteemed (and well paid?) profession in the past. The statues are all donated by donors. Their names are engraved.

The road down is another adventure. Winding and narrow. And what is the only vehicle we encounter for 8 kilometres: a big truck! We pass each other with a gap of a few millimetres.

In Kanonj we are looking at the biggest coin of the last 400 years! That's how old the coin (Zenigata Suna E) is, which the inhabitants once scooped out of sand for the daimyo. It has a diameter of 125 metres! Every year on New Year people “repair” the coin. I was last here with Maja on our bicycle tour in 2007.

Then we go to temple no. 70 (Motoyamaji). The pagoda there has been restored for years. Yumiko reads the explanation of this project and finds a couple of names of specialists she knows from her previous work. They have installed sensors in the tower to measure and record even the smallest movements of the pagoda.

To round off our "temple day", we head to Zentsuji, the birthplace of Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shikoku pilgrimage route. It is the largest and most important temple for believers. 

Where three years ago I would have stood in a long line of visitors, today I am the only one - with Yumiko, of course - to pass through the 100 metre long, narrow and pitch-black "prayer corridor" under the main building. You are supposed to feel your way along the wall with your left hand and continuously pray the following without interruption:

“Namu Daishi Henjo Kongo”. (I follow my master Kobo Daishi) 

We pray our hearts out! Maybe it will help to blow away all our worries!

第十二日 別府 - 大洲 - 久万高原 - 松山

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久しぶりにお日様のない朝だか、雨は降っていない別府。十分に観光客は来ているようだが、往時の華やかさはどこへ？裏びれた、リニューアルを待つホテルは多い。私達のホテルもそんな感じ。

いつもはのんびり一般道を走るのに、今日は早い時間のフェリーに乗るために高速を使う。佐賀関という大分の出っ張りから三崎という佐多岬の出っ張りに近い港まで約一時間乗る。今度は船が大きいせいか、やっと半分の面積が埋まる程度の車の量だ。こういう事でもなければ、おおよそ訪ねることのない四国のしっぽ部分である。風力発電の風車が尾根に毛が立っているように生えている。その数、見える範囲だけでも50位はある。

今日はワルターの懐かしの四国遍路旅を回想した日。自分が辛い思いをした（誰に強制されてもいないのだから、仕方ないじゃん・・って思うんですけど）久万高原への道。

車に乗っていても「まだ～？」と思うほど長いのだから、歩いたらさぞかし・・・。永遠に終わらない道のように思えただろう。なんて車って快適で便利な文明の利器！

ワルターの足の状態は昨日と同じで回復してはいない。足を引きずりながら、松山城と道後温泉を見学。どちらも外からのみだったが、明かりのついている道後温泉は昼間より一層風情がある。温泉はホテルに帰って入る。

突然友人の訃報が入り、お葬式に間に合うように帰宅しようと思っている。思いもよらない急逝だけに、気持ちも落ち着かない。両親の世代を見送った後すぐに同世代を見送る時が来てしまった・・。

After a meagre breakfast, we leave Beppu and take the motorway to Saganoseki, the port that will take us to Shikoku. The boat only leaves every full hour and I'm worried that we'll miss the 09:00 ferry. It goes well and we are at the harbour on time. From Misaki we take the only road on this narrow but long peninsula, which is home to a large number of wind turbines. There are said to be people heree who have already seen them turning. Today there is only a gentle breeze and they are standing still.

Our next stop is the town of Ozu. Today is my "nostalgia day" because I walked through this town on my pilgrimage in 2016 and 2021. We visit the historic old town, which is probably particularly well known to the Japanese because NHK films its historical dramas here. The setting is just right. 

On my last visit, you couldn't see the castle because of construction work on a bridge. Today I finally manage to take a nice photo. We continue on the difficult pilgrimage route up to Komakogen. At temple No. 44, I show Yumiko where she should have the police and fire brigade look for me if I ever dare to come here again. The stretch between temple No. 44 and No. 45 is particularly difficult and old white men like me tend to fall off here. 

On the way, I actually wanted to visit my "girl friend" Kayo, who used to run a kind of "pilgrim's petrol station" in her house. I find the house, but Kayo, who should now be in her mid-80s, wasn't at home. I explain to her husband, who is quite demented, why I'm here. May he pass on my regards. He'll probably have forgotten my order a minute later. Must write Kayo a postcard!

We find our hotel in Matsuyama surprisingly quickly. As we still have time, we visit the castle, which towers quite high above the town. You have to use a chair lift to get up there. It's too late to see the castle inside. We take a walk around the extensive grounds and take the tram to what is probably the most famous onsen in Japan, the Dogo Onsen. 

When I visited it in 2021, it was completely covered. Today you can admire it again. The construction work is due to be completed in summer. Then you all have to come and admire the construction.

第十一日 山鹿 - 別府

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 美味しい朝食を頂き、お世話になったご夫妻にお別れ。有難うございました！

最初に見学した建造物はきくち城と名づけられているが、むしろのろしなどの伝達の塔だったらしい6－7世紀ごろの建物。一見、中国的な三重の塔の様に見える。

バランスの取れた美しい建物だ。二つ目は八千代座という1910年に建てられ、今日まで劇場として使われている建物。

つい先日玉三郎さんも公演、海老蔵さんも公演が予定されている、という生きている劇場だが、昔の雰囲気が丁寧に残され、味がある。楽屋や仕掛けのある地下も見学させてもらえ、実に面白い。

ワルターが昨日（阿蘇で？）足をくじいたのか、びっこをひき始めたのでドラッグストアでシップを買い求める。別府について温泉地獄を見るも、足を引きずって歩くのが痛々しいので、早々にホテルに入る。

昨年塩の道120ｋｍを歩いた時も、最後私は元気で、ワルターがグロッキーだったのを思い出す。今も似たような状況ですねえ・・・。

We say goodbye to Koba-san and visit a watchtower, the original of which was built here 1,300 years ago. It is a kind of "reporting centre" from which smoke signals are said to have been passed on to other towers. As Kyushu was the part of the country closest to China and Korea, people were already worried that attacks on Kyushu would be launched from there. 

We continue to an old (1910) kabuki theatre, which was restored a few years ago. You can feel the atmosphere that prevailed among the maximum 650 spectators. Even today, the best kabuki actors come here to perform on a "real" stage. Numerous advertising posters hang from the ceiling. 

The stage can be rotated from underground. In two places, actors can be lifted onto the stage "from the underground". Out of nowhere, so to speak. A friendly woman explains the eventful history of the theatre in detail. 
After Kabuki was no longer so attractive, the building became a cinema. As cinema-goers slowly but surely declined, the theatre fell into disrepair and was only restored to its original state a few years ago. 

Of course, we also take a look at the "underground" from which the actors could be lifted onto the stage. It only took four - probably strong men - to turn the 10 metre (diameter) stage. The mechanism is labelled "KRUPP" in large letters.

So they not only built cannons, but also revolving stages in Japan.

In the afternoon we reach Beppu, a city from which hot steam rises even from the sewers. Clouds of smoke can be seen over the whole city. We only visit two of the 10 hot springs that are open to the public. The fun is not cheap: 500 yen to look at bubbling mud.

Tourists come here in droves, mainly Chinese.

They can be recognised everywhere by the fact that they walk around with long "selphie sticks".

We move into a traditional Japanese room in a somewhat run-down hotel right next to the main road.

第十日 熊本 - 阿蘇山 - 大観峰 - 山鹿

 

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夜の心地よいめぐみ温泉（山鹿市　やまが）、美味しいディナーと楽しいおしゃべりの後に余力なく、旅日誌なしで寝る。

２１日朝は熊本脱出に手古摺る。熊本と阿蘇の間に半導体の工場ができたこともあって、熊本周辺の交通量は増えるだろう、と地元のご夫妻との話で聞いた。

 

阿蘇は草千里の駐車場に車を停めて歩き始めたが、日本でこれだけスケールの大きい、遠くまで望める広い空間は珍しい。阿蘇はつい最近火山活動が活発になったということで、河口付近まで近づけなくなっていた。そこで中岳から火口を望むことを期待して登り始めたものの、砂千里が下に見えるところからの下りが細かい砂と斜面が急でとても私達の能力を超えていると感じ、中岳を道半ばで諦める。残念だが、怪我よりはマシ。お蔭で大観峰と押戸石にゆっくり時間を避けた。大観峰は阿蘇の外輪山を３６０度見渡すことができるところ、押戸石はマジカルな大きな岩群で、その昔、人々が祈りを捧げたところらしい。ある岩は多くの鉄分を含んでいるのか、磁石を近づけると針がグルグル回ってしまう。日本版ストーンヘンジ。

夜、天城高原のご近所さんであるひとみさんの紹介で、熊本のお姉さんご夫妻のところで一泊させて頂くことに。何と言ってもユニークなのが、お姉さまのペットが犬や猫ではなくかなりおおきな動物であること。象ほど大きくないものの、家の中で飼えない動物。なんでしょう？ウマ1頭とポニー2頭。広々とした草原で飼われている。
お姉さまのご主人は地元の出身で、20年ほど前に東京から戻られお祖父さまが始められた家業を引き継がれている。地元のいろいろな事情をお伺いできて、旅は一味違うものとなった。

Getting out of Kumamoto is not easy! It takes us an hour to reach the outskirts of the city, with so many traffic jams slowing us down. After two hours we reach the Aso - volcano and start our ascent. What we don't realise: The crater rim of the volcano has been closed for a week due to significantly increased "activity". Nobody is allowed near it. So we have no choice but to take a long and arduous track that leads further up around the crater. 

After half the distance we give up because there is suddenly a steep and slippery slope down. Our first defeat on this trip. Somewhat disappointed, we turn back. 

All we remember is the sulphurous smell and the cloud of smoke. We are told that the Aso-san can be seen particularly well from a viewpoint about 30 kilometres away. 

So we drive up to DAIKANBO and say goodbye to the Aso-san from afar. 

The last destination of the day is a mysterious place, the Stonehenge of Kyushu. It is called OSHITOISHI. 

There are some large boulders scattered on a hill, which were sacred to the "natives" of the area. The road - or rather, the track to it - could also be used by car manufacturers as a test track for shock absorbers! One pothole follows the next. There are said to be engravings and patterns on the stones left there by the indigenous people. We can't find them and therefore can't read them! What we do realise, however, is the magical power of the largest boulder.

It can "reverse" the direction of the compass. We were given a small compass so that we wouldn't doubt it. It's true! The compass needle is going crazy. NORTH becomes SOUTH! 

We "refuel" here with these magical powers and continue to the Koba-san, where we first admire and feed their horses and then take them to a beautiful onsen. This exhausting day ends late in the evening after a good dinner.