Chapter 6 Pilgrimage Day 13

Diary of the White Bush Clover

Day 13 (18 October) Toyohashi to Kanzan-ji

After praying over my notebook, the priest, his wife and his mother came to the temple gate to see me off. The priest’s mother was a nun. She gave me a mawata, a fluffy square silk cloth to drape across one’s back to keep warm. She said, “You will feel cold when you cross over Hakone-yama. This is very light and compact.” Ama-san looked like my grandmother so I was very glad and thankful for her gift.

It would take me ten days to get to Hakone-yama. Hakone is not one mountain but a ring of mountains, the remains of a volcanic caldera, with a big lake called Hamana-ko in the center. It would take me three to four hours to climb over Tametoge, the high pass on the west side of the caldera.

After I cross over the Tametoge, I thought, I will be in Shizuokaken. The road to Tametoge was wet from the rain the previous night. The mountain air was fresh and clear and I thought it was a good atmosphere for contemplation. However, there were many dead frogs and snakes on the road. Frogs like water and must have been happy that the rain was pouring after a long time so they jumped onto the rain-filled road but the cars came and crushed them. I felt sorry for them. If they had remained croaking in the rice field they would have been safe. I suddenly remembered the battle place. Humans and frogs are different but when I saw the dead frogs I thought, humans die just like that on the battlefield, do they not? They were not killed by cars but by more terrible weapons. I stopped and prayed for the people who died in battle and for the frogs.

There was a toll gate for cars to cross the first mountain in the Hakone range so I asked whether there was a fee for pedestrians.

The official asked, “Are you walking from here?”

“Yes, I already walked here, so I will continue walking.”

“From where?”

“From Kyōto.”

“That’s amazing!”

He did not charge me anything. Perhaps I am the only person in the world who ever walked from the toll gate over the Tametoge to Hamana-ko. The mountain road had many curves. On one side I saw a river in the valley below. On the other side was the steep mountain. The fragrance of the trees after the rain wafted on the air. When I was a student, the teacher used to sing the song of Hakone and now I sang this song to help me walk. A few days later, I thought, I will cross over Hakone-yama. Today is just a trial. I could see the toll gate looking very small far below. I had already climbed to a high elevation and I was thankful for my two legs. There were many big red rocks on the mountainside so this first mountain was called Akaiwa-yama, Red Rock Mountain.

At last I arrived at the entrance to the tunnel between the prefectures. I could see Toyohashi below. I had stayed two days in that city and had met people there so I turned back to wave to them. Sayōnara Toyohashi, I will miss you. Then I entered the tunnel. There were no lights. It was so dark I could not see the end of the tunnel. After walking two hundred meters, I came out on the other side.

I had now entered Shizuoka-ken. Suddenly I could see Hamana-ko clearly below, as if I could reach out and touch the lake. The north end had many inlets. I walked down the steep slope, going so fast I was almost running. On both sides there were mikan orchards with thousands of golden tangerines. If I stretched out my hand, I could easily pick them but I could not do that because I was on a pilgrimage. The pickups passing me on the road were on their way to spray the orchards. I will remember this scene the next time I eat a tangerine. Since breakfast I had not had any food and now it was 2 o’clock but there were no food shops around. Feeling hungry, I hiked down the mountain.

When I arrived at Mikkabi, famous for mikan, I saw signs advertising orchards where you could pick your own tangerines. I walked up and down and around all the inlets. My legs were a little sore. At last the road became flat. I was walking along the original road. Beside it the new Tomei Expressway was under construction. The rain last night had washed the dust from the road. This road would be noisy after the expressway was finished and we would never be able to experience this calmness again.

I wanted to go to Kanzan-ji, a temple on the south side of the lake. I would either have to walk all the way around or take a boat across. To walk would take a long time so I decided to go in a small motorboat. At the dock I saw a sign, “Please hang this flag.” If the flag was hanging, the boat would take passengers for free. The wind on the lake was a little cold as it was already the middle of October.