Only a Blockhead

October 30

Last weekend, a cycle ride to Shuzenji, a bath at Hakoyu, a visit to the brewery for the Harvest Festival, and a box of the local sesame manju to take home.

 

The box of onsen manju says,

“Eat within three days.”

We say, “No problem.”

October 21

Onsen town Shuzenji

Arai Ryokan

Wabi sabi to the max!

 

I asked a friend if she recommended a ryokan in Shuzenji and she said Arai. When I asked why, she began by saying it’s perfect… I stopped her; it was reason enough! She did suggest asking for a room by the river so as to have that soothing sound to go to sleep by. We did, and it was.

October 20

Ryokan:

burnished patina;

life catered

with understated beauty

October 19

From the trees above the outdoor bath

Plop!

A drop of last night’s rain

October 18

Sunrise

The outdoor bath to ourselves

A private happiness

October 17

Pillowy futons set out for sleep;

the sound of the rushing river

October 15

This week’s observations are from a stay at a ryokan inn: name and location revealed in the final post. We cycled there.

 

Exquisitely welcomed;

Bicycles parked outside the elegant doors

 

Great bath, cathedral

Thick pillars taller than a house

Glorious gloom

August 6

The wisdom of Tokugawa:

A hot road is

cooler under trees

 

In the early 1600s, the Tokugawa shogunate set up a system of highways from the provinces to Edo, its capital. These roads had cedar trees planted on each side to provide shade for travelers. What wisdom! Walking or cycling along a road on these hot summer days, it immediately feels degrees cooler when trees are shading it.

For air-conditioned metal boxes on wheels, trees are obstacles to visibility and speed. For pedestrians and cyclists, they bring a cool beyond the imagining of the Tokugawas. A leafy canopy still brings respite from the rays of the sun, but today it also prevents the asphalt from collecting and reflecting heat.

 

Dream realized

Two summers ago, I visited Baird’s Brewery with friends including fellow-Blockhead David. We left the Tokaido main line at Mishima, and took a local train down into the Izu peninsula, stopping at tiny stations and passing through lush countryside fringed by prominent hills. I thought how much I’d like to cycle in this landscape, and how to do so I’d have to buy a folding bicycle, which I subsequently did.

After adventures elsewhere, this week during the Golden Week holidays, I finally realized the dream that inspired me to buy a Bike Friday. I started riding from Mishima Station and followed rivers and the single-track railway through the glorious countryside with fresh green leaves, sparkling water, paddies being planted, down to Shuzenji Spa to meet the same companions as before, who had been running along the Kano River, for a bath at Hakoyu in a cedar tub.

After a reviving soak, we went the short distance to the brewery. Sitting on the patio, surrounded by spectacular hills and a wide blue sky, we picnicked while imbibing a selection of Baird’s finest creations. The conversations continued as the light faded from the sky and the frogs took up chorus in the newly flooded paddies below. A day, an afternoon, an evening to remember.

        In ancient countryside

        As evening falls, a rice paddy symphony

 

--Julian

Kanagawa adventure: Shitodo no Iwaya cave

On the Yugawara to Hakone road, I passed signs to the Shitodo no Iwaya cave, and decided to bite. I parked the bicycle and hiked down a long trail lined with stone lanterns and dozens of identical statues of monks. Each monk was housed in a stone shelter, but when that had disappeared, someone had tied a scarf over the head.

At the bottom, in the middle of the silent forest, was the cave, water falling across the entrance. It was full of lanterns, and statues of Kannon, goddess of mercy. The cave is revered for its association with Yoritomo Minamoto, who, legend has it, escaped by hiding here after losing in battle 1000 years ago.

The story is that pursuing soldiers found the cave. When a bird flew out, they decided it must be deserted, didn’t bother to search inside, and Yoritomo lived to fight another day. He eventually founded the Kamakura Shogunate, died in 1199, and is buried in Kamakura.

--Julian