Thursday May 24, 2018
You should not sleep twice in the same inn. Your thoughts should be on a mat that has not yet been warmed. -Basho, Rules on Pilgrimages
Totally alone
I walk right through
Hokusai's print.
Summer at dusk
on the Kiso road.
-Yoshii Isamu
We had two lovely nights at Komanoyu Ryokan in Kiso Fukushima, enjoying excellent food and an especially inviting indoor/outdoor hot bath. Win was feeling quite under the weather unfortunately, so we decided to forgo walking and take the train all the way to Narai. Arriving in the morning long before check in time, we meandered down the the central street of the town, immaculately restored, and indeed looking as if it was out of a Hokusai print. Win rested while I did some further exploring, visiting the folk museum, some shrines and old cemeteries . In one of the cemeteries is a statue of a headless Mary holding a baby Jesus in her arms. The head was cut off in Edo times, when Christianity was banned. In the afternoon we found our Ryokan (Ikariya Machida Minshuku), a very simple place run by a very friendly couple, but not our favorite place to stay. For one thing, the bath was way too hot! But dinner was more than adequate.
 |
| Narai |
 |
A poster that caught our attention
|
 |
| Narai |
 |
| Jizo, protector of children |
 |
Ikariya Machida Minshuku
 |
Maria Jizoson
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment