Shikoku day 8

Anonymous town near Temple 22 to Hiwasa (Temple 23), 22 km

Another wonderful trail day, with a mix of forest trails and seldom used country roads, with a short stint on a busy highway – including walking along the 24 inch sidewalk on the edge of two road tunnels. Hanging on to your flying saucer hat was essential!

Japan is the land of concrete (and plastic, but that’s another blog post) and the massive breakwaters and seawalls protect every fishing village we passed through. We are on the south-eastern coast of Shikoku for many upcoming days, and being open to incoming typhoons we hope to not see these ocean defences in action!

One section of the coastal path had dozens of these posts. Some were faded, but this one implies that it is a recognition for a graduating student, and the writing is probably a haiku in Japanese. Google translate reads it as”Special order for the academic year: The sound of the waves from between the trees, the pilgrimage route, the power of bamboo.”

Max was feeling quite ill with the flu today, so he took the train to our destination, Hiwasa – an interesting town with something of a hippie/surfer town vibe. It’s the most agreeable town we’ve been to yet! Lots of shops and restaurants, a recently opened cafe (which we patronized, naturally) and we had a fantastic dinner at a highly regarded local restaurant – a meal of fresh tuna and the local specialty fried chicken. A screaming deal at $15 each! Our accommodation tonight is in a very old family home in the centre of town, with very low ceilings, all doors are the traditional sliding (and wafer thin) variety, and the ‘staircase’ might be better described as a companionway. It’s tempting to wear one of the hosts strategically placed civil defense hard hats when going up or down!