Tokushima, incredibly friendly, incredibly generous, mild temperatures.

The Priest at his temple, somewhere between Temples 3 and 4.
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FYI: Henro = holy pilgrim.

The people here are amazing. When I say people, I mean people. The first man I met in Tokushima was incredibly nice and directed me to a cheaper place where I could purchase some traditional henro clothing and gear.

I was having an amazing start to my journey.

The second man I met in Tokushima was a preist in a small temple, he gave me two icy cold vitamin drinks, $20, and a tarp for me to sleep on if worse came to worse and I had to sleep outside. Upon hearing that I had no place to sleep for the night he told me he would phone ahead to temple 6, Anrakuji, and tell them to expect me and let me sleep in their bell tower with other henro.

The view on the way to Temple 12.
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I thanked him and kept walking. About 2 hours later a car pulls over in front of me and the preist I had seen earlier gets out. He says that he got worried and wanted to see if he could find me. He did and offered me a ride. I told him that it was a nice offer, but I needed to walk the journey. He understood and left with a wave. I visited him almost exactly one year later and he still remembered that day.

Walking pilgrims get a lot of benefits as people understand that they are sacrificing a lot in order to preserve the islands' centuries-old tradition and are usually in great pain throughout their journey.

Temple 12.
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In Tokushima I received many settai from a 1,000 yen bill to a bag of candy to a refreshing drink.

Many henro cry on their first day of walking. I did. My friend did. It's that hard. You sob softly to yourself, but you never stop walking.

The second day of walking I heard of a free place to sleep from fellow henro. It was an onsen that had tiny henro houses just outside it's business and, as long as the henro paid the $2 to buy a bath in the bathhouse, they could sleep in the henro house for free. Later in the day I arrived in the town that would house me that night, but I wasn't sure of where this place was.

Walking on the road I was waved over by a young Japanese woman. She invited me into her house for some tea, since I was dead tired and thirsty to boot I decided to comply with her request. She served me hot tea, crackers, and, upon my request, a few popsicles. I sat with her and talked about myself, her, Shikoku, etc. Her husband soon came home, he was a police officer and was extremely friendly. He spoke almost no English, but his wife helped translate what little English she knew. Since I couldn't find the bathhouse he offered to drive me there, since it was allegedly only a block or two away, I felt that it hardly counted as a car ride, so I took it. He even bought me the bath ticket, sure, it was only $2, but what a sweet gesture.

That night I sat in the henro house, a tiny room with fogged glass walls. One wall was also the door and it opened up above the tiny room. I used it like a porch and sat with my legs dangling above the ground below. The other henro houses were being used by 2 men and a woman. None of us knew each other. One man was an obese businessman who was taking a break from work and hopefully trying to lose a few pounds. The other man was a bulky, but fit man. He had very tan, leathery skin and the look of Toishiro Mifune of Seven Samurai and other Kurosawa classics fame. He drove a yellow van, but technically walked most of the pilgrimage so the bathhouse people let him sleep in his van in the parking lot for the night. He parked his van opposite the houses, as if to make another, slightly larger henro house. He sat inside his van with his legs dangling out. The woman was a heavier girl who was a student and, from what I could gather, was doing the pilgrimage to lose some weight.

The man in the yellow van took the reigns and introduced all of us to one another. We all then took out whatever food we had and shared it. The man in the yellow van had a gas camping stove and boiled zucchini, onions, and some potato wine with it. He mixed in some soy sauce and served the boiled treats to everyone. He topped the zucchini with miso paste and called it diet food. I was starving and it wasn't half bad. I shared some of a bag of candy an old lady gave me with everyone. We all talked and enjoyed the simple joy of sitting and talking and drinking potato wine. It was a moment of pure pleasure and joy.

The next day the girl gave me a packet of beef jerky as a goodbye gift. I thanked her and gave her an American flag keychain. Something I had with me as a return present. Everyone exchanged ofuda (Note: ofuda are small leafs of paper all henro carry. You write your name, age, and address on them and give them to other people, places of free shelter, and temples as thanks).

I was having an amazing start to my journey.

A few days later, as I neared the end of Tokushima Prefecture on my way to Muroto in Kochi Prefecture, I noticed a yellow van parked in the parking lot of a hotel on the beach. I approached the van thinking, "there's no way it could be the same guy" and knocked on the side door. I heard a rustling from inside and a rusty Japanese voice say, "Hai, chotto kudasai". The man emerged from the van, indeed it was my friend I had met a few days earlier. I had by chance happened upon him again. We both were very excited to see each other and both talked for about 30 minutes.

He knew I shared his love of onsens and pointed out that he was parked right in front of a hotel that had a public onsen within it. The onsen had a view of the ocean and the beach across the street. I also showed him my newly acquired blisters and the horrible friction rash I was getting from the straps of my backpack on my side. He rushed me into the onsen immediately and I enjoyed a long and rejuvenating soak while looking out at the Pacific Ocean. I could feel the natural spring water healing my body. Once I was done, I hobbled back out of the hotel and to the man in the van for dinner. We ate zucchini and onions again, but it was delicious as I had not eaten in 3 days. He gave me some more potato wine and we both got buzzed and told funny stories to each other. He told me I could sleep in the cabin of his van for the night, he was going to sleep up top, in a fold out bed compartment. I was so happy to be sleeping inside, even though it was just a guy's van.

The next morning I was greeted to the sight of the bulky man almost falling onto my face from his top-side compartment. He had slipped and saved himself by grabbing my henro stick on his way down. This was lucky for both he and I as neither one of us wanted to experience the resulting bodily impact. He said he was going to get a bicycle for the day and bike down to Muroto, over 40km from where we were. I told him he was welcome to do that, but if it was alright with him, I'd stay in the van and rest. He told me that was perfectly fine considering the state of my feet. I slept all day in the sun on the beach. It was bliss. When I woke up, I'd go to the onsen for a bath and then back to the van for a nap. Talk about your lazy summer days.

Later, when he got back, we ate more onions and drank more potato wine. He told me he would be leaving for his house on the mainland the next day, so our time together would have to end. I told him that I understood and wished him the best. He gave me his address and phone number and told me to look him up when I was done. The next morning I left for Muroto and said goodbye.

I would soon be in Kochi Prefecture.