Day 15 - Maisaka Juku To Hamamatsu Juku, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan

 

Day 15 - Maisaka Juku To Hamamatsu Juku, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan

This morning, we took a taxi after breakfast to the nearest train station, where we took a local train to our previous stopping place on the Tokaido.

Our hotel on lake Hamana offers an hourly shuttle bus to the train station, but the first shuttle bus is not until 9:40 am and the last shuttle bus is at 5:00 PM.
My hopes were that we should be able to walk around 20 kilometers per day at a leisurely pace, plus do sightseeing along the way, and have some breaks for lunch and a cafe in the afternoon, requiring us to start early so we would have more time during the day.

The walk from Bentenjima to Maisaka Juku, Station #30, was along the sea.
During the Edo period, transportation from Arai to Maisaka was by ferry.
The boats heading to Arai from Maisaka changed slightly depending on the season, but due to the rules of the checkpoint, the first boat in the morning was at 4:00 a.m. and the last boat in the evening was at 4:00 p.m.

Today, the beach front looked unwelcoming to swimmers and beach goers.
There were no signs that even in the summer would there be beach chairs or umbrellas or ice cream stands.
This is a typical Japanese and South Korean aspect of their cultures that is quite different than European cultures.

In Europe, the sea is adored if not worshipped.
The highest priced real estate is located on the waterfront, where they build boardwalks full of outdoor restaurants, parks, and promenades. At the beach side, vendors sell street foods, there are rentals of beach loungers and umbrellas, you can buy snacks like ice cream, fish and chips, salted pretzels, hot dogs and so much more.

In South Korea and Japan, you will see the exact opposite on all but a few beaches.
It makes the seashores look ominous and unwelcoming.

We saw a large red Tori gate standing in the water, close to the highway suspension bridge crossing the channel that in the Edo period, was navigated by ferry boats and barges, to allow travelers to cross to the other side of the Tokaido route.

The Kitaganki was the site of the Maisaka-shukumon ferry terminal on Lake Hamana.
It was constructed between 1657 and 1661.
It was restored several times due to disasters during the Edo period. The stone walls on both sides were rebuilt after they collapsed in a typhoon in 1953.
There were three ferry docks in Maisaka-juku, the southernmost one being mainly used for loading and unloading luggage, while the middle one was the main ferry dock used most frequently by travelers, called Honshiiki.
This Kita-ganki area was mainly used by daimyo and other officials of the shogunate, and a stone pavement of about 18 meters wide was laid out all the way from the front to the water's edge.

In Maisaka Juku, we stopped at an historic inn.
A very sociable woman was the manager of this beautifully reconstructed Honjin (inn), designed for higher ranking government officials during the Edo Period on the Tokaido.
The inn was spacious and beautifully designed, with many rooms of different sizes.
The tatami mat flooring was in perfect condition, as were the two ofuro baths, one of which was made from unvarnished cedar, and the other, painted with a glossy lacquer.
The size of the great room on the main floor was very impressive.
We also saw reconstructed old street lamps, which used to illuminate the seashore and the Main Street.

After Maisaka, we passed the remnants of a large stone gate. The explanatory sign near it indicated that in the old times, this gate was used to control the traffic using the Tokaido Road to do business in the towns nearby, and might have had tax revenue collectors there for that reason.

Walking down a straight road lined with a colonnade of large black pine trees, we came to a sculpture of a little boy playing a drum.
The plaque underneath told the story associated with this little boy:

“Long ago, beach fishing was practiced on the Enshu Nada coast.
One day, after days of not being able to catch any fish, a pitch black boy was caught in the net.
The fisherman was alarmed and tried to kill the boy, but the boy said:
"I am a wandering boy who lives at the bottom of the sea.
Please spare my life.
In return, I will repay your kindness by beating my drum at the bottom of the sea when the sea gets rough or the wind gets strong,"

The fisherman returned the boy to the sea.
It is said that since then, the sound of the crashing waves on the rocks can be heard as a drum, when the weather changes.”

The Tokaido Pine Tree Line is a long row of pine trees that was planted in 1604 by order of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
It began with the planting of black pines and the maintenance of the grounds.
From the eastern end of Maisaka-shuku to the Shima-gun border, it was about 720 meters long and it was lined with 1,420 trees on both sides of the road.
Although the trees have died out and fallen over due to typhoons, the city continued to replenish them each time.
When the national highway was rerouted in 1938, the embankment was demolished and steps were added on both sides.
Currently, there are about 330 trees and the old Tokaido road remains well preserved.

On this same road, we took a break at a Shinto shrine and had our tea break on the steps of the shrine.
As we grew closer to Hamamatsu post town, Station #29, the road traffic became much busier.

I read an old story about the Tokaido that said that in the old days, when royals and lords traveled between Edo and Kyoto, they used to be carried in palanquins, on the shoulders of strong men.
The story tells of a princess, who set out on a journey from Edo to Kyoto.
During the long journey along the Tokaido, she was causing trouble for her companions, complaining that the palanquin was tipsy and rocking and making her sick.
Each time, her companions would try to placate her.
One day, the spoiled princess demanded to walk, but when she reached Shiomi Hill, she became tired from the long and steep climb and threw a tantrum.
Because of the steep hill ahead, the princess refused to move at all.

Her attendant told the princess that there was something called a “happiness bean stone”.
It is said that whoever finds it will be blessed with joy and happiness. "Why don't you go looking for this stone so that you can be eternally happy and meet and marry a good person.”
When the princess heard this, she immediately exclaimed: "I want to find it and be truly happy!"
Then she began to climb the hill in search of the bean-size rock.

Since then, it is reported that the palanquin carriers would lower their palanquins and tell their customers about the small happiness stones when they experienced fatigue.
They recommended that the customers walk up the hill in the difficult places.

We stopped at a local, very popular restaurant with a single chef, to eat a delicious lunch.
They didn’t have any vegetarian dishes on the menu, so we ordered some shrimp-don, a bowl of steamed rice topped with fried shrimp and drizzled with a thick sweet soy sauce.

Then we walked to Hamamatsu station.
We rested in the Starbucks for a while, then walked to Bic camera to buy an HD cable that will enable us to watch Netflix on any TV.
Before returning to our hotel, we bought onigiri (rice balls) and bananas to eat for dinner in our room.
I also bought a black and gold Gina Tofu made by monks at Eiheiji Temple.
This tofu is made from open-fire roasted sesame seeds, and it comes with a special miso sauce, made with Komego miso and a lemony yuzu.
It was so delicious.

Back in our hotel, I did our laundry and soaked in the onsen. As I laid in bed and watched Netflix, I started feeling sick.
I really hope that this is just exhaustion and not something else…

With love,
Tali

Today’s Stats:
steps - 24,650
km walked - 17 km
Total walked: 301 km
Old Post Towns Visited:
Maisaka Juku, Station #30
Hamamatsu Juku, Station #29