Day 35- The Mythical Kirin, And Arriving In Nihonbashi Tokyo, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
Day 35- The Mythical Kirin, And Arriving In Nihonbashi Tokyo, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
Today was the last day of our pilgrimage.
We had left Kyoto 35 days ago, and leisurely walked through all the 53 post towns of the old Tokaido Road, to the Nihonbashi bridge in Tokyo.
Along the way, we had some good days, some bad days, beautiful scenery and ugly industrial areas.
We learned a lot about the history of the Tokaido road and about the Edo period in Japan.
We photographed Joseph standing next to almost all of the Ichi Ri Zuka milestones that are spread out along the Tokaido every 4 kilometers.
He posed differently at each milestone, based on his mood or on the artistic inspiration that he got from the area that the milestone was located in.
He was a great model and he made us laugh every time.
It was an interesting journey, one that I only wish I were feeling better and more able to enjoy by the end of the pilgrimage.
This morning, we checked out of our hotel in Yokohama very early.
The reason for this early morning departure was that I had made an emergency dental appointment with a dentist in Nihonbashi for this afternoon, to glue back a bridge that had fallen off my back teeth.
Even though we didn’t have a long distance to walk today, I wanted to do it slowly and to cherish our last day of walking, instead of rushing to the finish line.
Wendy and Joseph invited us to dinner at a restaurant of our choice, so we could celebrate the end of the journey together.
We chose a restaurant serving ‘Soup Curry’, which we have loved to eat ever since we stayed for two months in Sapporo, to study Japanese language there.
Today’s walk was from Heiwajima station to Nihonbashi, through the post town of Shinagawa-Juku.
Shinagawa-Juku was the first post station of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido, for those pilgrims departing from Edo, walking to Kyoto.
It is located in Shinagawa, which nowadays is integrated into the greater Tokyo area.
Along the way, there were many signs indicating places with historic significance on the Old Tokaido.
For example, we walked by the old Suzugamori Criminal Centre.
During the Edo period, it served as an execution ground for people who were deemed to be criminals.
As I had learned earlier on our walk, criminals could be those who had traded silver illegally, or who had simply traveled without a valid permit, not necessarily people who had committed heinous crimes.
In the Edo period, there were execution sites located on four of the major roads in Japan.
Beside this site on the Tokaido road, there were the Kotsukahara Criminal Centre on the Nikko Kaido road, the Owada Prison on the Koshu Kaido, and the Itabashi Prison on the Nakasendo Road.
The Suzugamori Criminal Centre on the Tokaido was disassembled due to the widening of the Tokaido Highway, and not much now remains of this sad place.
A Buddhist temple called Daikyoji Temple was built next to this execution ground, to repose the souls of those who were put to death.
A stone monument on the temple’s grounds dating from 1698 was inscribed with the mantra:
"Nan Myohò Renge Kyo"
It is a mantra or a chant that means "Devotion to the Mystical Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra."
In Nichiren Buddhism, the practice of chanting this phrase is referred to as Shōdai.
Nichiren Buddhists believe that the purpose of chanting is to reduce suffering by eradicating negative thoughts that lead to negative karma and to karmic retribution.
Chanting also advances practitioners on their paths to perfect and complete awakening.
Nearby, we crossed a small bridge called the Hamagawa Bridge.
This bridge, built over the Tachiai River, which flows into the sea, was known as "The Bridge Of Tears."
Those who were to be executed were escorted here all the way from Edo to the execution grounds, riding bareback on horses.
Their relatives would secretly come to see them off, and they used to shed tears together on this bridge as they parted ways, which is why it came to be called the "Tears Bridge."
Then we entered Shinagawa Juku.
Shinagawa-juku used to have one main inn for the upper class, 2 side main inns, and 93 Hatago (inns for commoners).
The daimyo procession traveling from Kyoto to Edo used to rest here before entering Edo in order to prepare themselves.
In general, the inn for the upper class was more popular for its entertainment, rather than as an accommodation.
A poet once observed:
“Cherry blossoms, autumn leaves, and sun-dried Nori pickers gathered in the spring.”
It is said that dishes using fresh seafood from Edo were popular in the Hatago.
We ate a late breakfast at Cafe Musica, a tiny, quirky cafe in Shinagawa.
The owners seemed to have many regular customers.
They offered full breakfasts for about a dollar per person (150 yen), as long as you also bought a coffee or tea for four dollars (600 yen).
It was an incredible deal, and the breakfast set included a big toast with marmalade and an egg.
The cafe had very tiny tables, and they installed a glass booth with a strong exhaust/vacuum fan in the middle of the cafe, to create a smoking area.
We watched in awe of how people got into the tiny booth, lit a cigarette and stood there smoking, with the vent sucking all the smoke up.
The breakfast and the tea were served on old porcelain dishes, and they were quite good.
Shinagawa Post Station was located just south of Edo, across the Meguro River, which divided Shinagawa-Juku into north and south.
The river meandered and flowed north of Ebara Shrine to the sea.
The sea was a major means of logistics, goods and transportation, and the harbor provided crucial infrastructure of major importance.
Thus Shinagawa, which was a seaside town, was a center of politics, economics and culture, even before the Edo period began.
Remnants representing the medieval era showed that Shinagawa-Juku had its peak of prosperity as the center of logistics, from the Kamakura through the Muromachi periods (the 12th Century - 15th Century).
Being a seaside town, the Tôkaidô in Shinagawa was called the seaside road.
In the old days, when you walked along the Tôkaidô road, you would have noticed that the streets on the eastern (sea) side, were gently sloping towards the sea.
The only flat roads in the area were those along the Megurogawa river.
The Megurogawa eroded the Kanto Plateau, carrying soil to the area and creating several tall hills.
After the Shogun Tokugawa leyasu had united Japan and established his government, a large-scale development began in Edo city and all over the country.
Shinagawa-Juku was designated as the first main post station from Edo on the Tôkaidô road under the new official transportation system.
The majority of the Tôkaidô road constructed at that time still remains today, just as it was in width, shape, and ups and downs, after 400 years.
Shinagawa-Juku thrived as a post station in the Edo period.
It also had a reputation for being a beautiful and famous seaside area, and as a fishermen's town.
This means that the fisheries here provided fresh seafood from the bay of Edo, where people could enjoy delicious cuisine and recreational activities like clamming, boating and fishing.
Shinagawa-Juku could not escape modern day changes, such as land reclamation in the seaside area, but its inland area remains almost unchanged.
For example, “Susaki-michi", a street passing in front of the local Yoriki Jinja shrine, (the tutelary shrine of fishermen), and a few other streets and alleys remain just as they were during the construction of the Tôkaidô.
The local shrine and temples were pilgrimage places.
During the Edo period, it was believed that when a child turned 13 years old, he must visit the shrine, so he would be granted good fortune, virtue, and wisdom.
Many people would visit the shrine on the 13th of each month.
Finally, we entered the heart of modern day Tokyo, the Ginza high end shopping street that leads to Nihonbashi.
I was thinking how ironic it was that we had walked the Tokaido backwards, from Kyoto to Tokyo.
If we had walked out of Nihonbashi, as is the custom, it would have been like leaving the commercial, materialistic world and arriving in Kyoto, the spiritual city of temples.
It would have been more symbolic, as if we had walked away from the illusions of the world, to enlightenment.
But we walked backwards, and that was symbolic, too.
I felt that I had started this journey feeling full of light, enthusiasm and energy, and I was arriving in the materialistic world, finishing our walk feeling disillusioned and sickly.
I can’t deny that a part of me wished that we had walked the Tokaido like everyone else, from Tokyo to Kyoto.
Now we are in Tokyo, not the Japan that I know and love, but the touristic center of commerce, ambition, illusions and greed.
People were lining up at the Louis Vuitton, the Hermes and at other high end shops, waiting to buy garments and bags made in China.
The herd-like masses all across the globe, were brainwashed and hypnotized to believe that these products were symbols of wealth and success, worth the astronomical prices demanded for them.
How did the infinitely intelligent, holy and divine children of God, get to be such imbeciles?….
Before crossing the finish line, we stopped to drink tea at the Starbucks Reserve in Ginza.
The line at the door was too long, so they directed us to their basement tea room.
We drank our teas and I bought their bread sticks with green olives, which is the most delicious item on their food menu.
We celebrated the end of the pilgrimage today by taking lots of photos at the Nihonbashi finish line this afternoon.
The women at the small information center at Nihonbashi clapped their hands in admiration for us, and took our photos.
I specifically insisted that the boys, Jules and Joseph, take photos of Wendy and I under the statues of the mystical Kirins, on the Nihonbashi bridge.
The Kirin, also known as Qilin, is a mythical creature that combines the powers of a fiery dragon, the gentleness of a unicorn, the strength of a horse, with the earthly nature of a deer, and the life giving oceans, represented by the fish scales on its body.
The Kirin symbolizes good fortune, prosperity, and virtue.
It is one of the Four Auspicious creatures (alongside the dragon, phoenix, and tortoise), and it is often seen as a messenger of peace and a harbinger of positive change.
In some traditions, it's also associated with the birth or death of a virtuous ruler, a sage or a scholar, indicating a period of peace and prosperity.
The reason I asked for our photo under this mystical creature, was because although we might look like just two ordinary women, underneath our human skin, we are all powerful, immortal, mythical creatures, moving through the illusions of time and space.
I wanted a photo to remind me of that fact, if I ever were to forget…
At the bridge, we said goodbye to Joseph and Wendy and we went to the dentist.
He was an English speaking dentist, with a friendly face and a quiet, small clinic which was dimly lit.
My biggest concern was if I would be able to go through the treatment without coughing uncontrollably, as I have been doing in the last few days…
The dentist suggested that I do another treatment, and not just glue the bridge back on, because he feared that the teeth underneath might have a small cavity.
We made another appointment for tomorrow to fix the cavity and he glued the bridge temporarily on, so I could eat dinner.
We were treated to a soup curry dinner by Wendy and Joseph.
Jules and I ate the vegetarian version, which is one of Jules’s favorite cool weather foods.
They offered a choice of either 12 or 24 kinds of vegetables, all cooked in a coconut and miso soup and served with rice.
We complimented and congratulated Joseph and Wendy on their excellent accomplishment in walking with very few break days for 35 days in a row.
Wendy apologized, saying that maybe the burden of guiding had been too much for me, which might be one of the reasons why I got sick.
I felt happy and with a sense of accomplishment, but also a bit overwhelmed with questions.
Why did my dental bridge fall out on the last day of the pilgrimage?
Why here and why now?…
Will I be able to go diving as scheduled?
Why and what does the future hold for us?
The Course in Miracles reminds us:
“I leave the future in the hands of God!”
Whose are the best and most loving hands to direct all of our uncertainties towards...
With love and gratitude,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
Steps - 24,478
km walked - 17 km
Total distance walked on the pilgrimage - 650.50 km.
Old Post Towns Visited:
Shinagawa Juku #1
Nihinbashi in Edo- the end
