I decided some time ago that while in Japan, I want to spend a good deal of time wandering. I want to explore and see a whole bunch of Japan on foot. Which prompted me to look for a map.
I went to Administration and asked for a map of the area all around AIU. Ashmore-sensei said that such a traveler's map did exist. However, the people at the office were enable to locate that specific map, though if I wanted one of Akita City, I'd have had no problem.
Ever helpful, the man asked me what I was interested in looking at. Though I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I told him shrines or temples. A quick trip to Google Maps and this man found me "Manzoji" the biggest shrine in the area. He proceeded to outline the path there, and to explain the path.
Today I decided to make good on that trek, and did my best to invite a group of people to come with me. Unfortunately, I knew few who I thought would be interested and even fewer e-mail addresses. I put out 5 messages, and gave everyone 4 hours to respond or show up at the meeting place.
An additional hurdle to collecting people was that I could not tell them how far a walk it was. I had neglected to ask if there was a solid path, and if walking was a viable option. It could be anywhere from a mile to ten miles. I planned to walk an hour out, and an hour back. Not sure if I would even find the place in that time.
5:00 came around and I wasn't suprised when I didn't hear back from anyone. With Jessi feeling under the weather I decided to mark out on my own. I had no idea where I was going, no cell phone, and one package of cookies. I told Jessi if I wasn't back after seven, that she might want to start worrying, maybe a search party would be in order. But I was very confident that I would be there and back in plenty of time.
The path lay before me I wore a light backpack, and a whole country before me. I went with a song in my heart and a bounce in my step. I was cautious though, I knew that it would start getting dark by the time I was heading back, I decided to take photo's of landmarks every so often, so if I got lost, I could refer to the pictures if I got in trouble
I went down a very similar path that Nick and me had gone biking, I went down the same steep hill. Got a picture this time.
So far I was still in the familiar but I wanted to push farther this time, as well as see a traditional Japanese cultural location.
In half an hour things still looked familiar. In fact I found myself at a gas station that Nick and I had passed on our bike ride, it was as far North as we had gone. I had done a little research on Google maps before coming, nearest I could tell the shrine was in a town named Kawabetoshima, and the gas station was on the outskirts. I thought I saw the road that would lead me to the shrine, but I also saw a river, so I figured I would go to the river and then double back to the shrine. If I couldn't find the shrine I would know that I had gone at least to see the river.
I contemplated quietly the idea of rafting down this river to get to the Sea of Japan. Too many variables to be viable now, but I may look into that further. In anycase I doubled back to see if I could find this Manzoji Shrine, unfortunately despite passing where I thought it should be, I saw nothing but houses. So into the housing I went.
The houses seemed pretty nice, I assume this is a mid-income neighborhood, if not better. But around corners and through narrow streets I found no shrine. I had nearly given up, and turned back when I saw a sign.
I hadn't memorized the name of the shrine, but I did remember the Kanji for it, and the kanji for Shrine was on that sign. There was no walkway, I went over a drain, and through some mud, but my first view of the shrine was this arch.
It wasn't the Forbidden City, but it was a mysterious place. The sun was begging to set, and it seemed filled with a certain power. I bowed to the four points of the compass, and asked all spirits within the shrine to allow me safe passage. It was beautiful and quiet.
I'm not sure what this building was, but it was closed, and seemed to have hours posted, I'm not sure what lies within, but I intend to find out before I leave.
Before I came back to the University I was blessed with a bright red sunset over the rice fields of the area. In Akita International University the forest makes the sunset rather mild compared to the stunning sunsets back home. But here I was startled by how red the sun looked on the horizon.
I made my way back by way of the waning sunlight, and it was quite the uphill bug infested hike that I had heard about. When the sun goes down, the bugs come out en masse. Even then I was knocking on Jessi's door by 6:30.
Quite the hike, and a great adventure. I plan to extend my horizons and see what an true hour out and an hour back will get me. A little Sushi-ya after an hour's walk would be perfect. Untill then, I'll keep wandering.
-Mack
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