Day 6 - Beating the Rain

After a multidish breakfast served by the Ryokan staff, we departed for a short stroll through Okitsu to the Seikenji Temple, a Buddhist temple where Tokugowa took instruction. After viewing the temple grounds and making an offering to the Buddha we caught a short train ride across the Abe River. The gentle stroll alongside the mighty Abe provided a contemporary look at the Mariko post town. Here we learned about Japanese neighborhood preparedness in the event of a natural disaster, especially at sea level. In Mariko we lunched on tororojiru grated yam soup, another famed delicacy, at Choji-ya, a restaurant made famous by Hiroshige in his print of the area. Now run by the fourteenth generation of the same family, Choji-ya has been serving tororojiru since 1596. Lunch also included miso soups, dried tuna, green onions, pickled veg, white bait, and the ubiquitous rice (this time featuring barely). Traditionally, the tororojiru is poured on a small helping of rice and then toppings are added. Very tasty.

Following lunch, we boarded a local bus. As we waited at the bus stop, the parking lot across from the restaurant was filled with lotus sports cars and one random yellow Maserati. It looks like it was a car club meetup in rural Japan. The bus brought us to the hamlet of Utsunoya and the start of our walk through woods around and over the Utsunoya Pass. Here the original trail has been continually evolving since the Edo Period as new roads were built, each superseding the other to create an intriguing network of braided routes.

For our part, this was a walk through cedar and bamboo forests climbing ever higher up into the mountains. When we reached the crest we came back down the other side like little mountain goats. There were parts of the trail where the path was covered in dried bamboo leaves, and other parts that were rocky stones and ancient steps. At one point, the only steps were the roots of cedar trees. It was a glorious and serene hike.

The hike creates a circuit back to Utsunoya along a narrow river valley and through mixed forests following the Tsuta-no-hoso-michi, a path of even greater antiquity than the Tokaido. After a 2 1/2 hours, we ended up right back where we started. This time, though, we visited the convenience store adjacent to the bus stop for a quick chocolate & vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream. We also passed a small building of a Buddhist sect believed to be a cult. The doors weren't open so we couldn't go in, more's the pity.  

Tonight we are staying in Fujieda at a modern accommodation with washer and dryer units that we are making liberal use of. Dinner was yakiniku, a Japanese tabletop barbeque restaurant. The group enjoyed a variety of salads, meats, and vegetables cooked on an open flame grill at the table. The meats included chicken thigh, beef tongue, two cuts of wagyu beef near the rib, and other delicious cuts seasoned with green onion and garlic sauces. The marbled fat was juicy and melted like butter. For dessert everyone enjoyed yuzu (a type of citrus fruit) ice cream. Jon also had vanilla while Lisa had matcha.