Day 13: Beach Camping

I woke early as usual just in time to see the sunrise over Cape Muroto at 5 am. After breakfast I got the bust up to Shinshō-ji (津照寺 – 25), where I had finished walking yesterday, and continued on by foot towards Kongōchō-ji (金剛頂寺 – 26) which was only 4km away.

Kongōchō-ji

After a short-sharp hike up a steep hill, I arrived at Kongōchō-ji around 8.30 am and sat down for a while to catch my breath. The symbol of this temple is two interlinked circles and I wondered if this means anything special.

Kongōchō-ji woods

Afterwards, I hiked down to Fudō-iwa, the inner sanctuary (okunoin) of Kongōchō-ji which lies along another spectacular rocky stretch of coast.

Fudō-iwa rocks

On the horizon, I spotted a map who had rowed a small rubber dingy out to a rock nearby and was quietly fishing with his back to the mainland. Not a bad life.

Bunny cloth
119
Hidden henro

Continuing north along the coastal road I reached Kiragawa Antique Street whose maze-like roads, white plaster walls and tiled roofs are much the same as they were in the late 19th century. Personally, I think the whole island is trapped in a time-warp!

Home Bakery
Home Bakery owner

I came across the lovely family-owned “Home Bakery” where I bought some red bean doughnuts for lunch and was kindly given an extra cream cake as osettai. The grandmother was hard at work at the front of the shop and beamed when I took her photo.

Kiragawa Antique Street

Sitting outside on a wooden bench to enjoy my delicious spoils I reflected again on how kind and generous people were to strangers in Shikoku.

Solar rice fields

Further up the coast, the henro trail cuts the corner by crossing over the top of a hill. I always love it when there’s a chance to get away from the main roads and enter the cool green forest.

Logging mill
Bling truck

On the approach to central Nahari / Tano Town, I passed a lumber mill and steel works, the first industry other than fishing I’d come across. There was also a garage outfitting trucks with garish custom cabs. This seems to be quite a popular thing which I’ve seen elsewhere in Japan.

Traditional shop
Old shop in Tano

Walking through Tano my feet were really beginning to ache and I stopped at a combini to buy some more supplies. The town also has a lot of lovely old stores but I worry about how much longer they’ll be around.

Nahari bridge

After walking over 35km I finally reached my destination for the day around 4.30 pm. It was too late to hike up to Kōnomine-ji (神峰寺 – 27) so I set about searching for a place to camp.

Tsunami refuge

On the way, I spotted a large gazebo-like structure that turned out to be a tsunami refuge (i.e. to get above the incoming wave). Every few hundred meters along the coast I’ve spotted signs directing people to higher ground and where there isn’t any they build something like this.

A local pointed me in the direction of a gas station which had a bathroom near the beach and after a quick inspection, I found a spot I liked near the sea wall facing the ocean.

By now I was feeling pretty hungry and inquired at the nearby Drive-in 27 whether they were serving food. They weren’t so I backtracked 1km to Teru Port Yasuda where I was able to get a wonderful oven-baked curry and a chocolate cake.

Yasuda beach

I used their bathroom for a quick wash down and change of clothes before heading back to the beach to set up camp. Except for a couple of dog walkers, I had the beach to myself and was inside just as the sun had set. All-in-all a very good day.

Information

Distance walked: 36 km / 50,300 steps
Temples visited: 26
Overnight lodgings: Yasuda Beach (安田町ビーチ) – Tent

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David avatar

6 responses

  1. Nice work! 35km!

  2. Counting how much cake you’ve had in this day… 😛

  3. Margaret avatar
    Margaret

    Great to read your camping was successful!

  4. Wendy avatar
    Wendy

    All people you have met so far in this trip are nice and friendly, it is because you are a nice or Japaneses are friendly or both. camping on the beach all by yourself how wonderful.

  5. Athena avatar
    Athena

    Looks like an awesome day. Great view of the sunset. I felt that pitching a tent so close to the sea was one of the great luxuries of being a nojuku henro. I shudder to think you walked 35km between that coastal strip. haha. It’s gorgeous, but has a somewhat barren feel. I don’t know why. I missed Kochi as soon as I got to Ehime though. Hope you make comparisons in your later posts.

    1. I think I probably tried to be diplomatic but I think Kochi was my favourite prefecture, nice mix of mountain and coastal scenery.

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