I visited Hiratsuka Beach for the first time in a while. This beach is wide with little wave erosion. It is also a successful beach volleyball mecca. The silhouette of Mt. Fuji and Izu Peninsula is beautiful. Female high school students were playing with the waves on the beach. A very peaceful and beautiful sunset in Hiratsuka. Let’s come again.
The so-called headland on Chigasaki Beach is a bank built to prevent sand from flowing out. It is also called T-bar because of its shape. You can enjoy the unique scenery as it sticks out into the sea. It is also a popular fishing spot, and Eboshi Rock is also visible in front of you.At dusk, many people come to enjoy Shiokaze and the view of MT.Fuji. On this day, young women, perhaps college students, were enjoying the scenery.
The temperature has dropped over the past few days, and autumn is gradually deepening. Soukou of Japanese lunisolar calendar is also close. The air has cleared up and the evening view became vivid.
I walked on a pilgrimage route that had been going on since ancient times in Shikoku and Mt. Koya. I feel lucky to have walked this road which Kobo Daishi and many pilgrims would have followed.
The lovely seasonal flowers I met at fudasho (temples where amulets are collected) and roadsides during my pilgrimage from early summer to mid-summer were very beautiful and healed my tired body and soul. Flowers seem to have a mysterious power. The lotus flower bloomed in many temples as’ a symbol of enlightenment ‘in Buddhism.
The equinoctial week begins today. It was a clear day after the typhoon. Higanbana blooming on the bank of Koide River in Chigasaki stands out in the blue sky. The language of flowers is “You are the only one I love” and “Passion.”
While I was on a pilgrimage in Shikoku, I met expressive cats everywhere. The calm atmosphere of the cats I met at parks, fudasho and sando (an approach to the temple) made me feel at ease as I tried to hurry. Now that I think about it, it might have been a message from the Odaishi-sama to “take a rest.”
While making a pilgrimage to Shikoku, Koyasan, Kyoto and Nagoya, I enjoyed great local food and sake. These healed my exhausted body on the pilgrimage and provided me with nourishment and energy for the next day. I would like to introduce to you some of the local foods that supported my pilgrimage with the Kongo walking stick.
In return for the completion vows of the 88 Shikoku sacred sites and the Bekkaku- 20 sacred sites, I visited Okunoin Temple of Mt. Koya and Toji Temple, and visited Osu Kannon Temple in Nagoya to conclude my pilgrimage. Osu kannon Temple is the Bekkaku-honzan (special head temple) of the Chizan school of the Shingon Sect and the principal image is Sho Kannon. I have a special feeling because I used to live nearby and visit the shrine almost every week. When I looked up at the sky after praying, I was surprised to see a very big and beautiful sunset. That seemed to be celebrating the end of my journey. In the evening,I had a meal after the trip. I can enjoy nostalgic dishes and sake at “Daijin”, a long-established izakaya representing Nagoya, and “Shanghai taste”, a Chinese restaurant of Shanghai couple. The next day, I had lunch at “Tenmaya” on Monzen-machi-dori Street, tasted cold kishimen noodles and dengaku, and then went home. I entered Tokushima on May 20, and my 84 days pilgrimage to this day on August 11 was finally finished. I am deeply grateful to the many people who supported me.
After Obon, there is a sign of autumn on the beach of Chigasaki. The sky rose and the wind cooled, and the color of the setting sun faded. Umbrella clouds hang on the top of Mt. Fuji and the afterglow shines. The moon rose and the light gleamed in the sea. Evening surrounded by the light of Enoshima lighthouse.
