Memo To Shikoku: Ride Wit Gweek

The smallest and least populated of Japan’s four main islands, Shikoku has little to offer aside from farms, small towns and mountains. So basically, it’s just like Aomori but warmer. Until the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Project was completed in 1988, the island was only accessible by ferry and plane making it a somewhat isolated, insular region. This network of bridges, including the world’s longest suspension bridge, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, was built to encourage both economic and cultural trade between Shikoku and Honshu.

Just about the only thing that Shikoku is internationally famous for is the 88-temple pilgrimage, commonly known as “the Shikoku Pilgrimage”. The island of Shikoku is home to almost 300 temples and it is said that the Buddhist monk Kukai visited 88 of these temples by foot, most likely in the late 8^th century. As a result, pilgrims, known as Henro, can be seen walking around the island to this day, their trademark white robes flapping in the wind as they attempt to retrace Kukai’s steps. While the pilgrimage is traditionally done on foot (usually taking between one and two months to complete), the modern pilgrim sometimes makes use of alternate forms of transport as a means for saving time. While most Henro embark on this journey with the hope of achieving some form of spiritual clarity, tourists are sometimes known to take the 88-temple challenge just for the thrill of the trip.

Speaking of trips, a relatively small, sparsely populated and generally quiet island like Shikoku just screamed road trip to the members of team Gweek. At about 10:00 am we rented this beauty in Hiroshima; the official vehicle of Gweek, the trusty Nissan Bluebird.

Now, all of the members of team Gweek had been charged with certain duties that were carried out in preparation for the sacred journey and I am proud to say that none of us took these obligations lightly. Among my responsibilities was compiling an official Gweek road trip mix, to be played non-stop during our jaunt through Shikoku. Being that I could think of no more appropriate soundtrack for such an epic journey, I did what had to be done: twelve non-stop tracks of Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me”. I don’t have to tell you that we listened to the song 144 consecutive times during the course of the trip, I also don’t have to tell you that the final time, blasting it at full-volume while parked in an alley in Osaka, we most likely had the cops called on us and I certainly don’t have to tell you that while we may have gritted our teeth at times, we secretly enjoyed every minute of it.

In addition to the moral support provided by St. Louis’ finest bandage-wearing, pretty boy rapper, there was another secret weapon in our arsenal: the navigation system that you see above. You would be hard pressed to find a car on the road anywhere in Japan that’s not armed with one of these GPS systems and rental cars are no exception. Once we had figured out how to actually use the thing it became an invaluable ally.

With the sun beating down on the pavement, Nelly blaring on the stereo and a full tank of coffee in our stomachs the stage was set for an epic journey. As we headed out of the city, the scattered houses on the landscape slowly receded into the rolling hills that would soon come to dominate the landscape. It really was a beautiful sight and while I’m sure many of the small towns outside of Hiroshima are just as boring as Oirase, it looked nothing short of idyllic to us after a long winter of hibernation. Children played along the rivers, traditional fish-shaped kites flapped in the wind anticipating the arrival of Kodomo no hi and five foreigners rolled along, doing their best to disturb the peace.

Eventually, the solid ground of Honshu gave way to a scattering of islands and the network of bridges that connect them. If you look at our approximate route (marked in blue in the map at the top of this post), you can see these islands, nestled between Shikoku’s western border with the mainland. It really is a cool feeling, leap-frogging from island to island as if driving through the sea.

Eventually, we reached the mainland of Shikoku, without a clue as to what we wanted to see before driving across to Osaka. A quick glance at the Lonely Planet seemed to suggest that Matsuyama, the island’s biggest city and home to an ancient castle and what might be Japan’s oldest bath house, might be our best bet. So we swung around and headed for the Eastern coast.

When we arrived at Matsuyama, we decided to first head straight for the castle. What greeted us was a long walk up a steep mountain path, to the castle at the top. When we arrived, exhausted and sweat-drenched, we were dismayed to find that the castle was being restored and could not be viewed. What. The. Fuck.

Greg decided that he could not let stand such an affront to team Gweek and attempted to stage a one-man invasion of the castle. He was largely unsuccessful.

After failing at this, he decided that it was his sacred duty to defend the castle against barbarian invaders.

Despite our disappointment at not being able to view the castle, the surrounding area was really nice and provided an incomparable view of the city below.

Next stop: Dogo Onsen. Possibly the oldest hot spring bath house in all of Japan, the onsen is mentioned in writings dating back to 759 and is rumored to have existed as early as the sixth century. Dogo Onsen was also a favorite hangout of one of my favorite writers: the early modernist, Natsume Soseki. At any rate, the onsen is well known all over Japan for its supposedly medicinal waters. As you can tell from the picture, Greg just couldn’t wait to get in to the bath.

While I was drying off after bathing, an old, naked Japanese man approached me. “Are you from Sri Lanka?” he asked without hesitation. “Uh, yes, my parents are,” I replied, completely at a loss as to how he ever could have guessed that. “Oh, well, you must be here with your friend then.” “What friend?” I asked, only to have him point across the room to a middle-aged South Asian man standing nearby. Well, Greg and I eventually went over and talked to the guy and as it turns out, he actually was Sri Lankan and has been living in Japan for some time as a Catholic missionary. He was traveling on business but said that he always makes it a point to visit Dogo when it’s on the way. Amazingly enough, he actually hailed from the same town that my mother grew up in. It’s a small world after all.

After the onsen, we headed to a nearby brewpub for dinner, famous for its micro-brewed beer which is made on site. While the staff was less than courteous, the food was good and the beer even better. After feeding the bluebird, all members of Gweek were ready to roll on a full tank. We left Matsuyama at around 7:00 pm, having no idea when we would reach Osaka.

Well, just before midnight, we finally crossed the the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, bringing our Shikoku adventure to a close. As it was night time, I took a few long-exposure shots that pretty accurately capture how the bridge looked to me in my sleep-induced haze. With yet another stage of the trip clear, team Gweek pressed on in the night towards the bright lights of Osaka. “Hey, must be the money!”