15 April 2025 - Day 44 - Temple 65, Bekkaku 14 and 4 henro seeking refuge from the rain in a small henro hut - 23 km

The two Japanese men and myself had an energizing and yummy breakfast at our nice Inn and the lady showed me the way and waved me goodbye.

It was about 7:30 and so I walked to the conbini around the corner to get some food supplies as there won’t be another possibility before tomorrow evening. With this done I continued my walk towards Sankakuji (Temple 65), which is situated in the mountains but merely on a large hill. The road was easy except for a short very steep part and so I already arrived just after 9.

The Temple was situated in a beautiful garden and was generally really nice, but it had just started to rain again so the visit was a little shorter than expected. However at the Temple I met a Taiwanese woman, who I had bumped into several times over the last weeks, as well as the two Japanese men who had been at my Inn last night.

The way down from the hill was just as easy and pretty as the walk uphill, and from time to time the forest opened up unto a spectacular view of Shikoku-chuo City with the Seto Inland Sea and Honsho Island in the background. Luckily the rain had stopped after just a few minutes.

After another hour and a half, where I overtook Miss Taiwan (sorry I never asked your name) and one of the Japanese men, I arrived at Bekkaku Jofukuji (Nr 14). This one for me is a little pearl squeezed into a very narrow place but really nicely kept. I did my rituals and bought my 5th Bekkaku pearl and saw that the two Henro had just passed me again.

So I also walked on and followed them from the nice small roads onto a big one with quite a lot of traffic. It was past 12 and I had planned to take my lunchbreak at the next (and last) Henro Hut on this stretch. Just before I arrived, a big rainshower let loose on me and I quickly walked to the small hut that was merely 100 m away. I saw immediately that it was poorly sheltered from this kind of rain but I still wanted to reach it fast. But when I walked around the corner, I saw that it was almost full with three henros looking for shelter just like me. It was the Taiwanese woman, the Japanese man and another Japanese man.

We made sure everyone stayed mostly dry and tried a short conversation. 3 of us were going to the same accommodation for tonight and the Taiwanese woman went to our pick-up point. Our Inn is so far away that the hosts pick up their guests at another Minshuku along the way. You need to give them a call when you arrive, generally the pick-up is planned for 15:30.

As soon as the rain stopped, the other three walked on but I made my lunch break as planned even though it was quite chilly. Above all, the pick-up point was merely 5 km away and it was only 12:30. When I was getting too cold I also started to walk again, my hands were frozen and I could see my own breath. In order to warm up I decided to take the small mountain pass instead of the long cold and noisy tunnel. The second Japanese man, who by then was walking just in front of me, asked if I was crazy that I would take this route. I tried to explain that I had enough time, that I was cold and that it would be good exercise for tomorrow’s mountain peak.

The walk down from this small mountain pass was again a nice and easy one, so all in all today’s stage was a good one and the soles of my feet are starting to be happy with me again.

At the pick-up point we were all too early and when my Japanese friend called, they said we have to wait for a 4th person before they pick us up. By now it had started to rain again so we found shelter behind the Minshuku under a big roof and sat down. The other Japanese man even gave me his carrymat so I could sit more comfortably on the small wooden chair. While we were waiting I booked my busticket for the return to Osaka, checked messages, etc but I was starting to feel really cold again.

When the 4th person (a Japanese woman) arrived we were finally ready for pick-up, but the drive to our Minshuku took forever. I was so happy I hadn’t tried to walk this part, it was another 10 km along the busy road.

My room was nice but only about 10 degrees warm and it took the aircon heater forever to get a cozy temperature. Actually I am still waiting for it. Dinner was excellent, though, I was alone with 5 Japanese but I’m getting used to it. If only I could speak some more Japanese.

Tomorrow will be a very long and very hard day. Unpenji, Temple 66, the one situated at

the highest elevation, needs to be conquered. And as we need to be driven back to the pick-up point, asagohan (breakfast) is at 5, we will then leave at 6. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading and for your kind messages!