The rain would come down off and on throughout the day, but unlike the day before, it wouldn't detract from the activities I had in store. In fact, I would end up doing and seeing considerably more compared to
, hopefully meaning this blog post will make for a more interesting read. I paralled the
My first stop was at an overlook with a view below of
Ōkinohama Beach 大岐の浜. Located about 25 kilometers/16 miles south of Shimanto, it's Shikoku's 四国 "most magnificent sandy beach" (at least according to
Lonely Planet). The sand stretches for about 2 kilometers/1.2 miles, and a handful of surfers were venturing out into the waves as I gazed down from above:
Next up was the rugged promontory that is
Ashizuri-misaki 足摺岬. The cape got its name ("foot stomping") from a legend that an elderly monk stamped his foot in frustration when he discovered his young disciple had set off in search of
Fudaraku, the promised land. Fudaraku was believed to exist in
Kannon's 観音 realm, and many others set off from the cape never to be seen again. In more modern times Cape Ashizuri became (in)famous for suicides.
Despite this rather bleak history, Ashizuri-misaki is a more interesting place to explore compared to
Muroto-misaki 室戸岬, Shikoku's other prominent cape jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. After parking my car I was greeted with this statue of John Mung - more on him a bit later:
I embarked on a short walk to an observation platform and a lighthouse:
The view from the lighthouse observatory, sitting atop 80 meter/262 foot-high cliffs:
Across the road from the cape trails is Temple 38
Kongōfuku-ji 金剛福寺, dedicated to Kannon. I spent some time exploring the quiet grounds (no tour buses filled with foreign visitors):
John Mung,
aka John Manjiro,
aka Nakahama Manjirō 中浜万次郎, was one of the more fascinating personages of the late Edo 江戸時代/early Meiji 明治時代 periods. At the age of 14, the young fisherman was shipwrecked on the island of
Tori-shima 鳥島. He and his comrades were eventually rescued by an American whaling ship, which took them to the U.S. There he learned English and was given his English name John Manjiro (or John Mung). Due to Japan's period of
self-isolation 鎖国, Mung wasn't able to return to his homeland, instead sailing on whaling ships and earning a small fortune in the California Gold Rush. He eventually decided to take his chances and return to Japan, arriving in 1851, where he was allowed back into Japanese society.
The end of the feudal period was coming in Japan, however, and Mung's knowledge of the English language and of the United States led to his being promoted to samurai status in 1853. He became an interpreter and translator in the negotiations leading to the
Convention of Kanagawa 日米和親条約 (which opened Japan to trade with the U.S., and later with other Western powers), and later joined the first
Japanese Embassy to the United States 万延元年遣米使節 in 1860. Mung would eventually become a professor at the Kaisei School for Western Learning (which later became part of the prestigious University of Tōkyō 東大). Not bad for a poor fisherman from a small village in
Tosa Province 土佐国 (today's Kōchi Prefecture 高知県).
This fascinating life was explored in the interesting
John Mung Museum ジョン万次郎資料館:
Looking at the museum from a nearby observation deck:
The drive continued after my visit to the museum:
The drink on the left was a refreshment while driving; the one on the right a digestif enjoyed that evening in my hotel room:
After the break at the roadside station I continued the drive toward Uwajima 宇和島, my ultimate destination that day:
The rain started coming down again, transforming the mountains into beautiful, lush and green misty scenes:
The view from my room at the
Uwajima Oriental Hotel 宇和島オリエンタルホテル:
After checking in, I ventured out in search of a meal. I soon arrived at the Uwajima Kisaiya Road 宇和島きさいやロード covered shopping arcade. Had I visited here in 1989 (the year I first arrived in Japan) I'm sure the
shōtengai 商店街 would've been busy with families, students and shoppers. In the ensuring decades, the combination of population decline and the rise of a car culture that led to strip malls and suburban shopping centers has turned many of these arcades into ghost towns. At the Uwajima Kisaiya Road few shops were open, and there were even fewer people walking around:
It was a particular pity this place wasn't open:
I eventually settled on a
tendon 天丼 set for dinner at one of the very few restaurants still open for business:
The sad state of Uwajima's once-thriving shopping arcade, plus the fact the hotel's restaurant was closed for renovations, meaning breakfast the following morning would be a complimentary
bentō 弁当, brought a somewhat anticlimatic end to an otherwise enjoyable day of driving. But Uwajima would redeem itself the next day, so please stay tuned...
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