Last Sunday I took my new (old, rebuilt) 14 speed bike over the mountains west of Imabari, to Matsuyama, for a Starbucks coffee, and home again. It’s about 100 km., give or take. I’d just switched the shifters from crappy Gripshifts to a pair of Suntour friction thumbies I got from ebay in January, but had not had time to set up the derailleur.
But I had to go, as my landlady, Minami-san, was having a kimono show at the house…which meant people traipsing all over the place, all day till eight pm. I didn’t want to hang around.
So I woke at seven to the sounds of what seemed like a small army of little old lady cleaners, all over the place. I told the representative spokesperson, after greetings, that I would leave around ten.
At 9:45 I grabbed my knapsack and my bike and stepped outside. I was dressed for rain (can’t take chances with the weather around here) and sure enough 5 seconds later it started. I spun the wheels a few times to make sure the gears would shift…and they seemed fine (!). So I headed out, dropping off Saturday’s textbooks at the school, which was, conveniently, on the way.
Route 137 runs west from Imabari (Tokiwa-cho) through Temagawa, a small town, where Chihiro, a colleague, lives, and then up through a pass over the mountains to Matsuyama. It’s a minor incline for the first 12 or 15 km. but then climbs steeply for another 8 km or so to the first tunnel, which is 2.8 km. long! Japan’s highway tunnels are amazing, though most not as long as this. The noise inside was bad, at one point I was getting worried about hearing damage. Next time I will definitely wear earplugs. It is possible to go around it, but that also means going up some more…
At the village on the other side, I found an interesting cemetery temple and jinja, and the biggest bell I’ve yet seen in Japan. I had to stop to take a picture.
From this point it’s all downhill to Matsuyama, through Dogo. Dogo is the site of Oku-Dogo, or the ‘Jungle Spa’, which I would like to visit soon. There’s also a cable car for sightseeing from the top of the mountain there.
In Matsuyama I decided to go to Dogo Onsen, one of the most historic bathing houses in Japan. I was sweaty and wet from the rain, and a hot soak seemed just the thing. I found it in about a half hour, paid Y800 ($8) for a bath and yukata along with a cup of green tea in the second floor tatami lounge.
The building is gorgeous, wood mostly, with little corridors heading off to rooms all over the place. There is a poster of Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ in the entrance hall, featuring the enormous, labyrinthine bathhouse in that film, and the comparison is apt.
The bath itself is beautiful, too, all marble, or maybe it’s Oshima granite, with a large figured round sculpture where the hot water comes out into the pool…and skylights. But not as big as I expected…and not crowded. I suppose a lot of tourists don’t actually take the water. They’re missing out: it’s quality seemed very good, silky and hot, but not too hot.
When I headed back upstairs, the attendant brought me a cup of green tea and a couple of cookies. The tea was cold, but I drank it anyway. After a bit, I changed back into some dryish clothes, said thanks, and was heading out when I was stopped by an attendant. With some difficulty she suggested, in English, that I go up the (tiny, narrow) stairs to the top floor and visit the Natsume Sosecki room. The top floor was amazing, with private tatami lounging rooms opening right and left off of it, all with shoji opening to the city…and a small veranda running outside right around the building, I think.
Sosecki is much loved in Japan, with reason, as he was her first modern novelist, writing in the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth. I’m reading ‘I am a Cat’ (‘Wagahai Neko de Aru’) right now…a very cool book.
Back down the stairs, and I was stopped by another attendant…who, in Japanese, started talking to me…about something, I wasn’t sure what. But as I gestured to a poster behind him, we seemed to come to some kind of agreement, and he told me to follow him. He then led me into the warren of hallways. He took me on a tour of the Emperor’s private suite, complete with bath, reserved only for the royal family. It was wonderful, spanning several floors, with it’s own private garden. The last visit was something like 50 years ago…
I went to Starbucks for coffee, then wasted half an hour looking for a store which used to sell my favorite incense, only to find it gone. Finally locating the correct road connecting homeward (Rte. 197, flat, running north and east along the Seto Sea), I realized I’d forgotten my light. Oops. As I headed out, the rain intensified.
The ride home was a soaker, with the last hour in darkness. This is no joke, as Japanese roads, even highways, often have unlit, unmarked, unprotected 3 to 5 foot deep concrete ditches running along the shoulder. Broken bones if I go into one. So the ride was a bit of a tense slog. The sound of the ocean waves was constant though, and I found it strangely comforting.
I made it back to Saty in Imabari at 7:30, a 3 hour ride, tired, absolutely soaked and covered in road dirt, as my bike has no fenders yet. As I stood at the cash at McDonalds, handing over a waterlogged bill, I looked down and saw to my amazement that I was not standing in a puddle of water.
The junk food gave me enough energy to get home, where I met Minami-san, packing up. I had completely missed the show.
