Comments: 4
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next village had a sign reading “Welcome to Muroto City.”
“Why am I not surprised, little buddy? But 'city' looks like one hell of an exaggeration.”
Beeep!
It did have several long piers with all different kinds of fishing boats moored to them. Some were no more than long narrow rowboats with outboards attached. But others had cabins and looked like they could carry crews of 3 to 6 or more. And there were lots of empty slips for fishing boats that must still be out at sea.
“At least I should be able go get some good seafood here.”
Be-Beep!
I quickly putted us through the village. There was a minshuku at the edge of it. But it looked dilapidated and I wanted something nearer the waterfront so I could watch as some of the other fishing boats returned.
I headed us back toward the dock. Right in the middle of the waterfront was a narrow ryokan that had a gray windblown exterior.
“This sure isn't a ryori ryokan, little buddy.”
Beeep!
But it was only four o'clock and I still had enough energy left to try eating out like John said I should. I parked the cub in front of it.
“Oh, are you doing the ohenro on a motorcycle, too?” the proprietress asked.
“The what?”
“The 88 temple pilgrimage. It's one of the most popular attractions of Shikoku. We've had other gaijin stay with us too, many doing the pilgrimage on foot.”
“Well, not me. I'm just driving around southern Shikoku. How much does sudomari for one person cost?”
The answer was wonderfully cheap and I didn't care what the room was like. It turned out to be a small three mat but with a view of the waterfront and the piers. I rifled through my guidebook and found a short listing for 'ohenro' that I had missed before.
My God, it takes 5 to 7 weeks to go to all 88 temples on foot! Who's got that much free time? Then it hit me. Retirees! Just like most of the pilgrims in that line I almost ran into. Wish I had that much free time.
“Are you going to Muroto-misaki?” the proprietress asked as I was walking out the genkan entranceway to look at the piers and fishing boats.
“I just came from there today.”
“Oh, then you must have seen the path leading up to Hotsumisakiji temple. It's the number 24 temple on the ohenro.”
“Uh, I did see a stone path that looked like that at any rate. And a lot of people wearing white climbing up it.”
She smiled, “That's it all right.”
Walking along the dock was educational. Again my lungs filled with fresh ocean air. There were fishing nets strung out to dry everywhere. Some of the crew members of the various boats were unloading their day's catch. The not unpleasant smell of the fresh fish hung in the air.
Then I spied a rather large cabin cruiser-like fishing boat churn in past the breakwater and dock at one of the larger slips. The crew of four busily began unloading the day's catch into large tray-like containers that others carried to long metal warehouses where still others were processing the fish.
Which reminded me I was getting hungry for some nice fresh seafood.
“Oh, the 'Fish Inn' is very good and it's just four doors down,” the proprietress assured me after I had taken taken my bath in their quite spacious ofuro. “Their suzuki is especially good. I always order mine steamed. "
Fish Inn was narrow, gray and windblown from the outside but so were all the other buildings along the waterfront.Must be from the ocean spray. The interior looked quite pleasant with one long U shaped counter taking up most of it and a few tables scattered along the walls. I took a seat at the counter. The cook came out from the kitchen behind the counter to take my order and I asked for the steamed suzuki.
“That'll take about 15 minutes. Want something to drink while you're waiting?”
“What kind of sake do you have?”
“Well, this local sake is the house special. You can only get it here in Kochi near Muroto-misaki.”
“I'll try it.”
I'm glad I did. It had a tangy flavor that was quite different from the national brands that John and I always drank in Osaka. By the time I had finished my tiny bottle of sake the cook brought me my fish wrapped in tinfoil. As I unwrapped it a delicious smell wafted into my nostrils. And the taste was heavenly. I ordered a draft beer to wash it down.
“Want something more to drink?” the cook asked when I finished.
“No thanks. I've got a lot of driving to do tomorrow. How much?”
Again I was amazed at how cheap it was. When I got back to my room I looked up suzuki in my dictionary. “Sea Bass.” I'd never heard of it. But I knew I was going to be ordering a lot more of it while I was still in Shikoku.
I contentedly slipped into my futon looking forward to tomorrow and the great seafood and seascapes and whatever other treasures Shikoku had in store for me.
Submitted: January 07, 2022
© Copyright 2025 Kenneth Wright. All rights reserved.
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Bill,
Glad to see you're still with me! And thanks for the suggestion. I had real writer's block on that one and the right words just wouldn't come. I've now changed it accordingly.
And a Happy New Year to you and yours, too!
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I split this chapter from Chapter 15, I couldn't shift the comments below to what is now Chapter 17. So please read these comments AFTER you read Chapter 17.
-- K Wright
I'm probably the worst putt putt player you've ever seen, Ken!
Could you please return the favour and check out my book “Timothy Spall’s Great Adventure?” ??https://www.booksie.com/730865-timothy-spalls-great-adventure-ch.-4-coming-soon
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B Douglas Slack
Nice to see you back, Ken. Happy New Year to you and yours. Just the one little thing I indicated.
Fri, January 7th, 2022 3:50pmI lived way up north, in the hinterlands of Aomori Prefecture, but did notice exactly the same thing you did: Businessmen in small groups were well behaved, but large groups made a lot of noise and seemed to take over the entire restaurant/bar they happened to be in. Of course, us Americans tended to do the same thing, usually embarrassing me and my wife to no end.
Bill