A Visitor!!

I was so happy last week cause my old school VT friend from way back flew up from Okinawa to visit! I’ve known Rachel since we were seven years old and took my bro Alex with me last year when I went to visit her.

The first couple days, we strolled around my neighborhood and got the VIP treatment from a few of my Eikaiwa students (who gave us the tour then took us home and fed us a very delicious, multi-course, homemade lunch).

On Friday, we decided to be ambitious and took a road trip to Kochi City…without a map…or guide book…or an plan of any kind, haha. It turned out to be a very successful trip: the first parking lot we found just happened to be the one for the city park and castle, which just so happened to be hosting free musical performances that evening. We parked, took a tour of the castle, ate lunch at an amazing bagel café (which had a very amusing sign), killed time at an arcade, then returned to the castle for the performances. On our way home, we wanted to see the ocean and, after driving down many one-way streets and across several bridges, we found it! By this time, it was pitch black and Katsurahama park was abandoned, but it was still the first time I had set foot on a beach since moving, so I was giddy.

Saturday was our pilgrimage. In Japan, there is a group of seven gods called Shichi Fukujin. These seven “Luck Gods” or “Gods of Fortune” are made up of gods from Shinto, Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu tradition and apparently provide better protection and luck when prayed to as a group. The Iyo shichi fukujin mairi is the ‘tour’ of these seven sites – made up of both temples and shrines – in and around the Iyo area. There’s quite a system in place now to entice the superstitious or acquisitive: wherever you choose start, you can purchase small golden charms of the gods – one for each respective site – and, at the end of the tour, receive a omamori fukuro or tiny silk bag in which to carry your gods. By keeping the omamori fukuro close by (in a purse or desk) you can receive their blessings.

My friend and supervisor, Hiroko, her husband, and I thought that Rachel’s visit would be a good time to try the Iyo shichi fukujin mairi. At the start of our tour, we looked at the map and thought, meh – four hours tops. Ha! Matsuyama is a big city with even bigger suburbs. Throw unmarked streets, countless small bridges, common landmarks, and numerous other temples and shrines into the mix and you begin to feel less like a pilgrim and more like a mouse in a maze. It took us nearly four hours to find the first four temples. We took a much needed break for Okonomiyaki (and quick games of Othello) and set out again.

By the time we had completed the tour and visited all seven sites (one shrine we visited twice because there was no one there to give us our charm the first time around) the sun was setting and we were sick to death of the car. None of us believed we would actually find all seven sites or finish with our omamori fukuro, but we have proof! If just being in the vicinity of a holy site grants luck, then the four of us should have an amazing year. We passed so many neighborhood temples and shrines in our search for The Seven that I am probably more blessed now than I ever was in my Sunday school days…

…Gus and Gimp: we’re going to Vegas. Eden and Mike: let’s try El Cap. :D