Leaf 103 – Looking Back
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| Utagawa Hiroshige - Tōkaidō at Hakone (1833) |
WALKING THE TŌKAIDŌ
AGAIN – A TRAVEL HAIBUN, 5th MAY 2009
We set out very early this morning,
taking the train from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, where we caught a local bus up
to the village of Hatajuku. From there we joined the old Tōkaidō (East
Sea Road) at the point where two old distance markers still stand. These are
two sets of low circular stone walls, each surmounted by a mound of earth, and each
with a small tree growing from the summit; one placed on either side of the old
paved road, opposite one another.
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Because this is the Golden Week
holiday, Hakone-Yumoto was bustling with a great many people, most of whom have
come to stay at the onsen ryokan (hot spring inns). The Tōkaidō, however, was much less busy. We
passed or walked in line with a few other couples, small groups, or families at
times, but mostly on our own. When I first walked this stretch of the Tōkaidō it was
the middle of winter and I neither passed nor met another soul until I had
reached Moto-Hakone – and this was from starting out on foot from Hakone-Yumoto
itself.
Six years since –
so freshly scented,
the old wooded road.
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The weather today was overcast, as it
was when I walked here five or six years ago, only this time, it was much warmer
and humid with it. Not long after midday a mist rolled down from higher up in
the mountains. It passed between the tall tree trunks (hinoki and sugi), like a
ghostly haze, illuminated by the light which penetrated the dense canopy of
green leaves above, creating a beautifully serene and enchanting atmosphere. It began
to rain with large drops of moisture falling from the tall greenery towering
above us. The stones of the Tōkaidō became wet and slippery underfoot,
we had to make our way with care so as not to slip or fall. Along the way, when
we were nearing the end of our walk, we stopped at a popular tea house for some
refreshments and a short rest.
The old Amazake-Chaya
– as busy as
the rain outside.
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| Old Hakone (c.1920s) |
When we later reached Moto-Hakone and
Ashinoko (Lake Ashi), Fuji-san was entirely hidden from view by cloud – just as it was when
Matsuo Bashō passed by this way, and just as it was when I came here before in
2003/2004. Since then, the bus station has been modernised, and continuing down
the tall cedar-lined part of the Tōkaidō to the Hakone Barrier (sekisho), a
kind of wayfarer’s Customs post, we found that the Barrier itself has been
reconstructed on its original foundations, just as it was in the Edo
period, when Bashō would have walked through it. After savouring a lunch of hot soba
noodles and mountain vegetables we took a look around the Barrier buildings and the small museum there
before walking back to the bus station, where in 2003/2004 I’d met Emi Miyamoto,
a Shinto pilgrim and tanka poet who had been travelling around all the Shinto
shrines hereabouts on a New Year’s holiday pilgrimage.
At the sekisho
– no sword,
only my pen!
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We took the bus back down to
Hakone-Yumoto and strolled around the shops there in the pouring rain until it
was time to board our train and head back to Tokyo.
Past times revisited
– the old Tōkaidō’s stones,
changing and unchanged.
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| Felice Beato - Tōkaidō (1825) |
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This haibun contains my first
attempt at writing a haiku in Japanese. Although it is really an attempt at
translating a haiku written in English into Japanese, consequently it doesn’t
quite work. It is a 5-7-5 haiku, but the syllable count is slightly off centre (6-6-5),
and it is missing some of the more usual elements of haiku; plus I think the Japanese-usage
is probably a little off kilter too. But for what it’s worth, here it is:
甘酒茶屋
人に満ちる
外も雨
あまざけちゃや
ひとにみちる
そともあめ
Amazake-Chaya
| people filled (with) | outside also rain
Or:
The old Amazake-Chaya
– as full (or busy) as
the rain outside.
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