Pause – April 12, 2019

• Friday, April 12, 2019, Day 30
• Temples: #71, #72, #73, #74, #75, #76, #77, #78, and #79
• Muroto City, Japan
• Weather: 45-55 degrees blue skies with white clouds
• Miles 27.3 miles (3 trains) / Total Miles 595.1

At Temple #73 there is a priest with a bus group. He has the most affections smile. We talk. People are kindly interested in me. “Where am I from?” “What brings me to Shikoku ‘s 88 Temples?” My days are too full as my intentions have become to visit all 88 Temples. Yet, I choose to pause, sit, and listen to the group chanting their Heart Sutra to the beat of the wooden blocks the priest strikes. I am warmed by the sun in a clear blue sky. I am most happy.

Always o-settai. At the first temple a man hands me a bottle of lemonade, at the next temple, a lady slips me an envelope with ¥2,000 I use to buy bracelets as a permanent reminder of generosity. This priest arranged to pay for me temple stamp. Best of all was three chance meetups with Akita H. who climbed Temple #60 with me.

Leaving Temple #73 I realize it sits juxtaposition with the large seaport city Tadotsu Town and I can see a bridge connecting Shikoku with mainland Japan.

1. Priest and group of o-henros
2. O-settia
3. View of Tadotsu Town from Temple #73