Day 67: Shizuoka to Rokugo
Hours walked: 7:45-4:00
Distance walked: 26 km
Cumulative: 1,452 km
Quote of the day: “Little flecks of gooiness will stick to your cheeks!” - Tova
Our first day back! We set off with some excitement on a cool gray morning. To smoothen the return, today was a slackpack; we’d booked a second night in dear Shizuoka, a city we can’t seem to leave and which we’re growing quite fond of. We walked out of town among rush hour commuters, following a pedestrian avenue into quiet residential neighbourhoods.
The Tokaido took us on a nice path today - plenty of peaceful side roads, past teahouses, temples, and a stand of pine trees that was planted as a windbreak in 1606 and has been standing ever since.
At 10:00 we hit a roadblock: our cute bike path was fenced off for construction, bummer! A wizened construction worker hurried over, and brought out not one, not two, but three detailed maps of the bypass! Tamar was tickled pink, and he very helpfully directed us to a 1-km tunnel that had a wide sidewalk and saved a hilly detour.
The day’s walking passed smoothly. Nobody had any tantrums, Levana was a fairly good sport all day, we got soft serve ice cream and an experimental sweet potato cream cheese cake (fairly nasty). Lunch was onigiri (for old times’ sake). Tova invented a new form of Interrogations where the suspect decides whether or not they’re guilty beforehand. We played 007 with our eyes closed in a 7-11 parking lot.
And after a solid day’s walking we made it to Rokugō station and headed back to Shizuoka one last time. Zadie’s chafed heel has her limping, and Tamar got a new brace for her achy knee, but otherwise we’re fairly healthy. We had wondrous Indian food for dinner, did laundry and turned in by 8. It’s good to be going again.
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| The beauty of submerged rice |
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| We see dozens of Tokaido references every day |
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| Our map sensei |
Day 68: Rokugo to Kakegawa
Hours walked: 8:30-4:00
Distance walked: 27 km
Cumulative: 1,479 km
The Toyoko Inn breakfast redeemed itself today - a team of chefs busily made onigiri by hand in a small kitchen, they were delicious (Jakob ate 4).
It rained cats and dogs all morning. Tamar delayed as long as possible by pumping the bike tires, but we still set off in splashing rain. Within minutes, our shoes were drenched. Aurora got puddled by a passing truck.
The Tokaido then took us up some seriously steep paths. We had to detour around the ancient road, paved with stones so round and lumpy that Tamar refused to believe they were used back in the day. Three of us at a time pulled and pushed the ten-ton stroller up the hills. As we climbed into the misty heights, we reached sprawling tea plantations. They were emerald-green and immaculately trimmed into endless perfect rectangles of tea bushes. The fog came and went. A group of eight elderly Japanese people sitting outside a teahouse waved and tittered as we walked by.
We ate lunch really late because Levi fell asleep, and we descended towards Kakegawa on an unbelievably steep downhill. Then we took the train into Hamamatsu, quite pooped from our hilly day. Our one-room Airbnb has soft beds and a kitchenette, so there was much lazing around while Jakob tried to make stirfry for seven on one element with a single pan. Then we all fell asleep in the blink of an eye.
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| Tea is a nice change from rice |
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| Yep, today was definitely wet |
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| Tova loves taking closeups, so this random microtown was perfect |
Day 69: Kakegawa to Hamamatsu
Hours walked: 8:00-5:00
Distance walked: 31 km
Cumulative: 1,510 km
“It was a really long day” is Tova’s summary. We got an early start after eggs on toast, taking a train back to Kakegawa which was crammed with hundreds of high school students in black-and-white uniforms. Why do towns in Japan seem to swap students? Can’t they just stay home?
Our goal was to make it all the way to our Airbnb in Hamamatsu, though it would be at least 30km and the days are starting to shorten. The morning’s walk was smooth - Levi played with her Korean shoe and Jakob’s now-ruined notebook in the stroller, Sophia read aloud to Zadie for like two hours, and Jakob finished reading A Wrinkle In Time to Tova (who set a new record for the most viscerally hated ending to a book, she was just disgusted.) Aurora and Tamar talked about hiking plans, novel pirating websites, and books they’re reading.
The afternoon dragged a bit. Tamar’s knee got stiff and achy, Levana got cranky, we all got sunburn. But we soldiered on through quiet residential streets, singing to the baby, playing Interrogations and occasionally stopping for peanuts. Tova got a sweater at long last, Zadie went shoe shopping (ie cried and refused to replace her long-suffering shoes). Levi snuggled deep into Sophia in the ergo and was quietly happy for the last hour of walking.
It was dark by the time we reached the apartment; we were all tired but spirits were fairly high. Dinner was a filling but unadventurous pasta with broccoli and tofu, then the girls relaxed while the parents wrestled with questions of whether to stick with the Tokaido or head southwest into the mountains of Mie.
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| Traditional Tokaido teahouse in the hills |
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| Levi snags some ice cream |
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