PILGRIM'S JOURNEY ON THE KUMANO KODO

After 26 hours of travel and a nights rest my pilgrimage begins.

The Kumano Kodō is made up of multiple pilgrimage routes, and my first day is at the end of the Kiiji route, then I continue and in six days complete the Nakahechi route.  Most of these poems start in the Japanese form of Waka or Tanka.

With a loose 5 line structure of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables . The music you hear is a duet of Japanese instruments, the Koto harp and the shakuhachi flute

Transcript

After 26 hours of travel and a nights rest my pilgrimage begins.

The Kumano Kodō is made up of multiple pilgrimage routes, and my first day is at the end of the Kiiji route, then I continue and in six days complete the Nakahechi route.  Most of these poems start in the Japanese form of Waka or Tanka.

With a loose 5 line structure of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables . The music you hear is a duet of Japanese instruments, the Koto harp and the shakuhachi flute

On the Plane

Nico from Colorado

obsessed with Japan

4 years furiously learning

gathering Japanese friends online.

Going to meet

on-line girl friend

At last.

The bullet train to Osaka

Smooth, silent, fast 

Flashing past houses touching houses

Suburban boxy apartments

Now Rice paddie gardens.

Mount Fuji in the distance.

Kiiji Day and Stay

Train station breakfast

buy lunch snacks

Onigiri stuffed rice triangle

wrapped in Nori

opt for tuna mayo filling

Trains are like swiss watches

perfectly on time

Waikama change,

Shimizu Ura

The walking begins.

Through the village

Up the hilly path 

through the forest,

looking back 

densely packed houses

Highways overhead.

ready for quiet time

Big blue butterflies

jumping insects

birds singing

small altars with fresh flowers

protect travelers.

Earth, rocks and slippery mud

I slide and fall 

Good, from now on

more caution and care

walking alone needs full attention

My first bamboo forest

young brown pointed ones

among the tall green adults

how long have they stood 

reaching for the sun above.

Sweet forest smells

maybe jasmine or orange blossoms

as I reach a road.

Dear Martin Strasmore

Welcome to Fujishiro-Jinja Shrine

I’m surprised

A guide waits for me

sent by Oku 

shows how to honor the shrine

how to bow, ring the bell

and make a prayer.

This is the Shinto way.

In Gongendo Hall

Three Buddhas look out at me

Nachi, Hongu, Hayatama.

Shinto Kami are spirits

maybe they all wait

for my understanding 

to blossom

as I follow pilgrims’ path

I get blessed

with paper peacock feathers

my first walking day is complete.

My first futon sleep

deep sleep, alarm needed

First truly japanese meals

delicately delicious

rice as a delicacy

Sashimi at night

cooked fish in breakfast.

Barley green tea.

ONSEN

Yunomine Onsen

three hundred years still purely

delightfully local

Old cedar bath water so hot

i sit by cold water pipe.

my meal is delivered

kimono lady brings tray

carefully placing

each of the ten artful dishes

to create colorful array.

Once again delicious 

Ecstatic foody experience

completed with plum wine

Nakahechi Route

The Cedar trees are tall and straight

The leaves are a slippery carpet.

Hearing the rushing water 

and the singing bird. 

Keep your eye on the path 

and your feet on the stones. 

White butterfly fly past 

brown and red butterflies flutter 

around me.  

brown and red snake slides 

across the path.

lizard pops brown head out

irredescent turquoise tail

makes its debut.

Leaves moving in the wind, 

feet moving on the path, 

water flowing down the stream 

all is quiet, just keep moving.

Echizen-toge Pass:  the poet Fujiwara (1162-1241) said “this route is very rough and difficult: it is impossible to describe how tough it is.”

You think you’ve reached this summit and you have, 

you go down, then up again and again

 not quite so high but high enough.

Then you discover 

the higher pass

leaving a long downhill

for your tired legs

before rest can be reached

Dropped my hat, 

see it down the hill in the middle of the road . 

She walked right past it.

I had to go back 10 minutes 

passing her and wanting to say

you could have called out.

New bamboos shooting 

up in the cedar forest 

which species will win?

Triangular stones point the way 

like ancient arrow heads

before the rough edged rocks and stones

take over the path again

before the climb up

between the closely woven roots

covering the path 

like an unfinished carpet

Going downhill is a meditation

 on each stone on each step, 

as the brown snake glides across

 finding a place to lie in the sun.

Sometimes this feels like a cosmic joke, 

you go up, 

you go down 

you go flat 

then you go up and up 

and down and down.  

Then you reach Nachi

the temple

 at the end of the trail, 

400 steps up to heaven!

©MartinStrasmore2025