SHIKOKU HENRO : Pilgrimage to 88 Sacred Temples in Shikoku

When we talk about the 'Pilgrimage', we think of Jerusalem, Lourdes or Santiago de Conpostella for the Catholics, and Makkah or Medina for the Muslims. In Japan we have several sacred sites for Buddhists. Eighty-eight sacred temples in Shikoku are the sites where they eagerly want to undertake a pilgrimage.

One of the biggest travel agencies in Japan, named H.I.S. has been carrying out a series of Shikoku Pilgrimage for the people with disabilities, and I was assigned to support a lady in a wheelchair for the pilgrimage. In our group there was an old couple over eighty years old and the husband was in a wheelchair and the wife could not walk long distances, so they needed wheelchairs and supporters, too. The total number of the group was eight, including the tour conductor and the driver. All of us wore white clothes to show respect to Kobodaishi (another name was Kukai) who was the founder of the Shingon Sect of Buddism and after he was enlightened he visited Shikoku, the island of his birth, to visit many temples there. It was in the 8th century and people wanted to follow his way so the Shikoku Pilgrimage has played an important part in the Japanese religious practice, and is still alive among people today.

Now we are starting!

Many of the sacred temples in Shikoku are built on hills and mountains, and the pilgrimage in the old days was done only on foot, so it was very difficult for the people. Nowadays, we can take a car or a coach to move around, but still many try to visit the temples on foot one by one. Our barrier-free tour group are supposed to visit these 88 temples, dividing them up into four visits, but it still took five nights and six days to visit the first 23 temples. We mainly used a van, and on flat areas like paddy fields and farms, we sometimes enjoyed walking.

The most difficult points were the stone stairs in front of the temples, and gravel or pebbles and stone-paved paths in the precincts of the temples. Our tour conductor was a young and tough man and was well trained in manipulating wheelchairs, so he could manage to take a wheelchair up 20 or 30 stone steps with a little support from us supporters. Coming down was no difficulty, either.

Our tour conductor can do this easily!

On the gravel and the stone-paved path, I had already learned I had to lift the wheelchair up a little and push it just on its two rear wheels. Getting it balance was a bit difficult but soon I could manage it well.

On the stone pavement

At each temple, we dedicated a small candle just as European people offer a candle in a cathedral. We also gave a donation of five yen to each offertory box. Five yen is 'Go-en' in Japanese, which means good relationship, and we believe we can connect a good relationship with Buddha. After that we chanted a Buddhist sutra led by our driver. He was not only a driver but also a leader of our group.

After chanting Buddhist sutra, everybody looks happy.

Even in the rain, we moved.

During the tour of six days, the weather was not always fine. It rained heavily on the fourth day. Still we continued the pilgrimage and walked together with the wheelchairs, wearing wet weather gear. We also took an aerial cableway together with wheelchairs.

Aerial cableway



Enjoying a nice view through the window of the aerial cableway

In a precinct of a temple, there was a huge ceder tree about 500 years old. It is said that we will become happy and be able to get longevity, if we hug the tree. So we hugged it.

Now we will live happier and longer!

Japanese barrier-free tour has been developed very well both in the viewpoint of hardware and software. The facilities are well prepared and furnished, the transportation is well designed for people with disabilities and as for the software, the tour conductors and the supporters are well trained to take good care of the people with disabilities. Above all, we all know that even people with some disabilities can enjoy moving around, breathing fresh air and admiring the beautiful nature, and visiting any places they want. It is their right.

This is barrier-free travel!

Volunteer, Service and Hospitality: A proposition for Travel Supporters

I often attend seminars for tour guides and travel supporters. These
seminars are held to brush up our skills and ideas. January and February
are the off-season months, so many seminars are held with themes such as
how we should see and explain the characteristics of Japanese Gardens,
inviting a professor from a university, or Japanese Farm Products; the
background of how they are delivered to the consumers, etc.  All of the
seminars are very interesting and give a lot of knowledge and skills useful
for work.

Listening very hard !

Yesterday I attended a seminar for travel supporters to exchange
information on our experiences: what type of tours we helped with, what
type of disabilities our customers had, what our customers wanted to do,
what they were pleased with, and what they didn't like. We also discussed
what was difficult for the supporters physically and mentally. Many of the
33 participants spoke about their recent experiences and impressions.

They had various experiences. One of the male supporters attended a
customer in a wheelchair to Dubai. There was no lift car there, so he and a
tour conductor had to lift the customer up into the four-wheel-drive car
and the customer could enjoy the drive across the vast desert. Another
supporter said that he attended a customer with ALS lying on a reclining
wheelchair. There were many difficulties for the supporter to cope with: in
order to communicate with the customer they had to use a transparent
plastic sheet with Japanese alphabets, and when the customer moved his eye,
the supporter watched the movement of his eye from the other side to try to
work out what he wanted to do. I've never used this sheet before, but I can
easily imagine how difficult it is to communicate well. And the reclining
wheelchair occupies a lot of space, especially on the corner of a narrow
path, turning around is difficult. But still, the customer enjoyed walking
on the stone-paved road of the street of the town in Eastern Europe. I
explained my experience of attending a lady in a wheelchair going on the
'Shikoku Pilgrimage', where there are many temples with a lot of stone
stairs. I will write about this pilgrimage in the next blog in detail.

We exchanged a lot of information of how people could enjoy their trips,
even though they have a certain disability.

Last but not least, our instructor's summing-up was very impressive. She
says we travel supporters, when we attend our customers, have to remember
the following three words: Volunteer, Service and Hospitality. We
supporters are sometimes paid and sometimes are not paid. Whether we are
paid or not, when we feel like doing something voluntarily for the people
with disabilities to share the time together, we can be volunteers, and
when we provide what our customers want to get, we can offer a good
service. And when these voluntary deeds and services are wrapped up with
hospitality, our support will have some significance. I will remember these
three words, Volunteer, Service and Hospitality, whenever I attend people
with disabilities.

Taisho Harp Lesson Class for the People with Visual Impairment

Have you ever heard of 'Taisho-goto (koto)'? Though it is called 'koto', it
is quite different from the Japanese traditional thirteen-stringed musical
instrument in size, design, tone and its history. Taisho Harp or
Taisho-koto is much smaller (65cm in the length, 12cm in the width and 7cm
in the height) than the ordinary Koto. It was invented 100 years ago at the
Taisho Era (the beginning of the 20th century). That's why it is called the
'Taisho-koto'.

Taisho-koto

Keys

On the left side of the body, there is a keyboard, not like the piano but
like a typewriter. On each of the keys, a different figure is printed. 1
means Do, 2 means Re, 3 means Mi, and there are also sharps.

Strings

On the right side, there are from 2 to 6 metal strings. The keys are pushed
by the left hand and the strings are picked with a pick in the right hand.

They are used for playing mainly Japanese songs since the 20th Century
including popular songs and school songs, but not jazz. The scores have
only figures with fingering. They don't use ordinary notes.

Taisho-koto score

I accompany Etsuko, who has visual impairment, to the Taisho-koto class
twice a month as a guiding helper. There are five ladies with the same
disability out of eight members in this class. All of them have been
learning for many years, so they can play very well. Several months ago, I
was told by the instructor, "Why don't you join the class?" Up till that
time, I had been just waiting, watching and listening to their lessons. I
like music very much, so I decided to join the class, but I am not used to
reading the figures instead of notes, so it is very difficult to play the
music smoothly. On the contrary, all these ladies play beautifully and
smoothly. They cannot see the scores so how can they play the Taisho-Koto
so smoothly and so well? 

The instructor, who is an 80 year-old lady, majored in the violin in music
school when she was young. She sings the melody in figures, not in Do, Re,
Mi, and the students record it, and practice again and again many times at
home until they memorize it. They also have Braille scores, but they prefer
to practice in this way rather than reading the Braille scores. I read that
the famous pianist Tsujii Nobuyuki who has been visually impaired since
birth and won the first prize in the Chopin Contest learns the scores in
the same way, listening to the CD until he memorizes the music.

Enthusiatic players

Thanks to God, I can see, so I can read the score and don't have to make an
effort to memorize it. It means I don't practice for as many hours as they
do. I always admire their efforts. Our instructor is planning to hold a
recital in May this year. I have to play some pieces with the other
members. I know I have to practice more and more.

My Dream of Barrier-free Travel

Sonya with a stone lantern

Sonya's comfortable saloon

Special Drive
On a free day after the Honolulu Marathon, Rieko and I decided to go to the Hawaiian Jewelry Studio to make a silver ring. At first we couldn't find out which studio gives a private lesson for a hand-made silver ring, and my dear friend Sonya kindly searched for the information on the website. Sonya is running a travel agency with her husband, and she often takes tour groups from Hawaii to Japan. I met her in 2010 and guided them around Japan for nearly two weeks as a tour guide. Since then, she has been very kind to me, telling a lot of travellers' taste and preference. I have learned a lot from her.

How kind of her to come to our hotel by car to pick us up! On the way to the studio she showed us around the area which is not included in the ordinary tour route. We passed in front of the house where President Obama was born and raised, and the Elementary School where he attended. That area was full of churches, schools and the facilities for the elderly, and physically and mentally handicapped people. All of these buildings are surrounded by greeneries and the atmosphere looked calm, tranquil and peaceful.

Our group members who took part in the Marathon, especially the three mothers of autistic sons and daughter (they are already over 25 years old) say how they wish to visit the facilities and make a friendly exchange with the persons who have the same handicap as their children do. I knew they really wished to do this since 2010, so I asked Sonya if it's possible to realize their wish. Smiling back, Sonya told me that she often visits these facilities as a volunteer. How lucky I am to have this friend! She says if they really want to visit, she can arrange for a visit. Oh, I am looking forward to realizing their dream, participating not only in the marathon, but also in the friendly exchange with Hawaiian citizens with the same kind of handicap. Barrier-free communication beyond the border of countries may be realized!

While we were talking, we arrived at Sonya's house. It is located in a quiet residential area. I found an elegant building with a nice garden. The size of her house is by far bigger than our ordinary Japanese houses. I pushed Rieko on a wheelchair into the house. She has a nice big kitchen and a comfortable-looking saloon. Japanese taste could be found here and there, such as a scroll of calligraphy or a stone lantern. I felt that though they live in the way of the Hawaiians and speak in English, they have the same blood of ours. I felt much closer to her. The climate of Hawaii is so mild and this residential area looks so comfortable that I really wished I could have a chance to live in Hawaii for some time.


Hand-made Hawaiian Jewelry
Leaving Sonya's nice house, she again took us to the studio for our private lesson to make a ring. The owner and instructor was a beautiful Korean lady. Both Rieko and I are complete beginners of making a ring, so we didn't know how to use the tools, such as a fret saw to cut a piece of silver sheet, a hammer to strike or a gas burner to weld. The instructor was very patient and kind to our odd way, and after two hours we successfully finished our silver rings. Another lady, who was a little more patient, Sonya, waited for us, watching us and sometimes taking our pictures.


My Dream
When we left the studio, it had already gotten dark. Sonya kindly sent us back again to the hotel by car. On the way back, I could talk a lot of my dream of receiving foreign guests with disabilities to Japan and giving many chances to let them see the beautiful nature of Japan, And to let them know our culture and way of living, and have nice friendly exchanges with Japanese people with disabilities.

Rieko and I could enjoy a non-touristic half day tour in Hawaii, thanks to Sonya. Sonya, I don't know how much I could thank you for your kindness! I'll never forget!

The instructor (left) and Rieko (right)

Wearing a finished silver ring

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It's so nice to be able to see a place from the eyes of a local person. Both you and Sonya are kind hearted people who think so much of others. It's wonderful to have people like you in this world. I think you wrote this very well and had very few errors. Thank you for writing and I look forward to seeing more of your work and efforts. We have a saying, "Pay it forward!" which I feel some what applies here. When someone does something nice and altruistic for you (as Sonya did), with no expectation of return, you instead pay the goodness forward on to someone else. I think you both have this wonderful mentality and make the world that surrounds you a much better place. :)

Take care!
Sarah  (sarah)



Honolulu Marathon 10km Race Day Walk

A Happy New Year!

I heartily wish this year will bring the better situation to the people who suffered in the Tohoku District and happiness to all in the world!

I took part in the 10km Race Day Walk of Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 11, 2011 as a supporter of a lady in a wheelchair. Both of us participated in the same race in 2010 as well. Rieko, who is in a wheelchair, is very independent and she usually manipulates her own electric wheelchair whenever and wherever she wants to go, but in this race she wants to use a manually operated wheelchair with her arms, so she needs a　supporter to push, when she gets tired.

In 2010, unfortunately the wheel of her chair went flat at the 3km point, so I pushed her chair for the remaining 7km. As she always has a pain in her hip joint, I had to push very slowly and carefully, and it took a long time to get to the finish line, but this time her condition was fine and the wheelchair didn't get a puncture, and above all two voluntary students from Hawaii University sometimes helped us. It was so easy for me just walking with a wheelchair! We could shortened the time by one hour and a half. Rieko and me, of course, were very happy after we passed the finish line.

I am a "travel supporter" to support the physically disabled people who want to travel; sometimes attending people in wheelchairs or those with visual impairment. Recently "barrier-free" travel (accessibility of travel) in Japan has been improved, and many people with disabilities can move around on tours and enjoy their travels.

I have been working as an English-speaking tour guide for more than twenty years and have found that elderly guests sometimes cannot climb up the stairs of temples and shrines. As you know many temples and shrines are built on the hills and mountains in Japan, and there are not always slopes to get to the main hall. My guests come to Japan to see the buildings with beautiful sculptures and designs of the temples and shrines. It is unfair for them not to see those things. And I have joined a study group to study how we can attain barrier-free travel for the elderly and the disabled. I sometimes join the actual trips together with those people.

Now I am planning to write on this subject "Barrier-free Travel" in my blog. Please give me some comments, which will be a great help for me to improve the way for supporting the disabled. Thank you very much for your cooperation in advance.

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That's great! I think you do a great thing by helping people with disabilities and I hope you can improve the travel conditions for them. I hope too that the people of Tohoku are getting all the support they need to get back on their feet.  (jennie)