Henro- Day 27 (Mothers Day) 508 miles walked

​There’s nothing I’m more thankful in my life than the strong women I call mom and my wife.  This year has been a year of tears watching my mom struggle to survive through a cancer diagnosis which was found at a very advanced stage.  She has been a rock for my immediate family and the keystone to making everything work.  Because of this, a lot has changed in 2026.  Between new jobs, new schedules, and new responsibilities, I’m so lucky to have a wife willing to rework her whole life around this without a complaint or a word.  I love you both to the moon and back.  

We are praying daily that we can get to a remission, and I’m seeing the needle move in the right direction with every treatment.  If you’ve been following my blog, you’re probably aware that Buddha and I have became pretty good friends. If you ever read about or research what Buddhism is really about, it’s kinda hard to find things to argue with.  It doesn’t matter what you believe in, but it does matter what you’re thankful for and appreciate.  It’s easy to find the imperfections in the world or the negative, but how lucky am I to have had such a wonderful life with great people in it.  I really couldn’t ask for more.  

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there

Never in my life have I met people that are so kind and respectful.  People see you walking by and go out of their way to do something special.  They invite you to sit and talk with them.  They’re so excited you’re there and offer you snacks and drinks for your journey.  They’ll even drive down the road to check on you a little later too.  

Sam here (87) came up and eagerly started teaching us about the history of the Henro.  We spent about an hour chatting, learning, and singing John Denver songs.  He’s was so excited to tell me that never in his life, did he expect he’d be singing Country Road with an American guy.  What a cool moment.

Da-shu

The picture doesn’t do justice, but the drop off next to the trail is sometimes nearly a cliff with trees.  It’s important to watch where you’re walking here.

Just a guy walking around Japan- Days 25 & 26 of the Henro

It may look like a simple photo of a guy at a convenience store, but after nearly 500 miles of walking through rural Japan, these are the moments I’ll remember.  Many days pass without seeing many opportunities for food, coffee, or even other people. Over the last couple weeks, I’ve seen fewer than five westerners, and the only ones I do see are usually at the temples. I’ve realized most people travel these sections by bus or train instead of walking them. This also isn’t something mainstream or commercialized. In the last 100 miles especially, I rarely see anyone other than local farmers out working in the fields.

Not speaking Japanese has added a daily layer of challenge, but honestly, I’ve enjoyed the friction of having to figure things out. Most of the people I encounter are around retirement age or older. Much of the younger population has moved to the larger cities, leaving many homes empty and slowly fading away. Even the restaurants and small businesses often feel quiet and empty.

What stands out most is the kindness of the people here. Tipping is considered disrespectful in Japan, yet I’ve rarely experienced people who care more about doing their jobs well or seem more genuinely happy to have you there. I’ve had countless conversations through Google Translate, said “Kon’nichiwa,” and bowed at least a hundred times a day. 

I’m a firm believer that the energy you put into the world is the energy you receive back. I’ve eaten strange foods, stayed in other people’s homes, and while none of these places would be considered luxurious by most standards, they’ve given me experiences that burn themselves into your heart and soul. I’m now down to just a few days left of walking before beginning the transition home. More than anything, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to experience this adventure.

Lots of snakes in Japan.  They have vipers here but I have yet to see one.  All the snakes we have seen so far appear to be Japanese rat snakes, and they’re the good ones to have around.  

Made it to Temple 44 of 88.  Although this is only half of the temples for this pilgrimage so far, it’s about 65% of the total distance from the start.

These mini-campers are pretty cool. They are set up to sleep 4 people.  The guy at the dealership was nice enough to give us a tour.  For 5.8 million yen, this could be yours 😊

I kept seeing these little booths everywhere and was always curious what they were for. Here’s what it does:

1. Farmers or locals bring in raw rice (brown rice with the bran layer still on it).
2. They pour it into the machine.
3. The machine removes some or all of the outer bran.
4. Clean white rice comes out the other side.

The buttons let you choose how polished you want the rice:

• Light polish (more nutritious, more brown)
• Standard white rice
• Very polished white rice

One of the labels even mentions (musenmai) “no-wash rice,” which is polished enough that you don’t need to rinse it before cooking.

The reason you see these in tiny countryside towns is because many families still:

• grow their own rice,
• store it as brown rice for freshness,
• then polish only what they need for the next few days.

Freshly polished rice tastes noticeably better. In Japan, rice quality is taken very seriously — almost like fresh coffee beans being ground right before brewing.

Henro- Sukumo to Uwajima

Over the next 3.5 days of walking the Henro, my total distance is now at 439 miles walked.  In terms of scheduling and planning accommodations, it has been one of the most difficult times for planning.  We are currently and thankfully coming to the end of what Japan refers to as Golden week, where they have 4 holidays grouped together and everyone is either off traveling or things are closed.  It’s a little nerve racking when you’ve walked 21 miles for the day to finally reach your destination to find out places are overbooked.  So far, it’s all worked out though.  

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Parmalee School record holder for the most miles ever logged for the run/hiking club.  I’m a proud Dad seeing him accomplish hard things and helping me condition my own feet for the Henro.  Because of all the miles we’ve logged together leading up to this walk, my feet have held up way better than I could have expected.  

Deodorant spray in our hotel.

It makes me nervous to know what the anxious smell is actually caused from 

Never could figure out why they designed the roof this way or what the building was built for. Keep in mind, I’m walking a quiet trail through a lot of small towns and fishing villages.  What probably seems pretty boring to most, becomes interesting when you’re given this much time with your thoughts.

Our path has started picking up some designated walking tunnels.  These are not small tunnels either.  Some of them are pushing up to a mile long.

It’s funny when you walking a path on a forest trail, and you soon find yourself in a very dated and endless strip mall.  Not sure if it’s ever busy but there were hardly any people here.  

Uwajima 

Our path had a landslide.  This was our detour up and around it.  These hills we’re walking are quite steep.

I feel so big here.  Everything I see in Japan is a smaller version of what I’m used to seeing.

African/Japanese themed bathroom.

Okayama & Kyoto

​For the last couple days that Jason was in Japan we decided to take some time away from walking the Henro, and do a little sightseeing.  Even being on the most remote side of Shikoku, the public transportation is fairly efficient. We started our day at 6am walking 16.5 miles arriving at temple 38.  In order to get to Kyoto, we had to take a bus for two hours arriving at a train station in Nakamura. Fifteen minutes later we were on a train for two hours arriving back in Kochi.  We immediately transferred to another train out of Kochi heading towards Okayama.  

Okayama is on a different island than Shikoku (Honshu).  To get there, the train crosses the Great Seto Bridge which was incredible.  We spent a short evening in Okayama and hopped on a train moving 200 miles an hour to Kyoto.  During all of this with no exaggeration, we passed through at least 200 tunnels with a total distance of more than 40 miles under ground.  This bridge was built in 1988 and spans over 8 miles

Torii Gates

After touring around Kyoto all day, I decided to treat myself to a massage.  While laying there half asleep, every phone around started screaming Earthquake….. Earthquake 😳 

Being on the 5th floor of a building at the time, you could feel the building moving like crazy.  After about 20 seconds, everyone went about their business like nothing happened.  It was an experience I won’t ever forget.

Kyoto at night

This was a creative way to design a bathroom.  It was actually quite functional as well.  As you can see, the shower/tub faucet works for either the tub, or the sink.  The tank for the toilet was also incorporated into the countertop.

I contemplated going to measure the depth of these apartments.  It took more width of this building to build the stairway and breezeway than it did for the living space.  

Thank god they’ve got instructions on how to use a toilet.  I finally now know I’ve been doing it wrong all these years 

The difference traveling in Kyoto /Okayama compared to Shikoku has been culture shock. Holy tourist everywhere.  

I’m actually looking forward to returning to the quiet trails of the Henro.

Henro- Days 19-20 (Temple 38)

At 20 days of walking now, the distance covered from Tokushima to the Cape of Ashizuri is at 365.71 miles.  

Day 19 was one of the more difficult days of this trip.  We walked over 20 miles in the rain and spent the entire evening thereafter trying to dry back out.  Out of all the things I wish I would’ve packed, a really good umbrella is one of them.  So far, I’ve purchased 4 of them now.  The ones you can buy at the convenience stores are okay, until the wind comes along to ruin them.  

Outside of the umbrella, it took a bit of effort to locate some playing cards which I really enjoyed our evening’s sitting around playing Rummy and 31.  

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Walking in the rain. ☔️  

The only time it wasn’t raining on day 19, was inside the 1.2 mile tunnel we passed through.  I never thought I’d be so excited to see a tunnel.

This public bathroom was quite comical.  It had the world’s longest toilet seat, and the world’s smallest toilet all in 1 little room.  

Traditional Japanese dinner.  The Mackerel was quite delicious.  I’ll be honest, I don’t know what I’m eating half the time.  

A common Japanese breakfast.  You get miso soup with every meal.

This is a common thing served for breakfast.  It’s sardine minnows (Shirasu) served on top of daikon radish.

Lots of beautiful views of the coastline along way.

Here around Temple 38 is close to the halfway point on this walk in terms of distance.  We’ve definitely covered a lot of ground so far.

On day 20, we walked with Kento for several hours arriving at the Cape of Ashizuri. After stopping at the only restaurant we saw for quite some time, I decided to treat our new friend to lunch as a nice gesture.  In return, he went and bought me some whale jerky to try which I have yet to open.