Date

2022-11-16, Wednesday

Distance

53.3 km (2100.13 km in total)

We woke up to the glorious morning sun of Morioka at good time. Many locals had already come to the park as part of their daily routine starting 5 am. My friend’s mood suffered from a terrible sleep because she was afraid that the missionary would come to pester us again. Indeed, her worse nightmare turned true: we ran into her again at the convenience store that was the nearest to the park. She seemed to have been waiting for us without another lady whom she called a friend.

I slept all night in my car, she told us. I am so moved to see you again; it must have been the protection of [someone or some deity I fail to remember]. [I will let my readers to imagine our reaction at hearing this.]

Having briefly searched last night, based on the documents she gave us, about her religious movement, my appreciation of it was reduced to zero. It’s current full name is 「冨士大石寺顕正会」(Fuji Taiseki-ji Kenshokai), which originated from the Buddhist sect Nichiren Shoshu but has been excommunicated by the later since 1974. Reasons for this decision include, theological / philosophical differences aside, extremely aggressive approach at proselytising non-believers that we have experienced. Also, outsider’s joining this religious group requires being introduced by a member, which raise a red flag for us. It sounds more like a secretive society rather than a welcoming religious sect.

I guess they have so notorious a reputation in Japan and members are under the pressure to recruit newcomers or producing ‘good’ karma (for their own benefits) that they who speak little English should desperately try to speak to foreigners who speak little Japanese in private. Otherwise I don’t understand why the lady should insist so fervently on us joining their service.

A passing note on how we communicate. At the beginning of our encounter, she spoke a mixture of English and Japanese mainly to me (my friend either stood aside or read her smartphone), then as the conversation became lengthier, she used Google to translate sentences into English. The ‘friend’ she brought with, on the other hand, spoke no English and was not very skilled at using modern technology, so was silent most of the time. (Why did she come anyway? Why didn’t the missionary lady stay at her so-called friend’s apartment last night? Are they really friends?)

We gave her the two envelopes back, pretending that the documents were too difficult for us to understand, then bid her farewell without telling her where we will be heading next. We also blocked her on social media so that she could no longer reach us. I feel sorry that for the first time in my life, I have to go so far in a social encounter to prevent myself from being reachable, but for our sanity, I think this is a necessary evil.

Today’s itinerary is full of tributes to the poet and novelist Kenji Miyazawa whose most notable poem 「雨ニモマズ」 I have read in my Japanese literature class. He was born in today’s Hanamaki, 40 km south of Morioka, and spent many years studying in Morioka, hence traces of him are omnipresent in both cities. Another literary figure widely commemorated in Morioka is Takuboku Ishikawa (石川啄木), who was born and raised in Morioka. Knowing him less well, I still went to the museum dedicated to both of them. I don’t pretend to know why a museum should commemorate both of them; my guess is that they are of roughly the same period, and that Ishikawa, who is 10 years older than Miyazawa, has great influence on the latter. Visiting this museum would require Japanese reading competency, because the permanent exhibition does not provide translation for foreigners.

Before heading to Hanamaki, we dropped by a bike shop (Cycle Base Asahi) to make sure that my friend’s bike can endure the journey to at least Sendai, where a Giant store is located. The latter is more likely to carry the parts that are not functioning superbly well. The staff were very nice and waited patiently for us to express ourselves using a mixture of Japanese, English, body language and video recording. We were only charged a symbolic amount of 300 yen for an examination and a tune up, which is the exact opposite of what we were going to find out in Sendai.

My Ortlieb panniers’ hooks have been broken for sometime now. They are still usable but can jump around when I bike through bumpy road. I emailed the German headquarter while still in Hokkaido. They referred me to their Japanese distributor who, after a brief communication through email, sent the replacement parts to a Morioka post office under my name for me to pick up. I put them on and the panniers are good again to go. Very efficient customer service and excellent worldwide guarantee!

At dusk hour, we arrived in Hanamaki without further sight of the missionary lady. First we went to see the gigantic mural depicting Kenji Miyazawa’s Night on the Galactic Railroad, which uses pigments that absorbs ultra-violet light to shine at night. It’s beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Tomorrow, we plan to continue our tribute to Miyazawa by visiting several places related or dedicated to him.