Day Five: Hodogaya to Totsuka

Start Time: 11:00
Finish Time: 3:40
Distance: 7.8 km
Temperature: 30 something C

Times I Had to Go Home for Something I Forgot: 0
Lost Items: 1 bicycle (I parked it in the wrong place when I went to the station yesterday)
1 pair of sunglasses (I'm sure they're somewhere in the apartment)
Souveniers: 0 (I still have the wet wipes I bought yesterday)

Changes in Gear: brought a button down short sleeve shirt in case I get chilly

Life and Death Situations Witnessed: 1 Live(praying mantiss and ant-- sort of my fault)
1 rememberance on a corner


The Hodogaya to Totsuka section was quite lovely. It was a wonderfully sunny day that actually had a few fluffy white clouds. The sun seemed quite strong but a good breeze made up for the rays, especially in the shade. The main part was not along the Number 1 so Jamie and I were actually able to enjoy some conversation.

We passed some lovely shrines and temples. My favorite was a little shrine that I think was for Inari based on the multiple torii (those red shrine gates) but I didn't see any fox statues. The path was grassy and tall pink hollyhocks stood along both sides. Once in a while I could see small bugs and tiny butterflies flitter across the path. Mostly, it was a really pastoral looking lane. It looked almost out of place set between two houses and right in front of a bus stop.

Jamie and I sat on the curb, checked the guide book and I set up Estello for a few shots. Our first life and death encounter happened in this peaceful spot. It started when a bug landed on me.

Jamie called my attention to something on my leg. It was a bit of green stuff that looked like a bit of grass. It wasn't until my hand brushed it off that I realized it was a tiny praying mantiss no longer than the first jo. I'm going to digress here for a moment. This isn't the first time that a praying mantiss has landed on me when on a photography trip with Jamie. The last time she told me I had something on my leg, it was a praying mantiss that seemed almost as long as my hand. What is it about the combination of me, Jamie, photoraphy and praying mantisses? There must be a cosmic message somewhere. Okay, back to the tiny praying mantiss.

This little praying mantiss was quite cute and I was really concerned that I had done something to hurt it (when I told my husband about the big praying mantiss and in my ignorance I asked "what could have happened?" since there are no praying mantisses where I grew up. He told me that it could have bit me and that it was poisonous. He took one look at my gullible face and burst out laughing and I made a quick trip to the internet to look up praying mantisses) since I have developed a fondness for them.

I searched through the grass and found the little guy and an ant was already attacking it and trying to drag it away. I tried to flick the ant off but to no avail. In typical human fashion, I probably hurt the little guy even more. Jamie and I watched the struggle for a while until an elderly (maybe late sixties?) Japanese man came to the bus stop and asked what we were doing.

We told him about the praying mantiss and he asked if we were travelling on Old Tokaido. When we told him we were he said, "subarashii" or "mezurashii" depending on if you ask Jamie or I. Jamie heard subarashii (Great) and I heard mezurashii (unusual). Hmm, an example of differing world views?

He asked about Estello and I asked if he would take a picture with Estello. He said the bus was coming so I'd have to be quick.

By the time our path hooked back to the Number 1 it was pretty clear that we were in a different kind of urban area. It felt like the area between Kawasaki and Kanagawa was pretty much an urban desert once past Namamugi. This part of Old Tokaido was similar in terms of the types of housing we saw and some of the businesses, but there was much more green. It gave it more of a country feel even though this is part of Yokohama. The other big difference was that there were way more restaurants. Closer to Totsuka I saw quite a few factories, but most had green areas in or around them.

Our second experience with a life or death situation was a roadside memorial on an intersection on the Number 1. The memorial was made of stuffed toys, flowers, some canned drinks and snacks. Once of the dolls looked like a skeleton from The Nightmare Before Christmas and it's huge eyes seemed to look straight into mine. There was no note about who died or how it happened. But it was very moving to see what must be a fairly recent memorial based on the cleanliness of the toys and freshness of the flowers.


To whomever passed on there:
I'm glad to have seen a memorial to let me know that you were alive and I'm glad to know that people care about you. You have my prayers that you have gone to a better place.

Our conversation naturally turned to car accidents and road safety. I have been in one accident and Jamie in three. I was lucky that both parties walked away without a scratch in my accident. Jamie wasn't so lucky but fortunately, she's okay in the end. It leaves me with such a sense of the capriciousness of life. Some people walk away and some don't and, for the most part, there's no reason why.

Finally we got to Totsuka Station. The area looks pretty interesting. There are a lot of older buildings and according to the guidebook, quite a few older businesses. There's not any "famous foods" per se but the book has a recommendation to check out these older shops.

I was glad to be finished fairly early and still feel fairly energetic, so I opted to go back home and get some work done and clean my house. Tomorrow's walk is a bit longer but if I get there earlier (ha ha ha... I'm dreaming) maybe I can check the area out. I'm happy that my fitness level seems to be getting better. I'm not so dog tired as I was the first few days. One major difference seems to be that I am taking way less pictures. I guess that is a benefit of walking along the Number 1. Less picture opportunities means less standing around and less stopping which seems to be making a big difference.