Hikone: Wandering Off the Map

My plan to Hikone was spontaneous, I made it after a quick look on Google Maps when I took a rest at a park in Nagoya. I spent only a night and a half day in Nagoya, not because it wasn’t interesting, but I really needed to take a proper rest since I hadn’t fully recovered after hiking in Kawaguchiko. My foot whispered to me to leave the city and spend more time in the countryside.

Hikone is a small city in Shiga prefecture, extended along Lake Biwa — the largest freshwater lake in Japan. I’d read about a sacred island in the middle of the lake called Chikubu, inhabited by the goddess Benzaiten, where Emperor Shomu received divine messages from Amaterasu before constructing the Great Buddha at Todai-Ji Temple in Nara. The island is now devoted for meditation and pilgrimage. I found it interesting how these stories spread around the world—differ on the surface but resemble the same essence: god delivers its message to a chosen one in a secluded place, and the chosen one sanctifies the place for spiritual purposes.

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It took about an hour to reach Hikone from Nagoya by local train. I passed several stations and only transited once at Maibara Station. My Suica card didn’t work, but an officer immediately came to help. He brought the card to the office next to the gate and did something with it before giving it back. The road and the pedestrian area were almost empty. Most of the shops were closed. I didn’t know what was going on — maybe because it was Sunday. My next stopover was about a 15-minute walk from the station, slightly hidden in the middle of a dense neighborhood — dense but so quiet. The front entrance of the guest house was being renovated, the owner had put a direction board to the back entrance which immediately gave a small zen garden view.

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I fell asleep from the late afternoon until 9 at night. My room was a dorm with fewer beds and a homey atmosphere. The side of the room was transparent glass which gave a direct garden view. I hadn’t seen anyone in the room so far. I feel somewhat hungry, so I decided to look for dinner outside. I took a walk on a dark and quiet street. I kept walking and didn’t find any restaurants in the near distance. I walked a bit farther only to find a closed one before I found a 7-Eleven and bought a salmon onigiri, choco bread, and grape juice. While waiting for the traffic lights, I heard a sweet tune from a music box playing ‘beauty and the beast’ theme. A cold night, quiet street, soothing music, and a bright moon. This journey never ceases to amaze me.

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I returned to the guest house and ate my food in the kitchen. It was facing the room entrance, so I sat while watching outside. The door was a wooden frame with transparent glass so I could see the garden and the owner inside his dim space sitting in front of a laptop. A few moments later someone came out from the female dorm. She was talking on the phone in fluent Japanese. She looked at me briefly and took a seat next to the kitchen table. After the call ended she greeted me again and asked a typical introduction question. She is a German and has been living in Japan for about a year, currently working with a working holiday visa in Okinawa. We talked much about her days in Japan and her Vietnamese boyfriend who was still struggling learning Japanese.

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This morning I rented a bicycle from Hajime-san, the guest house owner. Right before I left, Lera, the German woman with whom I spoke last night asked about my plan and decided to join me, but there was no more bicycle available so I help her to look for one near Hikone Castle. I asked if she could help me to buy a specific muscle pain relief balm in a drug store. Her Japanese skills helped a lot, even though I didn’t get the one I was looking for, the drug seller recommended an alternative. We bought lunch at the nearest supermarket. She couldn’t help buying a lot of foods — she simply likes to eat and really enthusiast to explain all the interesting things about Japanese cuisine. I bought a pack of raw sushi and a random flavor of soy milk (Tonyu). We cycled around the Hikone castle and traditional souvenir places on the castle street. It was getting really hot in the afternoon, we continued to the south of the city and stopped by at a shady spot on Lake Biwa. Shortly after lunch, I continue my plan to visit Omihachiman city, about 25 km from Hikone. On the way, Lera decided to go back since she wasn’t sure if she could get back in time to return the bike.

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The atmosphere of this city resembles a lot of my hometown; the bridge, the lined hills, the rice paddy fields, quiet street, empty queue on the traffic light, farmers working on the fields, the reflection of the sun on the sea.

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I love the pedestrian sidewalk here, even in a remote town like this. In contrast, most of the pedestrian sidewalks in Indonesia have never been properly designed. There is a kind of infectious disease that spreads in Indonesia’s pedestrian sidewalks — it resembles a ninja warrior arena surrounded by reckless, poor installation public facilities. It discourages you before you begin.

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All this constant longing for nature and unknown territories, the need to travel and search for a new place alone. I think this feeling, and the loneliness that comes with it gives a good counterweight for a retrospective. I feel more flexible with my time and fully absorb each moment that passes.

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The scenic panorama I have seen throughout Hikone to Omihachiman nothing but two-dimensional historical objects. As Borges once said “I am not sure that I exist, actually”

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I arrived in Omihachiman city almost at 5 o’clock. The sky was still bright. I stopped by at Lawson and bought a lemon juice before drinking it in front of the store, suddenly the cashier came back to me. He said something in Japanese which probably meant ‘you left your camera.’ I visited a residential area called Hachiman-Bori, it’s lined up with old wooden Japanese houses along a canal which leads to Lake Biwa. Walking here, on the footpath alongside the canal, was like time traveling to the Edo period. I could imagine samurai like Musashi or Kojiro commuting back and forth, conversing about their Shogun, stopping by at a sake bar and ordering a plate of ramen, or just sitting reminiscing about the wars they had fought.

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Cycling back from Omihachiman to Hikone. I remember Che Guevara’s monologue once he arrived at Machu Picchu during his journey in South America with a motorcycle, “How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew?” The colors of the twilight sky and the sunset, the flock of crows on the electricity pole, a row of rice fields, and the approaching wind.

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Watching a film called ‘13 assassins’ reminds me of the Wayan Mirna Salihin murder case. The film follows a group of samurai on a secret mission led by Shinzaemon Shimada to stop Lord Naritsugu — a wicked, barbaric, murderous man from the Akashi clan and relative of the former Shogun — from becoming the shogun’s senior adviser. After a long battle only Shinzaemon, Shinrokuro (his nephew), and Lord Naritsugu remain. In his final act, Shinzaemon gives only one stab in Naritsugu’s left abdomen, so he could thoroughly feel the process of dying, a long painful death experience. Naritsugu who had never been injured or involved in a war, then says, trembling as he dies:

“Will I die?” “I’m scared, I’m really scared, I don’t want to die” “So death comes to all of us” “of all days in my life, today is the most interesting”

This scene made me think about what punishment really means. I remembered the dissappointment of Mirna’s family and people in general on the day when the judge sentenced Jessica Kumala Wongso to 20 years in prison. They wanted a commensurate punishment, “a soul is paid by a soul,” I can understand that disappointment. This Shinzaemon’s single stab made me think of prolonged suffering. A more painful form of torture, physically or psychologically, is by giving them a slow death process while they’re still alive. That’s why Jesus crucifixion is very iconic. Considering the 20 years in jail, it might rob away her youth and wage a long psychological battle, it may be more tragic than an instant death.

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Hotel: Guesthouse Muga
Hotel Environment: Tsuboniwa Style (Traditional house with enclosed garden)
Treatment: Green Tea
Others: Closed to Hikone Castle & Lake Biwa
Impression: Time travel to the samurai era