Shinmachi-dori is a road for passing through.
Most people do. On to Koyasan. On to Yoshino. Gojo appears in the middle of the journey, then disappears.
Tonight, we stay.
3:00 pm — Walking Shinmachi-dori
Still carrying the bags, walked the street. Time before check-in.
Buildings from the Edo through Showa periods still standing the way they always have — not preserved as monuments, but lived in. One house had a slightly leaning lattice door, a bicycle resting against the wall outside. Not a tourist area, so standing still to look at the buildings, no one turns around.
4:00 pm — Check-in
Slid the door open. Wood.
Inside, the ceiling was lower than expected. Light came through the latticed windows, casting lines across the floor — the lines stretched and shifted slowly, following something moving in the clouds. Records along the shelf. Nothing on the walls.
Tonight, all of this is ours.
4:30 pm — Kongo no Yu
A natural hot spring, a few minutes on foot.
In the outdoor bath, the sky was wide. The ridge of the mountains sat just at eye level, and the light before dusk moved across the surface of the water. Hard to say how long we stayed. Coming out, the body felt a little lighter.
6:00 pm — Dinner
Cooked dinner in the inn's kitchen. Everything needed is there.
Things from the supermarket down the road, spread out on the counter. Nothing elaborate. The sound of the knife. The sound of the pot. In the quiet kitchen, the only sounds were the ones we made.
8:00 pm — GOJO GIROCCO
GOJO GIROCCO. A bar in a converted old storehouse, less than two minutes from the inn.
Sat at the counter and ordered a cocktail made with local Gojo fruit. Someone from the neighborhood was sitting next to us — talked for a while.
10:00 pm — Back at the inn
Back at the inn. Quiet.
Sank into the low sofa and pulled a record from the shelf. Setting the needle, the sound spread slowly through the room. Poured a drink.
At some point, drifted off. Slept a little on the sofa. Then, to bed.
Next morning, 7:00 am — Waking up
Woke up to light filling the room.
The clock said earlier than the day before. Hadn't expected to sleep that deeply.
8:00 am — A walk, coffee, records
Outside.
Walked Shinmachi-dori again — the same street as the evening before. In the afternoon, the light had come from the west; now it came from the east, and the shadows fell on the opposite side of the buildings. No one around. The air was cold. Walked down toward the river. The mountains were close. Water, somewhere.
Back inside for coffee. Another record on.
11:00 am — Check-out
Packed up.
A last walk through the room — the latticed windows, the record shelf, the low sofa. Everything where it was the night before.
Door slid shut. Out onto the street.
Walked Shinmachi-dori with the bags. The same road as arriving.