Baa

The legs felt a bit sore towards the end of yesterday's walk, but I'm happy to report that they feel fine today. Nothing like a hot bath and a quick massage to cure a bit of leg fatigue. Since it was rather chilly (it only got up to around 13 degrees), I decided to wear my new Icebreaker Bodyfit200 Mondo Zip top (Black) over my Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirt (Night Train). Rain was forecast, so I also wore my Kathmandu Gore-Tex rain jacket (Ocean). Things got a bit sweaty at times underneath all those layers. However, a quick sniff when I got home detected no stinkiness whatsoever.

One thing I forgot to mention about the new top the other day is that it has a baacode. No, that's not a misspelling. Each garment has a tag with a unique baacode which you can type in at the Icebreaker website to find out which farms in New Zealand supplied the wool used to make your particular garment.

This admittedly cute initiative goes to show just how much energy and money companies are putting into PR and "corporate responsibility" these days. The Icebreaker website has several pages complete with videos devoted to environmental ethics, manufacturing ethics, and animal welfare.

And in case you were wondering, the wool in my top was sourced from four farms: Walter Peak Station, Mount Nicholas Station, Olrig Station, and Lindis Peaks Station. Unfortunately there were no photos or names of the actual sheep who so kindly donated their wool. Although the following question and answer from the FAQ suggests some people have sought just such information.

Q: Why can't we trace the fibre in our garment back to one sheep or one station?

A: Making a good quality Icebreaker is a bit like making a good bottle of wine. We need a good mix of merino fibre, which means sourcing fibre from different stations to create the perfect blend. On average, merino sheep from about five stations will have grown the fibre for each garment you trace through Baacode.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 260km
Days left until departure: 17

Déjà vu

Today's walk was a repeat of one I did back in October 2007, just before I left to walk the Nakasendo, and took me into town, up Papanui Road to Northlands, and back home via the Papanui to Riccarton Railway Cycleway.


The cycleway is the mostly dead straight section from around the 10km mark to around the 15km mark. It was nice to be away from all the traffic, but as I was walking I couldn’t help thinking that I'd much rather be cycling this stretch. There's something slightly demoralizing about walking down a seemingly endless perfectly straight pathway. Being fenced in didn't help either. In a way this highlights the different needs of cyclists and walkers. As a cyclist, I want flat, straight paths sheltered from the wind. As a walker I want more variety, and views. If I were designing a similar pathway for walkers I'd put in a few twists and turns and dips and rises to relieve the monotony.


Incidentally, when I walked this route in 2007 I had 17 days left until departure, and I'd walked 767.9km! Mind you, I'd been training for a bit longer than I have been this time. But it just goes to show how under-prepared I am.

Distance walked today: 18.3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 257km
Days left until departure: 18

Training update

Walked 7.6km today. I hope to do something in the vicinity of 20km tomorrow (work permitting), and something over 25km in the weekend. After that I'll move on to training with a full pack.

Looks like rain tomorrow. I'm looking forward to giving my (supposedly waterproof) New Balance 965s a proper workout.

Distance walked today: 7.6km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 238.7km
Days left until departure: 19

The end of an affair?

My Twitter experience has been frustrating to say the least. I signed up to Twitter last Thursday, the day I wrote this post explaining how I thought Twitter would be a great way to keep you all informed of my progress as I walk the Tokaido.

I started by choosing the username "thewalkingfool". I then went to upload a photo to my account page (the same fetching photo of me wearing the red clown nose which graces this blog), but despite numerous attempts I couldn't get it to upload. Thinking there may have been a problem with the photo size or format, I resized and reformatted it numerous times, but to no avail.

Eventually I waded through the FAQs and found mention of problems with certain browsers. I'd been using Firefox, so I switched to Safari, and hey presto, the photo uploaded and appeared on my Twitter home page. Problem was there was no sign of it on my account page, the page you all see when you go to check out my messages. I also typed a test message. This also failed to appear on my account page. Frustrated, I called it a day.

The next morning I went to what until the day before had been my account page at http://twitter.com/thewalkingfool in the hope that things had fixed themselves overnight. Not only was there no photo and no message, but there was no Walking Fool name. Instead the page seemed to have been taken over by someone called Anders Kulmbak. I then tried to sign in, only to be told I had the wrong username and password combination. I tried several times. Same result. Things were not looking good.

On Friday evening I sent off an email to the Twitter support people explaining what had happened. I still haven't received a reply. However, since Saturday I've been able to log in and use my account normally. If you go to my account page you should be able to see my photo and my first test mail. I still have no idea what happened. Was my account hacked, or was there some kind of bug in the works? Whichever the case, it doesn’t say much for the security and reliability of Twitter. Chances are I won’t be using it when I walk the Tokaido. Instead I'll probably use Blogger, which also offers the ability to update on the go via email. I'll keep you posted.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 231.1km
Days left until departure: 20

Back to nature

My love affair with synthetics is over. With a couple of exceptions (the Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirts and the Columbia Silver Ridge pants), I've been disappointed with the performance of my new synthetic gear. Worst is the Columbia Boar Butte Long Sleeve Shirt, which not only feels horrible but starts to smell very quickly. The Kathmandu Polartec long-sleeve top feels a lot nicer, but it also stinks.

Today I went into town and bought an Icebreaker Bodyfit200 Mondo Zip top (Black). It's made of 100% superfine merino wool, which according to the packet "responds to the climate to keep you at an even temperature". The fibres "lock in body heat in the cold, but are highly breathable so you don’t overheat". But best of all, merino wool "won't stink like synthetics". In fact, according to the Icebreaker website, "the known record for wearing an Icebreaker non-stop is 196 days in extreme conditions".

So here is my revised gear list. Gone are the Mont Bell long-sleeve T-shirt and the Kathmandu Polartec long-sleeve top. My new Icebreaker top, which I plan to wear on the plane, while walking if I need another layer over my T-shirt, and in the mornings and evenings when it gets cool, will replace both of these.

• Osprey Aether 60 pack (Sunburst)
• Yellow pack liner with outdoor survival tips
• Mont Bell shoulder bag
• Bum bag

• Kathmandu Gore-Tex rain jacket (Ocean)
• Mont Bell Gore-Tex rain pants (Black)

• New Balance 965 shoes
• Columbia sandals

• Outdoor Research Nimbus Sombrero (Java)
• Nike cap (Black)

• Columbia fleece vest (Beige)
• Icebreaker Bodyfit200 Mondo Zip top (Black)
• Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirt (Night Train)
• Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirt (Black)
• North Face short-sleeve top (Light Blue)

• Columbia Silver Ridge convertible pants (Fossil)
• Kathmandu Almonte trousers (Granite)
• Fleece pants

• Cotton T-shirts (2)
• Underwear (5 pairs)
• Thorlos thick cushion running sox (3 pairs)
• Small towel (White)

• Olympus µ 770 SW digital camera & charger
• Cellphone & charger
• Shaver & charger
• Timex Ironman watch

• Tokaido walking map
• Compass
• Sunglasses
• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, sunscreen, lip balm)
• Nail clippers
• First aid kit
• Insect repellent
• Travel umbrella

• Passport
• Money/credit cards
• E-ticket
• Diary
• Pen
• Book

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 228.1km
Days left until departure: 21

Landscape with Mrs Fool

Distance walked today: 17.3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 228.1km
Days left until departure: 22

Tweet tweet

I've been thinking about how I'm going to keep you all informed of my progress as I walk the Tokaido. As I've noted previously, for a number of reasons the idea of writing a detailed blog entry at the end of each day isn't one that appeals to me. I'd rather do what I did when I walked the Nakasendo, which was to keep a written journal and use that as the basis for writing a comprehensive account (with photos) when I got back home. But I know some of you won't want to wait that long and will be dying to know what I'm up to as my trip actually unfolds.

Well, it seems this is exactly the kind of situation Twitter was designed for. The only drawback I can see is that SMS, the preferred method for sending tweets on the go in most countries, is virtually non-existent in Japan. Most mobile phones in Japan are email-equipped, and this is by far the most popular method of mobile text communication. However, using Twittermail, I should be able to forward short email messages from my mobile phone in Japan to my Twitter page, where you'll all be able to read them. So you'll be able to check to see what time I got up, what I had for breakfast, where I stopped for lunch, whether I'm being attacked by bears, and so on.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 210.8km
Days left until departure: 24

A clean bill of health

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from one of the nurses at the Ear, Nose and Throat Outpatients Department (Otolaryngology) at Christchurch Hospital. She'd noticed that I wasn't due back in until tomorrow, and was ringing to make sure the infection had gone away. When I told her I was concerned that it was still a bit infected and that I'd run out of antibiotics, she said I could go in and have a nurse look at it if I wanted. So this morning I walked in to the hospital to have my nose checked.

The head nurse took a quick look at the end of my nose where I'd noticed some inflammation and declared that it wasn't infected. Apparently what I have is a common reaction among people of my "skin type" (I get the occasional pimple) who have grafts. To be on the safe side, she had me lie down and did a bit of prodding and jabbing with various implements. The conclusion was there was no infection. She then shuffled through my file and saw that I was due in again tomorrow. She thought this was a waste of a trip. The surgeon I was due to see tomorrow (the brunette, whom I now know is called Rochelle) was on hand, so she was called in. She seemed very pleased with her handiwork. She also said that tests on the bit of skin they removed confirmed that what I had was a basal cell carcinoma, but that they had successfully removed all of it. She agreed there was no need to come in tomorrow.

So there you have it. Unless something goes wrong, I don’t need to go back to the hospital again. The nose still has some healing to do, but that's just a matter of time. Meanwhile I can concentrate on other things, like training - and deciding what clothes to take.

Distance walked today: 9.6km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 207.8km
Days left until departure: 25

Word of the day

From Wikipedia:

Coulrophobia is an abnormal or exaggerated fear of clowns. The term is common, but it does not appear to be used in psychology. It is common among children, but is also sometimes found in teenagers and adults as well. Sufferers sometimes acquire a fear of clowns after having a bad experience with one personally, or seeing a sinister portrayal of one in the media. A design study carried out by the University of Sheffield found that children are frightened by clown-themed décor in hospitals. Coulrophobia can also be said to extend to a fear of covering up one's face with paint - the idea of hiding recognisable features under a layer of facepaint can also unsettle coulrophobia sufferers.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 198.2km
Days left until departure: 26

I'm not ready

Yesterday I was rudely reminded of how under-prepared I am for my Tokaido walk. On Saturday morning Keiko and I walked up to the Sign of the Kiwi. We used to do this walk together quite often when I was preparing to walk the Nakasendo (I mapped the route previously), but I don’t think we've done it since then. The walk itself was very enjoyable (although it was pretty foggy up the top and there were no views to be had). However, on Sunday my legs were really sore.

I'm leaving in 27 days. Unlike in 2007, I know what to expect this time, but knowing what to expect and being physically prepared are two different things. Hopefully four weeks is enough time to get myself into good enough shape.

The good news is the nose is looking better every day. The infection seems to have cleared up, and the graft is definitely returning to a more natural skin colour and texture (although it's hard to tell with the goopy ointment on). The scar on my neck is looking better too. I'm almost tempted to give it a shave. It's annoying having to shave around it every morning. Which begs the question: Seeing as they took skin from a part of my neck I normally shave and put it on my nose, does that mean from now on I'll have to shave my nose?

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 195.2km
Days left until departure: 27

Autumn leaves

Leaves crackle
Leaves crunch
Leaves swish
and
Leaves munch

Leaves up high
Leaves down low
Leaves can stop
and
Leaves can go

Leaves are red
Leaves are yellow
and
Some are marshmallow

By Matthew Turner (aged 7)

Distance walked today: 16.2km
Maximum altitude reached today: 365m
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 192.2km
Days left until departure: 29

The journey to Yokkaichi

As I've mentioned previously, having lived in Mishima and Nagoya and traveled frequently between Tokyo and Osaka, I'm pretty familiar with many of the areas the Tokaido passes through. In fact this familiarity was one of the reasons why I chose to walk the Nakasendo instead of the Tokaido back in 2007.

The section of the Tokaido I'm least familiar with is probably the section between Kusatsu and Nagoya. The journey between these cities, which I'll tackle on days two to six, will take me over the Suzuka Pass (near the Suzuka Circuit, host of the F1 Japanese Grand Prix) and through the city of Yokkaichi. I don't think I've ever been to Yokkaichi. When I was a student at Nagoya University in the early 1990s, I went on a class trip to the Ise Shrine. This would have entailed traveling passed if not through Yokkaichi, but I honestly have no memories of the place.


I've always associated Yokkaichi and the surrounding area with pollution and illness. Yokkaichi is home to a large konbinato (this Japanese word, meaning a large industrial complex, is one of only a handful of loanwords from Russian), and in the 1960s and early-1970s, the presence of sulphur oxide-laden smog generated by this complex led to severe cases of an asthma-like illness among local residents. This illness, which was given the name Yokkaichi zensoku (Yokkaichi asthma), was one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan. I think the first time I heard of Yokkaichi, way back when I first became interested in things Japanese, was in relation to this illness, and it could be that since then I've unconsciously avoided going anywhere near it.

Today Yokkaichi seems to have solved its pollution problems, and I'm actually looking forward to going there. The official tree of the city is the camphor tree. The official bird is the black-headed gull.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 176km
Days left until departure: 31

Dr. Frankenstein's monster

Yesterday I went back to the hospital to have my stitches removed. After looking at my nose for a few seconds with a somewhat perplexed expression on her face, the nurse declared that it was slightly infected. I was kind of expecting this. A couple of white spots had appeared on the surface of the graft over the weekend, and I noticed first thing in the morning when I checked it out in the mirror that one of these was looking a bit pussy.

Another nurse (a specialist in cleaning wounds of this kind) was called in to spruce up my nose and take out the stitches there and in my neck. This took the best part of an hour. During this time one of the surgeons who did the graft (the blonde, whom I now know is called Emily) wandered in and had a look. Apart from the infection, she was pretty happy with the results. The name Brad Pitt was even mentioned.

The nurse removing the stitches had a bit of trouble with the last one or two in my nose. By this time Emily had gone into surgery, so another surgeon (a young man called David) was called in. He had on what looked like a pair of night vision goggles, but which I suppose were fancy glasses. He managed to untangle the last stitches. He also showed me how to "roll" the graft using cotton buds to remove any puss and help the skin heal. I'm supposed to do this three times a day.

Before leaving I was given a prescription for some antibiotics, which I have to take four times a day, and some more of the goopy ointment I was given last week, which I have to apply to my nose and neck three times a day. Before I left the hospital I had a look in a mirror. My nose looked a lot better. However, the wound on my neck where they removed the skin for the graft (and which had been bandaged since the operation) looked a bit gory. I looked a bit like Dr. Frankentstein's monster*. The good news is that there shouldn’t be a permanently visible scar there, as it will disappear into the folds of my double chin.

One of the nurses told me a funny story about a patient who came in to have some stitches removed from his neck. The nurse couldn't see any stitches, and thinking they may have been special ones, she asked the surgeon about it. But the surgeon said they were just normal stitches. It turned out the patient had had a shave, neatly removing all traces of the stitches above the surface of the skin.

*A popular misconception is that the monster in Mary Shelley's classic novel (written when she was just 19) is called Frankenstein. In fact Frankenstein is the name of the scientist who created the monster, who is nameless.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 173km
Days left until departure: 32

The nose may be munted but the legs work fine

Distance walked today: 8.7km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 170km
Days left until departure: 34

The China Lover (cont.)

I began reading Ian Buruma's The China Lover "cold", so to speak, knowing about it only what I'd read in the review in the local newspaper which spurred me to buy the book (the contents of which I've almost completely forgotten anyway) and in the blurb on the back. I'd deliberately avoided reading the Wikipedia article on the book's central character, Yamaguchi Yoshiko, as well as other reviews of the book online lest they reveal too much of the plot.

I soon discovered, however, that the blurb is quite misleading. "When Sidney Vanoven is sent to occupied Japan, in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, it is his dream posting," it begins. "By day, he works in the censor's office watching Japanese films; at night he immerses himself in the sensual pleasures of Tokyo. His job leads him into the circle of film star Shirley Yamaguchi, a strong and passionate woman, whose wartime past hints at deception and betrayal."

Imagine my surprise, then, on beginning the novel only to discover that we were not in post-Second World War Japan but in pre-Second World War Manchuria, and that the narrator was not Sidney Vanoven, but a Japanese national by the name of Sato Daisuke. Any feelings of disorientation soon disappeared, however, as I became caught up in the plot and captivated by the characters. Yesterday, however, curiosity got the better of me and had a peek at some of the reviews of The China Lover at Amazon.

What I now know is that The China Lover consists of three parts, each of which is narrated by a different character. At least two of these characters are based on real people. The Sidney Vanoven of the blurb, who narrates part two, is obviously based on famous Japanophile and movie critic Donald Richie (both are gay and both are from small town Ohio). The narrator of part three (which is set in contemporary times) is apparently based on Kozo Okamoto, a member of the Japanese Red Army.

Curiously, the Publishers Weekly review of The China Lover at Amazon describes part one as being narrated by Vanoven, and part two by Sato. So perhaps this was the original order of the parts. If so, it would explain the misleading blurb.

Anyway, I've just started part two. The conclusion to part one was extremely satisfying from a personal point of view, featuring as it did the suicide of Amakasu Masahiko, one of those responsible for the murder of Osugi Sakae and Ito Noe. Interestingly, though, while in reality Amakasu took his own life by ingesting potassium cyanide, in Buruma's novel he shoots himself, the same method depicted in the movie The Last Emperor, the recently-released Blu-ray disc version of which features an interview with - wait for it - Ian Buruma!

Distance walked today: 7.7km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 161.3km
Days left until departure: 35

Nose update

Today I finally plucked up enough courage to venture outside. I walked around the local neigbourhood for nearly an hour, being careful to avoid anywhere there might be a crowd and crossing the street whenever I saw someone walking in the opposite direction.

The nose is still a wreck. Bits of the graft are showing signs of returning to a natural skin colour, but the rest is still a reddish purple. There's a rim of dry blood around the circumference. If I cleaned this away it would look a lot better, but when I rang the hospital on Tuesday the nurse said to leave it. Also, I have to apply this goopy ointment that looks a bit like puss. The overall effect is like a small slab of meat that's been left outside for too long. And I have this on the side of my nose. So all things considered, the hooter is not something I want to foist on unsuspecting passersby at the moment thank you.

Distance walked today: 4.1km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 153.6km
Days left until departure: 36

The China Lover

I finished reading William Boyd's The Blue Afternoon on Monday, the day I had my nose surgery. In fact, I read the last dozen or so pages while sitting in the waiting room of the Ear, Nose and Throat Outpatients Department (Otolaryngology) at Christchurch Hospital. It probably wasn't the best choice of reading material, given that much of the story is set in a hospital in Manila at the dawn of the 20th century, and that Boyd seemed to find great pleasure in describing some of the less sanitary medical practices in vogue at the time. Thankfully none of these were mentioned in the final pages, otherwise I would have been even more nervous than I already was.

I've now started reading The China Lover by Ian Buruma, which is one of the books I bought in Wellington when I was up there for the jazz festival. I often find it difficult switching between novels by different authors, but this hasn’t been the case this time. Perhaps it's because Buruma's writing style is quite "neutral", for want of a better word, especially compared to the more flambouyant style of Boyd. Which is not to say that I'm not enjoying The China Lover. Quite the contrary. The characters, setting, and narrative are all fascinating, and more than make up for the rather mundane prose.

Based on the life of Japanese film star Yamaguchi Yoshiko (a.k.a. Otaka Yoshiko, Ri Koran, Shirley Yamaguchi), The China Lover is described by the author as "a work of fiction based on historical events". Many of the characters in the book are based on real people. The story begins in the 1930s in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, and I'd barely read twenty pages or so before a character I'm quite familiar with made an appearance.

I'm talking of Amakasu Masahiko, who was one of the military police officers responsible for the murder in 1923 of Osugi Sake, Ito Noe, and Sakae's nephew, an event I've touched on previously. Amakasu was convicted of this crime and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. However, he was released after just three years and, after a period of study in France, joined the Japanese occupying forces in Manchuria, where he was responsible for managing the Japanese Army's involvement in the opium trade among other things. He later became the head of the Manchukuo Film Association, a company set up by the Japanese to make propaganda films to boost support for their occupation, and as such played a prominent role in the earlier career of The China Lover's main character, Yamaguchi Yoshiko. Some of you may also remember him from the movie The Last Emperor, in which he was played by Sakamoto Ryuichi. In fact many characters from that movie appear in the first part of The China Lover, including Emperor Pu Yi himself, who was a Charlie Chaplin fan, apparently.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 149.5km
Days left until departure: 37

Nose news

I got a bit of a shock this morning when I looked in the mirror and saw the state of my nose. Overnight the grafted section had gone from a more or less normal pink colour to a purplish colour. I rang the hospital and got through to a nurse in the Ear, Nose and Throat Outpatients Department who promised to talk to a doctor and get back to me. She just rang back and reassured me that this was nothing to be concerned about. However, I was told to get in touch again if it turned green.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 149.5km
Days left until departure: 39

The munted nose

Quite tired today. Lay awake for a few hours after going to bed last night. Finally decided to get up and take some paracetamol for the nagging pain in my neck (the nose wasn't sore at all by this stage). Got a bit of sleep after that.

Nose is still a mess. Didn't feel like going outside today, let alone walking. Spent the day working, reading, and listening to Keith Jarrett's At The Blue Note: The Complete Recordings after weeks of a strictly Tomasz Stanko diet. I always go back to good old KJ in the end.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 149.5km
Days left until departure: 40

A midday encounter

I lay face up on a couch in the middle of the room, my feet pointing towards the door. The two women entered silently. They were younger than I expected. Both were tall and slim, one brunette, the other blonde. I was trembling slightly, not because it was cold but with nervous anticipation. The brunette walked over and stood on my left just centimetres from my face. The blonde took a similar position on my right. The blonde was the first to start working. I closed my eyes as she slowly reached over with both hands. It's the natural thing to do when someone is thrusting a long needle towards your face.

The first jab of the unaesthetic - right at the base of the nose - was bad enough. But jabs three, four and five along the side of the bridge were the worst. Compared to these the jabs into the side of my neck, from where they were taking the skin for the graft, were relatively painless. I kept my eyes firmly closed for the next hour or so as I listened to the inane conversation the two surgeons kept up in an effort to keep me relaxed. From time to time they asked me questions, and I mumbled replies, scared that talking would cause my head to move resulting in a scalpel or needle missing its target and ending up in my eye.

Several hours later I have a bit of sore nose but otherwise I feel OK. Hopefully they removed all of the carcinoma and hopefully the graft will "take". I'll know in ten days or so. In the meantime, I don't think I'll be doing a lot of training.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 149.5km
Days left until departure: 41

Auckland

There are no direct flights from Christchurch to Kansai International Airport, so I have to spend a night in Auckland on my way to Japan in May. I was originally going to spend the night in a hotel near the airport, but since I have a whole afternoon and evening in Auckland I've decided to stay in the city. I also plan to take the opportunity to ascend the Sky Tower, which I haven’t done before.

Hopefully things will go a bit more smoothly than they did the last time I made such a plan. This was in 2007 when I had to spend something like ten hours in Auckland on my way to Myanmar. My onward flight wasn't until around midnight, so I planned to take the bus into the city and have dinner at Orbit, the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower.

Unfortunately, on that occasion my arrival in the City of Sails coincided with that of the Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2, and the streets around the harbour were clogged with cars as people tried to get a view of the world's longest, tallest and widest ocean liner. The traffic was so bad that for a time the airport bus couldn't even get to the airport. In the end I decided it was too risky going into the city so I canceled my booking at Orbit and stayed at the airport.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 149.5km
Days left until departure: 42

Gear list

Below is a list of all the gear I plan to take when I walk the Tokaido:

• Osprey Aether 60 pack (Sunburst)
• Yellow pack liner with outdoor survival tips
• Mont Bell shoulder bag
• Bum bag

• Kathmandu Gore-Tex rain jacket (Ocean)
• Mont Bell Gore-Tex rain pants (Black)

• New Balance 965 shoes
• Columbia sandals

• Outdoor Research Nimbus Sombrero (Java)
• Nike cap (Black)

• Columbia fleece vest (Beige)
• Kathmandu Polartec long-sleeve top (Light Blue)
• Mont Bell long-sleeve T-shirt (Blue and Grey)
• Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirt (Night Train)
• Columbia Mountain Tech T-shirt (Black)
• North Face short-sleeve top (Light Blue)

• Columbia Silver Ridge convertible pants (Fossil)
• Kathmandu Almonte trousers (Granite)
• Fleece pants

• Cotton T-shirts (2)
• Underwear (5 pairs)
• Thorlos thick cushion running sox (3 pairs)
• Small towel (White)

• Olympus µ 770 SW digital camera & charger
• Cellphone & charger
• Shaver & charger

• Tokaido walking map
• Compass
• Sunglasses
• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, sunscreen, lip balm)
• Nail clippers
• First aid kit

• Passport
• Money/credit cards
• E-ticket
• Diary
• Pen

Update:

• Book
• Timex Ironman watch
• Insect repellent
• Travel umbrella
  

"Where the greatest luxury is to do nothing at all"

Yesterday I confirmed the last of my accommodation bookings (at Suzuka in Mie prefecture) for my Tokaido walk. It felt like putting the final piece into a jigsaw puzzle.

Near the end of my walk on day 22 I'll be enjoying a well-earned night of luxury at the Oiso Prince Hotel, where I'll be able to "look out onto the blue ocean and luxuriate in the sea breezes wafting through the trees". Well, maybe not from my "mountain view" room, where I'll have to be content with "a view of the night lights and the mountains of Tanzawa".

The hotel has a private pool exclusively for the use of hotel guests and is adjacent to Oiso Long Beach, a complex that includes "ten unique pools". Unfortunately these pools only operate in the official summer season of early-July to mid-September, so even though it may well be very warm when I'm there (June 10), I'll have to settle for a paddle in the indoor pool or a dip in the open-air hot spring. Life's a bitch.

And just in case I haven't worked up enough of a sweat walking the 24.5km from Hakone-Yumoto to get to Oiso, I could always make use of the hotel's bowling alley, golf course, tennis courts, or futsal courts.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 146.5km
Days left until departure: 44

Scenes from a 14.1km walk

A chilly morning followed by a beautifully fine day. Winter is definitely on the way. Down at the park they were marking out the football fields and setting up the goalposts.

I'm a bit worried about my lack of training. It's tempting to think that, because I've done it all before, I don't need to train as thoroughly this time. This morning I went for a three-hour walk out to Halswell and back. Everything felt good.

Every time I pass this house I feel like I'm back in Japan...not!

Hoon Hay Valley

Hoon Hay Valley

Speaks for itself

Old Halswell Quarry (now a park)

Distance walked today: 14.1km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 143.5km
Days left until departure: 45

Ohashiya

Today I confirmed another accommodation booking for my Tokaido walk. It's at Ohashiya, an inn in the post town of Akasaka which has been in business since 1649. Apparently the current building, photos of which you can see here, dates back to 1716. It's not cheap, but if the experience is anything like our stay at Daikokuya back in 2007, it'll be well worth it.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 129.4km
Days left until departure: 46