Day 24: Totsuka - Kawasaki (23.3km)

I got up at 6am, showered, shaved and dressed, and breakfasted on some lovely bread my hosts had bought from a nearby bakery and freshly brewed coffee. My legs had almost fully recovered from Hakone. However I noticed my first blister. Oddly enough it was between the big toe and the second toe on my left foot, caused I presume by the rubbing of the bandage I still had on my big toe. After breakfast my hosts gave me a lift to Zushi station where I caught the 8.01am train to Totsuka. I was out of Totsuka station and on my way by 8.30am. At the top of the stairs leading out of the station I spotted a swallows' nest. A prize to the person who can find it in the photo below.


I exited the station from the east exit and made my way back to the point where I'd left the Tokaido the evening before. The road curved around back towards the station and a few hundred metres later I came to a level crossing. The barrier was down but there were no cars or people waiting in front of it. It took me a while to work out that the crossing remained closed to pedestrians and vehicles during rush hour due to the sheer number of trains arriving and leaving the station. This was actually noted on my map; I just hadn't bothered to read it carefully enough. To get across I had to follow the railway lines back to the station and enter it again from the same exit I'd passed through a few minutes earlier, cross the railways lines, and exit from the west exit before rejoining the Tokaido on the other side.


I followed National Route 1 for a few kilometers and then left the main road. I then had to negotiate a couple of steep slopes as the Tokaido climbs through a quieter residential area. From the top I could just make out Mount Fuji through the haze.


Further on I found my path blocked by some road works, and for a moment I was afraid this would be a repeat of the time in 2007 when we had to plead with some workers to let us pass. On this occasion, however, I was waved through without a fuss.

I little further down the road I came to the Shinano Ichirizuka, where both mounds and an old keyaki tree are intact. One of the mounds is surrounded by a small park, while the other definitely seems to be out of bounds judging form the "Keep Out! Private Property!" sign in front of it.


After a bit of a break I continued on, reaching Tennocho station at 11.05am. As I was taking a photo of the monument that marks the original location of the bridge in Hiroshige's print for Hodogaya, a middle-aged Japanese man with a beer can in his hand approached me and asked in English, "Where are you going?" "Tokyo," I said. "Why?" was his retort, which came without a moment's hesitation, as if our conversation were part of some rehearsed English language drill. This was one encounter I didn't want to prolong, so I simply said I didn't know and continued on my way.

From Tennocho station I walked along a crowded old-fashioned shopping street for a few blocks before spotting a Royal Host family restaurant. It was 11.30am. I decided it was time for lunch. I went in and ordered the deep-fried oyster set, but the oysters were tiny and it wasn't a patch on the kaki-furai I had in Shizuoka. The mixed juice from the drink bar, however, was nice, as was the espresso.

I got underway again at 12.30pm. As I was crossing a pedestrian overbridge I looked to my right and saw in the distance Yokohama Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan. According to Wikipedia, the tower contains the second fastest elevator in the world!


From there I negotiated my last climb of the day up to Kanagawa-dai before descending into Kanagawa-juku (now part of Yokohama). It was flat from there all the way to Kawasaki. I reached Tsurumi station at 3pm. According to a sign on the side of the road that passes in front of the station, a number of famous tea houses lined this section of the Tokaido in the Edo period. Reading the sign put me in the mood for a coffee, and it was then that I noticed there were no less than three cafes in the immediate vicinity. Coincidence? I checked out all three before deciding on the Pronto, where I had a coffee and a slice of chocolate and mint cake.

I crossed the Tsurumi River and continued on to my hotel near Kawasaki station, arriving there at 4pm. I did a load of washing, and then walked around the station area for a bit before having dinner at a Saizeriya restaurant. The restaurant was full of noisy high school students, no doubt attracted by the extremely reasonable prices, but that didn’t stop me enjoying my peperoncino spaghetti with a poached egg on top, garlic toast, and glass of white wine, all of which cost me just 627 yen (the wine was a mere 100 yen).

As breakfast wasn't included at my hotel, I bought some things at a convenience store on the way back and put them in the fridge in my room. The weather had been fantastic all day. The forecast for the following day, my last, was also good. So much for the rainy season.