Wow. Weird. I managed to find a wireless access point at this late-60’s vintage hotel on the far side of Shodoshima! This morning it was a rush to make it to JR Osaka via the Yotsubashi-sen, only to find that the 06:20-something limited express train had already long since gone. It took a local Osaka loop-line train, a 700-series Shinkansen, and a local train on the Ako-sen to get me to Saidaiji-eki in time for the 10:05 bus to the ferry landing to Inu-shima. The sky was overcast for the most part, and the humidity of the past couple of days had dissipated, so the apparent suffering level was not as great. After a short wait at the pier with unchi-pantsu-gyaru, a 10-minute, 300-yen boat ride got me out to Inu-shima. The former copper refinery on the island closed late last century had crumbled into disrepair, but the old slag-brick and red-brick ruins had been converted recently into an art exhibition and installation. In addition to the converted factory, several house-like installations throughout the island were also built. I wonder a little about what the remaining local fishing village residents think about the whole thing, but I’m guessing that a source of revenue that isn’t slowly killing them like the refinery and is preserving the island lifestyle can’t be all bad.
To get to Shodoshima from Inu-shima, one has to transit via high-speed boat to Teshima, then transfer to a slower but much more comfortable car ferry for the second leg of the trip. The car ferry was nice and air-conditioned, somewhat like the Hawaii SuperFerry, but smaller, slower, and a lot simpler. It was still plenty smooth compared to the smaller boats I was on previously in the day. It didn’t have wireless internet though (I checked). Landing at the much larger Shodoshima was setting foot back in a small town setting from the rural village setting. It was definitely car-based. Three car ferries ported almost simultaneously, and loads of baseball-uniform clad adults and kids crowded the landing. Not really sure what’s up with that, whether it be training camp or maybe a big tournament. The hotel sent a shuttle bus to collect me. The option of walking to the hotel on the other side of a narrow isthmus from the ferry port in the rain was borne out to be a terrible idea, since the distances and times shown on the tourist literature didn’t reflect the actual conditions. It would have been over an hour, maybe two, to cover the distance, especially with the vertical change.
After a giant dinner of never-ending courses including awabi and wagyu, it was nap time. The bath here was not an onsen, so I was going to forgo it, but a quick check of the in-room bath revealed that it was not stocked with anything other than a small bar of hard soap, so it was down to the main bath for shampoo and disposable razors. There was nobody else there, and the water was fine. I really shouldn’t have soaked in the outdoor tub though, considering how hot it is. Even after trying to cool off afterwards with cold water and standing in front of the fan, I still broke a sweat before getting back to the room.
Unlike the hotel in Osaka that had a wired network connection, I didn’t find one here. The Sony TV was very recent, so I took a chance on a wireless network, and found around half a dozen open connections in the vicinity! Sweet! Here’s to the boondocks! The rain seems to be letting up: I can see across the water to Shikoku now where there was once a wall of grey. The roads are still wet though as the passing cars outside the window still make wet noises. It’s all from the tropical storm that has stalled offshore nearby. Hopefully this trip won’t be all rain and humidity. The overcast sky really screwed up the photographic conditions at the old refinery today. I don’t really want a pile of silhouette pictures after coming all this way.
It’s sleep time now.
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