Japan Meteorological Agency was right this time. It has been a persistently cloudy and rainy day. So I had the perfect weather-related excuse to have a rest day.
After a 5 a.m. wake-up (I am an early sleeper/riser), I had a very leisurely morning. Cafe Te To Ba is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so for breakfast, I was on my own.
Hostel Ta Bi To has a very well-stocked kitchen with a bar style sitting overlooking the small marina area. I spent more than two houses sitting in that kitchen, consuming too many cups of coffee, planning the walking routes for Wednesday and Thursday, and mindlessly looking at my phone.
During my first visit to Tomie town, I stayed in the dorm room (4.500 Japanese Yen/night) at Ta Bi To; I this time booked the private room (for 7.500 Japanese Yen/night), which came with a queen bed, a hanger for my clothes, and a large enough desk space. If you are looking for a personal retreat to work on a project, Tomie town and the private room at Ta Bi To might might be worth looking into.
Tomie town, located 30 minutes from Fukue Port, is home to 6.000 residents. It is one of the finest fishing villages I have ever visited in Japan. Many of the houses still keep their traditional rural Japanese house facade; there is a picturesque marina, a wonderful cafe (that I wrote about in the first day`s diary), a lively yakitori joint, a locally run grocery shop (and even a convenience store if you walk a little out of town - a rarity in a town of this small size). So it has enough distractions and facilities should you need any, but it is also a perfect place to get in the hermit mode.
The rain also gave me a good excuse to finish Silence by Shusaku Endo. Since the book raises many (delicate) questions, I will need more time to discuss it. But I have to say that I loved the book much more than the movie by Martin Scorsese. While I watched the movie many times because of the mind-blowing cinematography, I never thought of it as one of Scorsese's finest movies. The book that the film is based on does a much better job of presenting the two sides of the argument in terms of missionary work and shining a better light on the self-questioning that the protagonist goes through. Silence also offers a great opportunity to question a world where the righteousness of a certain set of cultural values and belief systems are deemed to be superior over others.
Thank you for being here and reading my travel diary. I will be back tomorrow. And here is a link to the page where all Goto travel diaries are listed.