Walking Goto Islands: Day 8

Travel diaries: March 9th - the morning light and goodbye Shin-Kamigoto.

On my last day on the islands, I planned to have a relaxed morning. But I was up too early, with plenty of time for too much coffee, day planning, staring at the ceiling, and phone browsing. So I was already on the road by 7 a.m. to walk to the northern part of the island that I had only briefly visited during my first visit (thanks to a local couple who gave me a tour of the entire island in their car after we met at a restaurant the night before).

Despite the forecast that promised sunny skies all day, it was a cloudy morning and also chillier than the day before. My destination was Aosagaura Catholic Church, requiring a two-hour walk.

As mentioned in the first day`s diary or earlier posts about the Goto Islands, I was not on some sort of pilgrimage visiting all the churches. While the period of Hidden Christianity in Japan interests me greatly as it provides so much insight into the impact of missionary work on foreign lands and Japan`s approach towards anything foreign, setting churches as a destination makes the walking route planning much more straightforward. And I, on this trip, wanted to walk as much as the weather allowed me. After a long and cold winter in Tokyo, I was craving long and uninterrupted walks.

The scenery surrounding Aosagura Catholic Church in Namago town was rather underwhelming due to the discouragingly grim weather. Still, I am sure the town feels and looks as lovely as any other small settlement in Shin-Kamigoto on a sunnier day. All the elements are there, the houses still with traditional Japanese facade, a church up on the hill overlooking the bay and a fisherman`s wharf.