Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day Zero preparation

I am very happy that my former flatmates can still bear with me sitting in the kitchen, doing my chores and cooking stuff up. Today marks the actually last day that we will see each other in this constellation since one of my flatmates will move to Kyoto.

About me:

I would say that i am a slightly above average fit guy. In the couple last years i always did some sports related activity such as volleyball, martial arts, working out. My walking pace is a little faster than the average person. However my stamina is quite bad which also proved unfortunately in a tough mudder trail run(17km) in 2016 where i got terrible cramps after the first 10km already. So i would say i am healthy but not in the very best condition and definitely not an experienced hiker.

My Japanese should be at the N5 level. And i do study Kanjis with an App called Wanikani where i “mastered” around 430 Kanjis (reading only).

What i packed:

Hot tip: get empty bottles from the shop Loft, and fill it with shampoo provided by a (capsule) hotel.

I was really thinking about it but in the end I did not buy any hiking specific shoes but will go with my good old sneakers using blister plaster and insoles.

My Itinerary

There are 53 set stations of the old Tokaido path which can be found here. In the past milestones and signs probably showed the way, whereas today it is a little bit more trickier. For myself to prove that i really was at the right station and saw what people in the past saw, i compiled a list of sights which already existed in the Edo period. The evaluation of which sight is shown as below:

  1. milestones/signposts
  2. “station” – juku (by google maps, like a resting place in that area)
  3. famous temple/shrine/castle which existed already in that era (by tripadvisor)
  4. train stations

I will provide this list after i come back home.

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