Nippon no Arashi - Matsumoto Jun x Islanders in Japan [4/7]
Index: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
88 Fukugi Tea, and then onto Oki Temple
After separating from everyone at Oki Douzen High School, Matsumoto headed to Atodo-san, where Aoyama-san suggested one can get Fukugi Tea. As he steadily went up the mountain path, just when he thought, "I wonder if we will reach the peak soon," the car stopped. Matsumoto was introduced to people who make Fukugi Tea---the staff of Ama Town's Institution for the Handicapped (House of Sakura), Hotta Michiko-san (age 39) and Ada Yuki-san (age 37). And then, the tree casually growing at the side of the mountain is a tree called Fukugi (Kuromoji), which is the raw material of Fukugi Tea. Under the guidance of the two, Matsumoto will actually try cutting and getting the leaves too. As mentioned by the two, if one tries to rub it in the palm of one's hand, "Whoa! It smells really good!". And then, after unfolding the mat (T.N. They call it "leisure seat" in Japanese, hahaha), it was like a tea party with a picnic vibe. They tried drinking Fukugi Tea while eating the pie baked with Fukugi Tea leaves that Ada-san made for them. It had a really nice aroma,, much like herb tea.Hotta: Plucking (leaves) at the mountain and bringing it back, and finely cutting it to pieces like this.. We actually do all the manual labor ourselves.
Matsumoto: Is this tree growing up naturally by itself?
Hotta: It's a native tree, so it has always been there.
Ada: The manufacturing too is just smashing them. We've never used flavorings.
Matsumoto: Heh~!
Hotta: We always have tea in this place with everyone else during our cutting work break time.
Drinking the warm Fukugi Tea, Matsumoto, whose body has been warmed a bit, went to a certain Atodo Temple at the summit, since he already went out of his way to this place. There, Matsumoto, who prayed for a fantastic meeting in this journey, tried to
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Bicycles were especially prepared for this trek.
go down Atodo-san using the bicycle brought over to the island for this time's journey. Matsumoto went down by bicycle while being careful not to speed up too much because of the steep slopes. With the comfortable speed of the bicycle, he experiences Ama Town anew.
In a blink of an eye, Matsumoto went down the mountain to as far as the port. He was feeling really good, and pedaled all the way to Oki Temple. Running along the beach with moderate speed by bicycle, a scenery different from the view in the car was seen. Ama, which as almost approaching sunset, was very peaceful. Before we knew it, while enjoying this town's scenery, we arrived at Oki Temple.
Passing through the temple's splendid torii (Shinto shrine archway) while walking in the path that leads to the shrine, there were cherry blossom trees lined up in a row at both sides. Unfortunately, it is still a little early for them to bloom, and the buds too were still very hard. However, according
The descent down the mountain together with the staff went by in no time.
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They even headed to Oki Temple by bicycle. It felt great to run past the coast by bicycle, and see fishing boats at the corner of your eyes!
to Aoyama-san, this place is so beautiful that it is called the most popular place with cherry blossoms in Oki. Since the evening is now passing, it is unfortunate but the shrine office is already closed. Still, the sun's down and the darkened grounds are very peaceful, as if one's heart is perfectly clear. He calmly and comfortably went back.
And then, he returned to the hotel for a moment, and prepared for much awaited dinner barbecue Aoyama-san set up for him, and took a break for a while.
Oki Temple
Ex-Emperor Gotoba was washed away to Ama during the Joukyuu era in 1221 and lived in the island for 19 years before he died at 60 years old. This is the temple honoring him. It was built in commemoration of his 700th death anniversary in 1939. The architectural style is called Oki-zukuri.
Scan Credits: ksbyms
Next up, MatsuJun gets all happy eating all sorts of seafood, and sings praises about Hana-chan. XD
//Edit: I was obviously sleepy and forgot to put the title when I first posted. XD
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