Hotoke Gozaemon
On the thirtieth day of the Third Moon [May 19], we stayed the night at the foot of Mount Nikko. The innkeeper said:

"I'm known as saintly Gozaemon. I put honesty first in all matters, and that is why people call me that. You may sleep soundly tonight, with total confidence."

We wondered which saint had taken human form in this wicked world to look after two beggar pilgrims in priestly garb. As we carefully observed the innkeeper, we saw that he was utterly devoid of worldly wisdom or self- interest and that he was stubbornly honest to a fault. How closely he approached the Confucian ideal of goki bukutotsu, "strength of character and rugged honesty"! A person like that is to be esteemed highly.

Nikko
On the first day of the Fourth Moon [May 20], we paid our respects at Mount Nikko.

In olden times the name of this mountain was written "Ni-ko," using the Chinese characters for "two" and "wild," but when Saint Kukai built a temple here, he changed the characters to "Nik-ko," meaning "sun" and "light." He must have foreseen what was to come a thousand years later, for now the august light of the Tokugawa rule illumines the whole firmament, and its beneficient rays reach into every corner of the land so that all the people may live in security and peace.

I was filled with such awe that I hesitated to write a poem.

O holy, hallowed shrine!
How green all the fresh young leaves
In the bright sun shine!

Kurokami-yama, which means "Mount Raven Locks," though wreathed in spring mists, was still white with snow. Sora composed a verse:

With my hair clean shorn,
I came to Mount Raven Locks
On Garb Changing Morn.

Sora is his pen name. His surname is Kawai and he is called Sogoro. He lived near Banana Tree Cottage and used to help me with household chores. Sora was delighted at the prospect of seeing the views of Matsushima and Kisakata and came with me to keep me company and share the rigors of the road. He shaved his head the morning we left, changed into a priest's black robe, and took the Buddhist name of Sogo (religious Enlightenment). His verse composed at Mount Kurokami refers to this. The words "Garb Changing" are very effective, meaning both the day when one changes into summer clothing and Sora's own 'garb changing" when he took religious viws before coming on this journey.

A mile of so up the mountain was a waterfall. The water seemed to take a flying leap and drop a hundred feet from the top of a cave into a green pool surrounded by a thousand rocks. One was supposed to sidle into the cave and enjoy the falls from behind, hence its name Urami no Taki, "the Waterfall Viewed from Behind."

There we did begin,
Cloistered in that waterfall,
Our summer discipline.

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