Day -1: Okinoshima, or the island which inspired Laputa

Not surprisingly, we wake up pretty early.
After a good breakfast, we walk in the sleepy roads of a Sunday morning Osaka. The only other people walking are also early birds going to catch the train for somewhere. The empty roads seems also resting after a lively Saturday night.

We take the train to Kada, where we will then move to the boat carrying visitors to Okinoshima. The island, right in the middle of the Tomogashimasuido strait, was in the past used as observation point by the Imperial Navy, and the now abandoned buildings give to the place a quite unique atmosphere, which has inspired Studio Ghibli's Laputa, castle in the sky.

The more the train travels South, the more remote the places appears and the less people remain on the train. We see the mountain ranges we will be crossing in the coming days, and they look quite challenging.

But it's still early to worry about that. Today we are walking on a remote island. When we reach Kada the station is really small: a single track and a steel gate, with a small desk with a stamp, of which we are not able to understand the scope. The sun flooded village is really quite, and we walk to the harbor through empty streets.

The dock where the boat boards the visitors is the only busy place. We are the only gaijin to be there, and we have the clear impression it's not so common for two foreigners to be there: the only person in the queue capable of speaking English helps the lady at the ticket counter by translating for her that the boat runs every hour, and the last departure from the island is at 4:00 p.m. 

We buy some drinks and some food, since on the island they are not available, then wait patiently in the queue. 

The boat is packed with people, and the chairs are not exactly sized for a tall westerner. From the windows we see a lot of fishing boats gathered among the waves, and when we finally land on the island we really feel on a remote place.

The traces of the typhoon are still visible: shored garbage, fallen trees and soil carved by the flowing water. Some paths are even closed. Whenever the wind cannot reach, the warm and humid air feels like a cape. We have to measure our effort to not be drenched in sweat.

The vegetation is luxurious, and we lose count of how many spiders and giant hornets we spot. The side of the path is also covered by countless apertures looking like caves, but we don't dare venturing in: we have no lights with us. When we finally reach the abandoned buildings on the top of the hill, the place looks magic and the view is astounding. Red bricks buildings, moss and ivy clinging on the moisture dripping walls, with short moments of silence when we are the only to be around.

It's not hard to imagine how the life of a soldier was here, constantly gazing at the horizon and checking the ships crossing the sea, under the sun or under the rain with the constant shouting of the supervisors.

We take a sit on one the benches scattered around and have our lunch there, on the top of the island. While we eat our onigiri, some people prepare a warm noodle cup lighting up a camp burner with a small pan to boil some water.

Continuing on the path circuiting the island we walk by the old lighthouse building, which cannot be accessed, and then find the ruins of some restaurant. We cannot tell if it has been damaged by the recent typhoon or has it been abandoned years ago. In any case its gloomy appearance strikes with the solemnity of the red bricks ruins.

We reach the pier with just few minutes before the boat departure, which we spend sitting below some pine trees. Once we manage to reach the station, we have the luck of boarding the Medetai train, which is a train painted like a sea bream. The stamp we found at the station was about this train, as we realize now.

Since it is still quite early, we decide on the spot to use that train to reach the station of Wakayamashi, and from there the Castle of Wakayama. The next time that we will be in the city it will be on our bikes and we don't know how much time we will have for visiting around, therefore we want to be sure to have a calm visit to the monument.

The surrounding of the castle are full of people busy arranging many small candles according to some predefined path. Apparently there is going to be some sort of festival in the night, involving images made with candles. As another shot of luck, today is the day when access to the castle is free, therefore we don't miss the chance of visiting it.

The museum inside is interesting, and the view from the top, with sun starting to set on the bay, is amazing. We regret that we have to leave before the festival begins, but we are glad we have been able to enjoy the place.

The train goes back across the mountain ranges and then into Osaka, and sooner than expected we are back to the busy Sunday evening of a big city. On the way back to the guest house we stop for dinner at a small restaurant specialized in tonkatsu. The only interaction with the staff is when we give them the tickets we bought at the vending machines to order our dinner, and when they bring the dishes at our table. For the rest we are basically alone, with other customers having their dinner without paying attention to the humanity surrounding them.

We walk back to the guest house in the pleasant chill of the evening, we buy some snacks at the combini and then prepare as much as possible for the next morning. Tomorrow is the day we will pick up our bikes. Tomorrow we will hit the road.