The Strand, then and now. A better world is possible.

Das fasst den Tag ganz gut zusammen: Der Staat hat sich auf die Seite des Faschismus geschlagen.

I still need to write up how I got to Ise in the first place and why that was so terrible. After landing on Narita at around 11:00 JST, I fumbled around a bit and managed to buy myself a sandwich and a Skyliner ticket. So far so good. Then getting into town, I quickly found out I couldn’t get any money from the ATMs. Not from any ATM, not with any card. Now ensued a frantic game of trying things, coming up with scenarios and waiting for Germany to wake up. I have a big stack of “issuer declined” notices from different banks and machines. What worked here is: * I brought €150 with me which I exchanged for yens. * I got on WiFi somewhere outside Tokyo station and bought a Shinkansen ticket online with my credit card. This website is pretty broken but thankfully not that broken. What didn’t work: * Paying for things with my credit card. It seems I changed the PIN code and forgot to put the new one into 1Password. * We tried exercising a physical credit card in Berlin and it’s not clear to me how or where I would do this. I generally tap my phone at stuff and that works everywhere. In Japan this only works at the larger shops currently. * Japan doesn’t really want to give cash out against a credit card is what I learned later. Now the choice was, stay put or get myself to my accommodation. My next five days of sleeping were booked, I bought my train ticket online, so I had a large part of the money I exchanged in reserve but also I’d be going to a part of Japan that’s very rural. I figured that if need be €150 would last me for a week or more if I only ate FamiChicki and other convenience store foods. So I got on the Shinkansen with my QR-code digital ticket. Then at Nagoya station I tried some more machines after the German bank did some resets. Nothing worked. At this point I had resigned. I bought a ticket to Iseshi and stared out the window for two hours. When there, I got word from Germany that there had been a payment system malfunction in the group of my bank and that lots of people everywhere had had issues with their cards. That also meant the malfunction was over and I rushed to the nearest ATM and took out a bunch of cash. I was super elated and with the money I had dinner on the town, twice, to celebrate. After six very stressful hours, I had arrived where I should be. Major lessons learned: * Bring cash on holiday. If I had brought €300 I would not have really stressed out about this. * Have more than one bank. I really regret closing my Dutch “real” bank account after this. ### Share this: * Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky *

Another day, another broken night because of jetlag. Getting up at all was not easy, let alone getting up early. My hostess kindly offered to refund me the money (a trifle) for dinner because of the misunderstanding. Which I of course did not accept. The food was tasty, plentiful and home cooked and she might have saved my legs. She made me the light breakfast with fish and rice that we know and love. For my first bit I walked over a light pass with a view and circled around the harbour, the coast and some of the local beaches. My barista in Berlin says he would come to Mie to surf back in the day which looks like it could be amazing. But probably not to this part of Mie for that. The passes themselves, Ikkoku-toge, Hirakata-toge and Miura-toge were short work but it is where I met the first other people I’ve seen on trail so far. Two old geezers who had driven here and did their walk (_sanpo_) up and back down. The pass itself was short work with maybe 3-4 switchbacks. I remember having to make 1000 altimeters in the Alps where we would be doing hours of consecutive turns like this. In Craig Mod’s account it says the walking from Minose to Aiga is relatively miserable along the road, so that’s a perfect excuse for me to skip it and take the 11:37 train. Catching that is essential because it lines me up nicely for Magose. Missing it would mean the rest of the day would be a loss because of the lunch sized hole in the train schedule. At the Minose train station a team was re-roofing the shack. Nice to see infrastructure investment like that even in the most rural of places. Something you would never see where I’m from. That does prompt a comparison. If you think that these towns are empty, I have some walks we can take through the Nazi riddled back country of Berlin where there is absolutely nothing. Regular enough train service on the main lines, but very spotty bus connectivity and no gastronomy anybody could ever find appealing. Living next to Brandenburg is one of the worst parts of living in Berlin. No real sights of any kind there other than the occasional remnants of a concentration camp. During the train ride I saw some of my first fellow hikers. One Japanese woman in the train going alone and a Western couple at Funatsu station who looked like they were walking it. If that’s where I saw them and they weren’t getting on the train, then they are probably walking the entire thing. If ever they read this, _ganbatte_! Aiga has quite some stuff going on for it in gastronomy. I wasn’t very hungry so I stopped quickly behind the train station at `Cafe do Selecao (!) for a strengthening coffee before the climb ahead. The coffee was good but unfortunately the owner was grabbed by bear frenzy. He kept trying to convince me that there are lots of bears around and I should be careful. I’m not a bear denialist, but there’s no reason to be stressed about them in this part of Japan. Then I walked up and the climb was strenuous to put it mildly. The stone path was an interesting innovation here and I guess it helps but I’m just glad that it wasn’t raining. Even in the best conditions I would need about 15 minutes to go up 100m so the 330m here took the better part of an hour. Then at the top I made the “fantastic” decision to go to the summit. Most of that climb were stairs but the kind that make an Amsterdam apartment staircase look reasonable. On the way up I caught myself thinking: “that’s steep, I wonder how I’ll get down this”, then I thought: “that’s a problem for future Alper to figure out!” During the summit climb another Western couple were absolutely balling it down and to my amazement the guy had a baby in a front carrier. I admire the show of dominance here but one misstep and that baby is toast. In mountainous territory it is acceptable to carry kids in a kraxe, not an ergo baby. The summit itself was sketchy as hell (as most summits are, really) but the views were definitely spectacular. Back down I had to really take it step by step. My knee was not at all happy to be doing this exercise but everything kept together. Back at the pass, a group of 8 or so Japanese hikers were doing the Magose today fully decked out and with a guide even. They were amazed at me doing this alone (_hitori_) when another guy jogged up from the Owase side and went for the summit saying he does this daily. That’s more people on the trail today than I saw in the previous days combined. Infinitely more even since I saw zero people so far. The walk down was uneventful and led me through a large and active cemetery. Then finally in Owase I tried to hunt down a bite and a coffee before checking in to my accommodation. It was hard to find something. Many stores were not up to date in either Google Maps or tabélog, which I find surprising since that is supposed to be the local restaurant app. What did help me find a nice place, was just walking and looking around. I stumbled on a coffee and wine place (like all the fancy places these days are) with a proper espresso machine. The building used to house the pharmacy with an “Apotheke” sign on the building and the inside was modern and open. I got my cappuccino and saw the friendly young and creative people of Owase congregate there. People are doing interesting things, even in Owase, and it stays true that “new ideas, need old buildings”. I see a general theme of repurposing happening all over anyway. From the sento turned museum, to the plots of land now being run as solar farms. I checked in without seeing anybody into an empty family house up the hills in a residential area. The entire house, both floors, was mine for a song. I learned later that this was their grandparents’ house. Then for dinner I went to a place called Inaka which has a well deserved reputation as a fantastic family-run kappou restaurant. I had some trouble trying to figure out what to order, but their summary English menu delivered the goods. I didn’t feel like figting with some wild monk-/pufferfish after a long day of hiking anyway. What they delivered was absolute art. Probably the best meal I’ve had so far. The variety, the care, the detail and the different platings were out of the world. It is also not one of the cheapest meals I’ve had but I’m happy to pay for something _this_ good delivered this casually. Then I made a tour of the city and Owase does not look that dead to me. During the afternoon I saw bunches of kids running around freely and in the evening the streets may be empty, but it looked like every izakaya was more or less full and people were getting ready for a night of drinking at the local karaoke, sunakku, bar or “nightclub”. Fun as that sounds, that’s an amount of being awake and of drinking which my current schedule could not support, so off to bed it was for me. The stats for the day say 19.94km and some 34k steps (strava1, strava2). For tomorrow I’m doing some more drastic replanning. I only have two days left and an awful lot of walk ahead of me. I figured that tomorrow’s mountain would be my _Angstgegner_ as it was for many people before me. The time indications are roughly correct and 5h would eat up my entire day for not that much distance gained. Every 1km of altitude is equivalent in effort to 10km of distance as a rule of thumb. Reading the end of Craig Mod’s report it seems both that that assessment is true and that it’s possible to do the chunk after the mountain in two days. That would make it an obvious choice to skip it. I’m going to see exactly how to do that over breakfast tomorrow which I’ll take after sleeping in for a change. ### Share this: * Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky *

Well before 7am I grabbed a quick breakfast at the local FamilyMart and supplies for the day ahead. I’m glad that these things are open 24 hours, but how is this possible? Maybe it’s better to not ask any questions (S. Store owner regrets ‘slave contracts’ with major Japanese convenience store chain Ministop). I wasn’t going to be able to get any kind of coffee at a time like this, but the hotel machine brewed something that wasn’t entirely undrinkable. I ate a pudding and went over the plan again. The start would be the first pass just outside of Odai, Misesaka though “just outside” is relative since getting to the trailhead required quite the trek already. No rain today for which I’m very thankful which meant there were somewhat more people out and about than yesterday, but still the number is very close to zero. Not that many _ohayo_ s this morning. To my delight and reassurance at the trailhead there was a box where you can borrow a bear bell and grab a walking stick. You then leave it at the other trailhead where there’s a similar arrangement. This is extremely considerate and something that’s entirely impossible where I’m from. Japan is in a bear frenzy at the moment and there’s hardly anything else on the news or on anybody’s lips. I can report that the bear bell works, because I didn’t see one. Or it could have something to do with how on Kumamap this part of Japan is entirely empty. That was beautiful and a bit of an effort. On the other side, Takihara shrine awaited. This was just before 10am and the monks were all up and about. They were moving stuff around for some kind of event and at one of the buildings a bunch monks were busy with the inner sanctuary. It was cool to see a bunch of men in full regalia doing that stuff even though I don’t know (nor probably will ever know) what they were doing. I wondered what the hat with the feather was which turns out to be a kanmuri with its ei. As captivating as that was, that didn’t change the fact that either I had to catch the 10:25 at Takihara station or be stuck here during a 2-3 hour hole in the schedule. Double timing through the town was not fun with legs as sore as mine, but I got there with time to spare. The train itself was manned by one person acting as conductor, driver and ticket seller. When he rolled into the station, I saw him pointing out the driver’s window at something. I tried to find the thing he as pointing at until I realized that he was practicing pointing-and-calling as is common in Japan. I had considered taking the train to O-Uchiyama but given how my legs were feeling, any bit of walking that could go should go. I got off at Umegadani and made my way to the trailhead for the Nisaka pass. At Nisaka there was a similar arrangement with the bells and now we also add another dangerous animal to our repertoire: the viper. This is also where the stunning coastal views started. On the way down there was the occasional choice between the Meiji and Edo routes, one meandering and the other straight and vertical. I found myself fighting against the sun on the walk out in… end of November. I was definitely picking up some sunscreen that day. With lunchtime approaching I was eager to make it into town where I had scoped out some restaurants. Being in town at a time when gastronomy is actually open can be a rare and wonderful thing. I made my way around a small lake where I found Kappa Club, a kind of mix between a beach club and a kissaten. There I treated myself to a well-deserved shrimp plate, nama and coffee while I watched several black kites circle over the water. I could not believe how beautiful this entire arrangement was. A bit further along there was a very promising coffee truck cafe kiihot which sadly was not open today. It was time for me to find my accommodation but not before stopping at the Cocokarafine to get some supplies for trail care. A big box Japanese drugstore is something you have to see to believe. It’s more of a marvel than many of the sights along the Kumano Kodo. The range of products that was on offer in different areas and the sheer assault on the senses was astounding. On my way to the guest house, the owner of Kappa found me on the street and showed me around a repurposed sento that’s now a fishery museum. It’s an interesting jumble of stuff he’s collected there, but I think the real attraction is in their events. I’m staying at Toyohisa tonight where I have an entire floor to myself. The host wanted to make me dinner, after which I was so full I didn’t even think about walking anywhere for anything else. My legs are very grateful. Except for this extremely dangerous stairs I had to go down at night to visit the lavatory. The stats for the day say 26,86km and some 34k steps (strava1, strava2). While writing this I found the video that Craig Mod posted about his day along the route and I can say that’s a picture perfect depiction of how my day went as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QL5GB2vdS8 I can’t believe this is only day two. More tomorrow. ### Share this: * Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky *

The day started late after jetlag kept me up between 2-5am. Then when I finally got to sleep, it was time to get up and leave. The Fitbit clocks me at 3h47m of sleep. I quickly walked over from the lovely Mizuhokan to the Ise Outer Shrine. The site is beautiful and I just learned that the empty lot next to the shrine is where they’ll build the building anew every 20 years. A tradition, _shikinen sengu_ , I had heard about before but hadn’t connected to this place. They started the 63rd rebuilding this year apparently. Then given permission by the inspiration for this walk (the amazing Craig Mod) to skip a section, I went to Iseshi station, got some breakfast and waited for the train to Tamaru. Walking the exact GPS trail of somebody else up to and including the road crossings, feels a bit weird, but it’s the only way that I could swing doing this in the first place. Having the GPS trails provided is an act of service and more major hike should do this officially. I visited the Higashitokida shrine quickly and was very much impressed by the sense of space the walk in always gives you with the grove of trees and the gravel path. It rained almost all day today from the early morning until after noon. `Maybe that’s why the number of people I saw out and about was extremely limited. In the early morning I did see lots of kids cycling to school with their uniforms and helmets on. I waited out the worst of the rain at the local post office when a man jumped out of a car and asked me where I was going. Upon hearing Misedani he commented that it’s beautiful but the leaves this year haven’t turned yet because it was way too hot. The colours of the leaves are reported on during the local weather forecasts. Autumn colours in Germany can be very nice as well so why don’t they report on them there? Then after some back and forth between provincial roads, it was time for the Misesaka Toge. Not very challenging but a couple of steep segments and switch backs. All in all very beautiful. At one of the guardian deities there is a box with a trail booklet. Thin as it is, it goes back for years because there are so few people hiking this trail. The last person before me who signed the book though did so three days ago. Then came a relatively uninspiring part along the main road. I was hungry and sick of the rain. I cut around the route to make my way to Cafe de Touhenvoku which with its funky interior and pizza toast on the menu revealed itself to be a genuine Kissa. I got the Katsu Curry and scarfed it down. How excellent is it to eats something warm after a whole day of walking through the rain? At this point I considered taking the train at Tochihara to skip to the end but feeling my legs still doing well, I looped back to the track and continued along the route. Good that I did, because otherwise I’d have missed the riverbed crossing and the bamboo forest. I’ll happily walk a bunch to see amazing stuff like this. I stopped at bread and coffee in Kawazoe which true to its name sold bread and coffee, and children’s toys. I’m not sure what’s going on with the population but I’m seeing children everywhere. After that point the walk became an incessant plod along the secondary road. My feet were hurting and the light was fading. Sundown at 16:45 does not mean that much if the mountain obscures at least an hour worth of light. I passed a bunch of derelict buildings and a very weird one. Mr Bear (Kumasan above) did not make it unfortunately. The walking along the main road is a feature of this walk that will not be appreciated by pure hikers. In the Alps, any route that takes you on more than the absolutely necessary amount of tarmac (noticeable by the sound your walking sticks make) is unacceptable. Once I got inside city limits and seeing that it would take another half hour of walking I saw a bus would come in 5 minutes. Not giving it a second thought at the Shimo-Mise bus stop I hopped on an entirely empty bus that took me the rest of the way to the Misedani station. I could barely walk the last bit to the hotel. That hotel was the Fairfield which is quite bougie. It also seems to accommodate a many foreigners. At least I wasn’t taking a shower in a communal ofuro that day. At Misedani, dinner options during the week were limited with interesting places opening on the weekend for revellers making their way here. I found a bow of ramen and alcohol free Kirin at a “famous” ramen place where lots of kids with or without their parents were also eating. The ramen was nothing to write home about but the electrolytes and vegetables were welcome. I was happy too to observe that I could still walk. The stats for the day say 33,53km and some 42k steps (strava). It was a pretty brutal day and I’ve now established what a reasonable output looks like and that I’ll need to round off the walk around 3pm. It’s now also a fact that I’m not going to walk to Shingu in five days (a steep goal anyway), so that opens the door to more radical replanning. That would have been necessary anyway for tomorrow where an absurd 40km is on the roster to get to Kihoku. ### Share this: * Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky *

As I get older, I increasingly think about whether I’m spending my time the right way to advance my career and my life. This is also a question that your company asks about you every performance cycle: is this engineering manager spending their time effectively to advance the company or their organization? Confusingly, in my experience, answering these nominally similar questions has surprisingly little in common. This piece spends some time exploring both questions in the particularly odd moment we live in today, where managers are being told they’ve spent the last decade doing the wrong things, and need to engage with a new model of engineering management in order to be valued by the latest iteration of the industry.