Minshuku Tonohama

Food was good, walls were thin, located right by the water, the location was good for dumping luggage and proceeding up the hill to the temple.

This is an ok place. It’s basic but fairly clean. The person that runs it is kind and there are washer/dryer facilities. It’s a big place so when full I expect it gets very busy. There is free tea and water.

We didn’t feel very comfortable at all staying here. We had a spacious room, but it was cold and we could hear everything happening from the next room. The place was filthy and toilets absolutely reeked. If we had of known we wouldn’t have stayed here, but I think the choices were limited.

28-30/4/2019

The minshuku is an odd building. The “top” floor is level with the roadway and that is where the main entrance is. Below that is a sort of a basement, though it isn’t really, as the land slopes downward, away from the coast. The lower side door is level with the rear car parking area.

When I turned up I was asked to sit down in the common area in the lower floor and wait for a while as the staff went to and fro. I wasn’t sure if they had given me a definite yes or no, so I just waited. Eventually the guy who I took to be the helper indicated I was to follow him. He lead me up to the main level which turned out to be a rather large conference or meeting hall area. The area took up most of the top level. But he showed me to a smaller room off the main hall and indicated a bed laid out on the tatami. Strangely, the rest of the room looked more like a prayer room or study than a bedroom. I later found out that the minshuku was booked out, but they had made room for me in their chapel.

After I returned from Temple 27 I found they had a cancellation so had put me in a normal tatame room. As my legs were a bit sore I stayed the next day to rest and visited the “old Kashiwabara Residence”.

Although not part of the accommodation arrangement, the minshuku made lunch for me and a Swedish lady while we both took our rest days. I left to continue my walk the day after that.

The minshuku is a little bit old, but the people were so lovely and helpful. If I walk the pilgimage again I will try very hard to stay there. It is also near the railway station so it is possible to make it a walking base. Leave your luggage at the minshuku and walk to the temple. Or later towards Kochi, then come back in the evening on the Gomen-Nahari train line.

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