Swordsmen and Kumamoto

June 15, 1983, Wednesday

This is the town that the famous Japanese swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi(1584-1645), settled in before dying at the age of 62. Musashi wrote a book on swordsmanship titled Gorin no sho (The Book of Five Rings) and was immortalized in a novel by Eiji Yoshikawa (1892-1962), that was serialized in a newspaper from 1935 to 1939. I would love to go to the Kumamoto Castle to learn a bit more about the history of this city.

Today is a damp, gloomy day. The rain is driving down very hard on the rooftops of the homes surrounding the hospital. To get a feel for this gloominess, one can watch any of the Zatoichi (The Blind Swordsman) films. You usually get the scenes of Zatoichi walking with his cane in the driving rain on a deserted country road before he slices up his ambushers with his sword, which doubles as his cane. Those movies provide a sort of escape into a dark, gloomy world. What I am experiencing now is real. You can't help but feel depressed, being in a hospital while staring out the window at such bad weather. It feels like Minamata all over again.

Physically, I feel weak, have a bad headache and have absolutely no appetite. They are feeding me Okayu here at the hospital. Okayu is rice gruel; watery, soft cooked rice that resembles oatmeal. It is a suitable dish for using left over rice and is often served to sick people because it can be digested easily. (See photo)

I have been thinking over and over about all the time I am losing, just laying here in bed. I am just hoping that I don't have to stay here much longer. My head really hurts...I don't think I will run again on this journey when the cold rain is coming down as hard as it is right now.