第二十一章

25 August 2075

Shoichi was convinced that he saw the tiniest of flickers in Kimiko’s right eye although could not be sure on account of the tears in both of his own. It had been a long day and he was tired. The amount of time that he had been with Kimiko today was the longest that he had spent at the hospital save for the first day when he waited in the friends and family lounge whilst they ran a battery of tests on her immediately post-admission. Having wiped his face that was wet with tears and puffy from the swell of emotion, Shoichi looked again at Kimiko in anticipation of another twitch, subtle but still noticeable like when your eye gets tired and the tiny muscles take on a life of their own. He saw nothing and dismissed the earlier movement as merely his mind playing tricks on him.

He considered calling it a day and going home but the projection on the wall showed that having become so engrossed in the story from Fuji-san he had lost track of time and, even if he did catch a train from Ikebukuro, he would never make it to Ueno in time for the last train back to Mito. Oh well it’s not as if I’ve got anything else to do, he thought and sat back in the chair, refreshed from his tears, expunging the sadness from within, and picked up from three thousand four hundred metres.

***

In spite of the reservations about being able to sleep well on his strip of tatami, Shoichi had entered into deep slumber from the physical exhaustion of the climb together with the emotional energy he had invested at the start of the day. He was shaken awake by Kimiko who had been sleeping next to a lady who had set an alarm to give her time to wake up properly before commencing the final push to the top. It was a quarter to three.

Behind his eyes, Shoichi’s head felt rather foggy and he was worried that this was the onset of the altitude sickness that he had so feared. He also felt an overwhelming sense of loss, but couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Sliding out of the multi-person bunk, he stretched to loosen the muscles that had tightened during rest.

‘Ohayō, Kimiko.’

‘Ohayō, Shoichi.’

Around them, the rest of the group were waking with equally dazed and confused looks on their faces, slightly befuddled by the lack of sleep and unusual surroundings.

‘How did you sleep, Kimiko?’ Shoichi asked as he rubbed his face with the palms of his hands to stimulate the blood flow.

‘Better than I anticipated I would, although clearly not for long enough,’ Kimiko said. ‘How about you?’

‘Really well, thanks, although I had a strange dream that I can’t quite recall at the moment,’ Shoichi said. ‘I’ll share it with you if I ever remember what it was about.’

‘Looking forward to it,’ Kimiko said. ‘Shall we go outside and get ready to depart?’

‘Yes, come on then. I hope that it’s clear.’

They put on their boots whilst sitting on the raised wooden floor in the hut’s genkan, Kimiko taking as little time as when they started their climb, Shoichi getting his fit right after just two attempts. Walking out into the dark, the cold air that hit them pushed any remaining sleep out of their bodies. The night sky was clear, as Shoichi had hoped for, and stars visible in their hundreds, if not thousands.

‘Phew, it’s rather cold,’ Shoichi said in a whisper, rubbing his upper arms and lightly stamping his feet. ‘I’m going to put on another layer.’

‘It is rather,’ Kimiko agreed pulling on a light jacket over the fleece that she was already wearing. ‘I hope that this is because it’s still the middle of the night rather than the altitude as I don’t think I really want it to get much colder.’

Megumi looked as fresh as when she first introduced herself to them at the fifth station and was itching to get started.

‘Is everybody ready to go?’ she asked. ‘As I said after dinner yesterday, I’ve allowed for two hours to the summit from here although it will more likely take about an hour and a half as the going is pretty steady. However, there is the challenge of the dark. Please get your torches ready or put on your head-mounted lights if you have them.’

Shoichi pulled the stretchy fabric straps of his headlamp down over his head so that the fit was snug and pressed the button on the side of the unit twice so that all six of the LEDs came on. He then adjusted the angle of the light so that it illuminated the ground about two metres in front of him. Looking back down the mountain, there were climbers further down Fuji-san who must have been climbing in one hit rather than staggering their ascent and the procession of lights far off in the distance reminded him of camping trips as a young boy when he was privileged to see fireflies’ lights flashing on and off as he sat with his father in the dark on the riverbank. As they set off, the song, Hotaru no Hikari “The Light of the Firefly” popped into his head which he began to sing to its adopted tune of “Auld Lang Syne”.

As Megumi had said, the going was not particularly tough although hiking in the dark was difficult; the pathway continued to be well marked out and generally flat but there were still larger rocks that you could easily stub your toe on if not paying sufficient attention. Being cloaked in darkness changed the acoustics and it was a peaceful climb, feeling rather like a pilgrimage.

After just over half an hour, the gradient of Fuji-san increased; as they got closer to the top, the mountain tapered upwards to a point. The steeper gradient, together with an increase in the depth of volcanic gravel on which they walked made it more difficult and many in the group, including Shoichi and Kimiko but not the jikatabi girl, were finding it hard to grip and occasionally would slide down the mountain a short way. It was like walking on dry sand at the beach.

‘I’m going to get out the walking poles,’ Shoichi said to Kimiko as he was getting frustrated at the relatively slow progress he seemed to be making.

‘That’s a good idea,’ Kimiko said as she lost her traction and slid down the slope about half a metre. ‘As you can see, I’m finding it really tough, like I can’t get any proper grip.’

Shoichi loosened one of the straps on his rucksack and slid his left arm out before undoing the elasticated strapping that was holding the walking sticks in place. With a quick twist the poles could be elongated, with a twist in the opposite direction to lock them at this new length. Shoichi sorted out Kimiko’s first and then got his own adjusted to the correct length for his height. He threaded his hand through the securing strap and gripped onto the cork handle. It made a big difference and they were able to walk in a more meaningful way. 

This part of Fuji-san was devoid of any significant plant life, such was the altitude, so the scenery either side of the pathway was bleak and rather like being on another planet. After one hour into this final phase, they took a break, again moving to the mountain side to allow others to pass.

‘We’re almost there and definitely going to make it before sunrise,’ Kimiko said in an excited voice. ‘I wonder how many people will be there at the summit?’

‘I’ve heard that it gets pretty crowded but if we get there in plenty of time, and it looks like we will, then hopefully we’ll get a good spot,’ Shoichi said before taking in a deep lungful of air. ‘By the way, I’m not feeling the altitude at all.’

‘That’s good news, Shoichi, nor me,’ Kimiko said. ‘That short stop at the eighth station must have made all the difference.’

Although still dark, the light levels had begun to change subtly. The sun was below the horizon but dawn was on its way. Megumi was keen to get the group moving as missing sunrise when so close would be a huge disappointment to the group and to her as their guide.

‘Is everyone ready to start the final push?’ she asked. ‘We’ve got about thirty minutes to go and that should allow us some time to enjoy the summit before we will need to get in position to see the sunrise. It gets crowded up there as you’ll soon see. The sky seems clear so I think that it’s going to be a good one.’

‘Here we go,’ said Shoichi as he shouldered his rucksack once more.

‘Let’s do it!’ Kimiko said by way of encouragement to them both.

The final leg was surprisingly difficult and seemed to last more than the half an hour Megumi suggested it would but then for all of them it was less than twenty-four hours since they were in Ōfunato and the long coach journey followed by the climb was going to eventually take its toll. However, as they turned the final corner of the winding pathway, the torii shrine gates of the summit came into view at the top of a flight of stairs that had been crafted into the mountainside with log risers held in place by thick ribbed metal pins.

‘Look, Shoichi, we’ve nearly made it!’ Kimiko exclaimed.

‘Thank goodness as I’m absolutely shattered,’ Shoichi said but with a broad and satisfied smile.

‘Let’s do this together,’ Kimiko said and reached out to hold Shoichi’s hand. ‘Happy Anniversary!’

‘Happy Anniversary!’ Shoichi repeated as he squeezed Kimiko’s hand. ‘This will be one to remember.’The summit of Fuji-san was already densely populated with climbers who were taking up their vantage points. As they still had some time, Kimiko and Shoichi walked over to the okumiya or interior grounds of the Hongū Sengen Taisha Shrine to pray to Asama no Ōkami, the deity of Fuji-san.

Before praying, they took their time over the misogi purifying ritual by taking a scoop of water from the shallow trough at the water pavilion, holding the bamboo ladle in the right hand and pouring the water over the left, then pouring with the left hand over the right. Finally they both took a sip of the water to cleanse their mouths before pouring the rest of it away, rinsing the part of the ladle that had touched their lips. They then bowed twice and clapped their hands together in front of them, the same number of times. With hands still held together they prayed silently and finally bowed once more.

‘That felt really special,’ said Shoichi. ‘I don’t know how many times in my life I’ve done that but being here and praying just now, I felt closer to the Gods than ever before.’

Kimiko was too overcome to add any words to Shoichi’s but two tears rolled down her face.

Solemnly, they made their way over to the side of the mountain from where they would watch the sunrise. Looking out from Fuji-san, the part of the sky that was closest to the convex line of the horizon was beginning to glow a faint orange, the sky above the horizon turning dawn blue. Within a matter of seconds, the top of the sun emerged as a bright dot spreading out its candescence higher into the sky as it rose little by little. The sky was not completely clear and any clouds were bathed in the same light producing a view that reaffirmed the importance of this distant mass of hydrogen and helium for all life on earth.

Shoichi and Kimiko held each other tight as they were left humbled by the experience which, during this precious moment, blanked everything from their minds and amplified the simple awareness of the fragility of their own existence.