Distant Shores: Pilgrimages and Discoveries
By Bryan Chaney
based on the FurEarth world of Steven Hutchison and Fox Cutter

'95 Sept 01
Dear Mom and Dad,
	I know you are now worrying over me for not writing sooner, but the past 
few months have not been the best.  I tried writing you back in July, but 
I just couldn't focus enough to say anything coherent and the past month 
I've been away in Sendai.  I think just a change in environs helped alot 
but it still hasn't changed my basic problem.  Well, I still feel 
isolated but I think I'm getting better.  More on that latter.
	What have I've done?  Not long after my last letter, I asked Professor 
Kentaro if it would alright for a extended rest period as I was losing my 
focus.  I got back a couple weeks ago from Sendai and now writing my 
thesis with renewed vigor.  I think it'll turn out really good.  But in 
the meantime, I did a lot of sightseeing and doing things I hadn't had 
time to do before.  
	One of the first things I did was attend what is called sumo.  It is a 
traditional Nipponese wrestling in which the object is either push the 
opponent out of the ring or have him touch the ground with some part of 
the body than the bottom of their paws.  The wrestlers are huge and look 
extremely obese but are actually quite fit I'm told.  I guess they would 
have to be in order to execute the throws that the sport demands.  I 
would think that the most uncomfortable part would be the mawashi or the 
traditional belt and loin cloth that the wrestlers wear.  I imagine that 
the bears and cats, with their shorten tails would have an advantage over 
like tigers, foxes and tanuki, because the belt rests above the hips and 
the tail has to stick over it.  It must get uncomfortable.
	But there is a lot of tradition with the sport that still remains.  I 
did a little research when I heard that I would be able to go to the 
annual Tokio tournament.  It actually nice to look for something other 
than the same era for a change.  I am fascinated by the work I'm doing, 
but enough's enough, already.  At least now, I have a little more 
perspective on the work I've done so far.  Anyways, many of the rituals I 
found described in a 20th century text (in English, no less!) about the 
sport are still followed today.  The text mentioned that many traditions 
go back to the 18th century at least.  I am not surprised, looking at the 
fashions still used in the rituals.  The referee, whose name I forget at 
the moment, wear a flowing silk robe with a small head piece motions the 
two wrestlers together.  There is a lot of gesturing, posturing and 
throwing of salt  (to purify the ground and maybe to satisfy some 
Earthdweller, I don't know) by the wrestlers before the actual match, 
which usually lasts only a minute or less.  There is something oddly 
graceful about the whole thing.
	Besides sightseeing around Tokyo, which is very hard to consolidate over 
such a long time, I took a couple trips.  I had a chance first to go to 
Yokohama with Professor Kentaro.  I was only a day trip, taking a ship 
from Shinagawa Pier to Yokotaa, near the old downtown area.  The ruins of 
the buildings and the amusement park are kind of pretty in a sad sort of 
way.  It was only a daytrip, so we didn't see that much, but of interest 
was the Chuukatown.  There was a gathering of shops and restaurants from 
the Asian continent.  It was like stepping into another world, with 
dragons and stonelions all around.  The streets teemed with all sorts of 
people; rabbits, pandas, 'roos, tigers, tanuki, otters, foxes, of course, 
even saw a wolf couple.  It felt strange after so long to see another 
wolf.  The scents of the street vendors and teeming of fur threatened to 
overwhelm me.  Professor Kentaro chuckled a little when he saw me gawking 
at everything.  Well, it's not like I'm some sort of seasoned traveler, 
despite my coming to Nippon.  This is a long way from S'attel and so much 
different than anything I've ever seen before.
	By far much more interesting was the trip up to Sendai that I recently 
got back from.  I am not much of a horseman (it is funny how some words 
just carry over, even when the context has changed, ah well...) but with 
the new rebuilt Tohoku Road, we manage cover distance in a little over a 
week each way.  Some of parts of the road are paved with asphalt, others 
just beaten dirt tracks, especially through some of the foothills Iwaki 
(halfway in between Tokio and Sendai).  But they rebuilt the old way 
stations every so often in-between towns to feed and rest the horses.  I 
had some chance to ride a horse before I left, but never for so long in 
the saddle.  Aie, was I sore many a night!  Good thing my mount was an 
even tempered dapple grey.  It did shy at first from the scent my wolf 
fur gave off, but it got used to it soon enough.  I think the sugar beets 
helped.
	The route mostly went along the coast, where there was a few scattered 
fishing villages.  I got real work out of my Nihonese, try to wade 
through a unusual dialect.  But Professor Kentaro easily spoke it, has 
that was the language he grew up with.  No matter how proficient I become 
in Nihonese, there are just certain parts I will never master, I guess.
	While we were in Sendai, Professor Kentaro showed me around his 
ancestral home and we took part in O-bon festivities.  For 16 days around 
the middle of August (or July in some places, I'm told), it is believed 
that the spirits of dead ancestors come to visit.  They are to be honored 
and revered with offerings of food and incense and at the peak of the 
festival, a bon fire is lit and an all night festival is held with much 
dancing and celebrating.  This level of activity is only matched with the 
flurry of activity around New Year's, I'm told.  
	The night of bonfire is one I will never forget.  First we went to the 
temple to pray and purify ourselves.  Professor Kentaro very kindly 
explained how to properly waif the smoke from burning incense sticks over 
the body.  Frankly, I wanted to sneeze, but I did as I was told.  Oddly, 
afterwards, I felt somehow _cleaner_, I really can't explain it.  Then we 
stood in line to pray in front of the temple.  One has to provide some 
sort of offering to the spirits, clap twice, bow, and ring a bell to get 
the spirit's attention.  I remember I prayed for speed in finishing my 
thesis.  I told Professor Kentaro afterwards, and he said that many 
students pray similar things.  Figures.  We moved on to were Professor 
Kentaro's ancestor's graves were at.  His wife and he placed new 
offerings to the spirits, rice and flowers, washed and generally cleaned 
up the area, and then prayed quietly again.  I politely stood to one 
side, quietly observing.  It was really quite touching.  
	Afterwards, we gathered with the other people around a huge the large 
bonfire in the middle of the temple grounds.  I knew I looked like the 
tourist, in my distinctly un-Nipponese clothes, but I enjoyed myself just 
observing.  No amount of reading and learning about this could compare to 
actually being here.
	The rest of the time I spent in Sendai was looking at the sight nearby.  
Certainly a highlight was Matsushima, a cluster of islands just north of 
Sendai about a half a day's ride.  In someplaces you can see traces of 
the time before the Vanishing, a concrete tunnel here, a fragment of a 
road there.  But the majority of the area is very natural, the only more 
recent sign is the well maintained temples in the area.  This is one of 
three most holy areas in Nippon.  Hundreds of pilgrims a year go there, 
especially around O-bon.  Hundreds of tree covered islets dot the bay and 
the hills surrounding the bay are full of very old pines.  I felt very 
much at home in all the greenery, even if it is 5000 miles from home.  I 
remember vividly a pair of otters playing on the dock while we were 
waiting for a boat to show us around the islets.  They kept daring one 
another to take off what little clothes they had on and dive into the 
water.  Finally, it was too much for them and they dived in, clothes and 
all just as the boat came in.  I'm not sure, but I think they decided to 
swim the bay instead go on the boat.  It just reminded me so much of days 
I'd spend with Andii on Alkali Beach.  Bittersweet memories of home...
	Really not much happened on the way home as I said before, I got back 
from Sendai not too long ago.  I have a lot of work still to do.  Just 
getting out helped a lot.  Professor Kentaro asked for me if I use the 
library at Wasadai University.  I understand they have a better selection 
of books there, and it will help me with my thesis.
	I still miss my home, but now the time is short.  I can see the end in 
sight.  I think I can enjoy what time I have left here in Nippon.  I will 
see you soon.  Hope that this makes this through in time despite taifun 
season.
Your son,
Wilford
----
'95 Sept 09
Dear Andii,
	Itıs September and still the heat is oppressive.  Sometimes, I wish I 
could just shave my fur off, but even here, I would get too many strange 
stares.  I enough as it is.  The past six months Iıve finally started 
adjusting to life around here.  Andii, I love you so much.  I tried to 
write to you back in July, but I just couldnıt focus on anything. You 
know how I get.  Some nights, I still feel like Iım isolated and wish I 
could cuddle with you again... itıs hard sometimes, but I really canıt 
wander too much.  Professor Kentaro started teaching me the flute, that 
seems to relieve the stress a little.
	Scholastically, Iım working on my thesis again.  It got to the point not 
long after I wrote you last that I just couldnıt take it anymore.  I was 
spending more time wandering the streets rather than studying.  I did 
manage to borrow a horse from Professor Kentaro to wander the streets, 
especially since I explained that I just couldnıt concentrate anymore.  
Having the horse helped getting around town, which even after the 
Vanishing, is still kilometers wider than Sıattel ever was.  Sometimes, I 
would try to use the doorikisha, but knowing which one went where, proved 
tricky.  Not to mention having to haggle with them over the fair.  The 
doorikisha, by the way, are little one or two person carriages that run 
along certain routes, powered by people, usually some of the bigger 
races, like Deer or Bears.  Let me tell you, if I faltered once with my 
Nihonese, theyıd charge me double or triple.  Iıd loose a lot of silver 
that way, so I was glad I had the horse....
	It was a good thing I had the practice, since Prof. Kentaro, his wife 
and I made a trip to Sendai for O-bon.  O-bon is the festival for the 
dead that takes place in about the middle of August.  It was pretty and 
touching in both exotic and familiar ways.  There was much chanting and 
praying to the Spirits, not unlike some ceremonies at home.  Plus, seeing 
all the greenery after being confined to the ruins of dust and concrete 
for so long was very refreshing. Not to say Tokio doesnıt have itıs share 
of greenery, and compared to before the Great Earthquake, itıs even 
greater (Iıve seen the pictures in some of the old books), it never 
seemed like it was enough.  I guess even Sıattel sometimes for me feels 
too close, but those feelings are multiplied ten fold in Tokio.  Anyways, 
the ceremony was also touching in an exotic way, mainly because I could 
almost immediately pick up on how the Nihonese communicate with the 
EarthSpirits and those of the Dead than back home.  Itıs like watching 
something at the same time familiar yet different.  Do you know what I 
mean?
	After coming back from Sendai, last week, I spent at a different 
university, Wasedai, to see if I could find some more books.  Slowly, my 
Nihonese is getting better, my reading and writing perhaps a little 
better than my speaking.  At least now, Iım not getting quite as 
flustered when I try to speak to someone and that too has helped my 
mental state.  The haggling maybe was a big motivation.  You know me and 
how I like my money!  Anyways, I had heard that Wasedai had some books in 
both English and Nihonese concerning the late 20th Century history.  I 
had to ask Professor Kentaroıs permission and then he had to contact KO 
so they could talk to Wasedai, but it finally worked out.  Many of the 
books there were in an underground vault when the Earthquake hit, so an 
unusual number of volumes survived.  I spent most of my days hunting and 
sniffing through the stacks of books, occasionally having to call upon my 
meager magical skills to conjure up some light.  You might think itıs a 
little strange, but it was rather enjoyable.  Historians are a little 
different than you engineers.
	The last day I was there, my sponsor at Wasadai, Professor Sasada, a 
very nice middle aged 3-tailed kitsune invited me to a pilgrimage to the 
Oji Inari Shrine.  We left early in the morning, but still the lingering 
heat from the day before was oppressive.  As we traveled amongst the 
incredulously still standing concrete roadways, wooden houses and land 
slowly returning to forest (if it wasnıt being farmed), my tongue was 
lolling out almost continuously, desperately trying to dissipate the 
heat.  Mr. Sasada seemed to understand (he was another a canid after all, 
despite my occasional joking otherwise), and we frequently stopped for 
water.  Unfortunately, open sewers are all too common around here, so you 
have to be very careful where you drink.  Usually, if you stop at one of 
the many temples or shrines along the way, fresh water will be available.  
We finally got to the shrine, which is the main shrine for Nihon foxes, 
Inari being their patron spirit.  I was a little disappointed somehow 
that there wasnıt a patron spirit for wolves in Nihon, but Iım not really 
surprised.  We arenıt very common here.
	The grounds of the shrine are not very large, with a small school for 
young foxes at the base.  To get to the shrine proper, you have to walk a 
flight of stairs guarded at the top and bottom by a pair of stone Inari 
figures, each wearing a symbolic red bib.  The shrine itself was set into 
a hillside, surrounded by woods.  The temple was lacquered red wood with 
gold accents and polychrome animal figures carved into the crossbeams.  
To the right was the offices and living quarters for the priest, where 
the faithful can buy small trinkets.  Professor Sasada gave me a small 
piece of polished rose quartz with an Inari figure on the front and the 
name of the shrine carved on the back.  Itıs strange, but I felt like 
somehow I was transgressing on sacred ground here; maybe I was.  I kinda 
felt the same way during the O-bon festival, like I was witnessing 
something holy that I shouldıve.  But the whole trip gave me a new found 
appreciation of the whole Fox tribe.
	I love you, Andii, and I will be back before you know it.  I feel like 
Iım more than half way done with my thesis, but I only have a few months 
left.  Maybe when the weather cools down a bit, Iıll do better.  I know 
either way, that Iıll be very busy.  Take care and remember me often.  I 
know I am of you.

Love, 

Wil