Tanabe, Wakayama Pref. ¨C ¡°Oh, dear, it¡¯s that Kamakura boy! Welcome, now, honey.¡± Kazuko Ando, the owner of Jurin Kissa near Kii-Nagashima, Mie Prefecture, has run her kissaten (or kissa, an old Japanese-style cafe) since 1978. She exudes grace, wears a head scarf and intones with the accent of the Kii Peninsula, which features a kind of sing-songy rise at the end of sentences ¡ª arigaT?!
I order some toast and an iced coffee and tell her I can¡¯t stay long. She scrunches her brow and says, ¡°Honey, I know, you never stay long.¡± Which is true. I¡¯ve been to Jurin four times over the past two years, always in the middle of a big walk, and I¡¯m shocked and delighted each time Ando remembers me. This time, it¡¯s May 2021, and I¡¯m walking some 435 kilometers around the peninsula, along the Ise-ji and Ohechi Kumano Kodo UNESCO World Heritage routes of Mie and Wakayama prefectures.
I ask Ando if COVID-19 has affected business much and she says, ¡°Not at all, busy as ever,¡± pointing to the mostly filled booths of regulars, smoking and sipping coffee and chattering away. Jurin is one of the rare still-vibrant kissas along the coast. In part because of Ando¡¯s ebullience, and in part because she¡¯s near Kii-Nagashima, one of the more spirited towns.
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