Travel in 88 Temple Pilgrimage

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The 88 Temple Pilgrimage (??????? hachij?hakkasho-meguri) is a 1,647-kilometer circuit around the island of Shikoku, Japan.

Table of contents

1 Understand 2 Prepare 3 Get in 4 Go 5 Stay safe 6 Get out 7 External links

Understand

Pilgrim traveling on foot, Kubokawa

The 88 Temple Pilgrimage is Japan's most famous pilgrimage route. The circuit loops around the entire island of Shikoku through 88 temples plus an optional 20 "unnumbered" (?? bangai) temples. All the temples are said to have been founded by monk and scholar K?kai (??), better known by his posthumous title K?b? Daishi (????), who among his many achievements is said to have created the kana syllabary, brought the tantric teachings of Esoteric Buddhism from China, developed it into the uniquely Japanese Shingon sect and founded Shingon's headquarters on Mount Koya near Osaka.

While most modern-day pilgrims (an estimated 100,000 yearly) travel by bus, a minority still set out the old-fashioned way on foot, a journey which takes about 60 days to complete. Pilgrims, known as o-henro-san (?????) in Japanese, can be spotted in the temples and roadsides of Shikoku clad in a white jacket emblazoned with the characters D?gy? Ninin (????), meaning "two traveling together" — the other being the spirit of Kobo Daishi. Most (but not all) temples offer basic but affordable lodging for pilgrims.

Prepare

Completing the course the traditional way on foot is a serious undertaking that demands several months of time. Good physical fitness and stamina is required to endure the stress of constant walking up and down the hills of Shikoku, in the burning sun and the pouring rain.

Get in

It is traditional to prepare by visiting Mount Koya, but the route itself starts at Ry?zenji, near Tokushima, and you also have to return here in order to complete your pilgrimage.

Go

The canonical list of temples is as follows:

Stay safe

Get out

You aren't done when you reach the 88th temple — you still have to trek back to the 1st to officially complete your pilgrimage! And if you've made it this far, it's only good manners to return to Mount Koya to give your thanks to Kobo Daishi.

External links

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