Shikoku pilgrimage
My friend Hideyo-san has been yearning to see the sunrise from Mt Fuji and I, naively, volunteered to tag along. But before attempting Fuji-san, we decided to get ourselves into some semblance of shape by walking part of the 88-temples pilgrimage route on the island of Shikoku.
Shikoku, the land of four provinces (shi+goku = 四国 = four provinces) is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is also, perhaps, its most spiritual and magical one. Its small size and isolation has allowed it to preserve many of its traditions and much of its scenery and it is now regarded both as somewhat backward, and as a great place to get away from the big cities.
Shikoku and the 88 temples
One of Shikoku's spiritual treasures is the 88 Temples Pilgrimage, a route that connects the 88 temples that are believed to have been visited by Kūkai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. The full pilgrimage route spans over 1200km from temple #1 to temple #88 and today most pilgrims travel by car, bus, or even motorcycle (see below). However, every year a few thousand old-school die-hards complete the whole thing on foot, taking 30-60 days.
Our objective was more limited: we chose to walk temples 44-51 (plus a few assorted onsen along the route, since Hideyo-san turned out to be a real onsen aficionada).
The temples all have names (which you can look up here), but most people refer to them by sequential number. We were smart (or just lucky?) in choosing this particular subset of the pilgrimage route, as it took us through some beautiful mountain and farmland scenery, with only a mild dose of city walking towards the tail end of the journey. On Day 1 we were very privileged to be invited to walk part of our journey in the company of three bona-fide, temple 1-through-88 pilgrims. We had to bid them adieu at the end of the first day, for while we repaired to the comfort and grandmotherly care of a tiny family-run minshuku in late afternoon, they set off to push their hardened bodies for another five or six hours of walking. But Day two had its own delights, including a long drop from Misaka Pass to the plain of Matsuyama and a mid-day conversation with an old farmer: while we rested in the shade of a temple that he built as thanks for Buddha's gifts, he told us of the days when school was cancelled as American B-29s flew overhead. All this topped-off by a well-deserved onsen soak.
The pilgrims set off, we follow. 7:30 AM and it's already over 20C.
Temple #44
Towards Temple #45
An ancient o-jizo-san along the trail
Taking a break
and pushing on
At last, Temple #45!
And its many o-jizo-san
The pilgrims set off for #46, while we retire to a minshuku and the abundant and wonderful cuisine of its oba-san owner
Day 2's walking ahead: looking from Misaka Pass towards Matsuyama
Not far to go now
Rice, rice everywhere!
Temple #47. And not a moment too soon!
A small, unnumbered temple somewhere along the route
Temple #48. Or is that #49...?
Looking back to whence we came
Day 3: going a bit crazy with the heat
The way to do all 88 temples with only a long weekend to spare
End of the journey: praying at Temple #51
And the world-famous (according to Hideyo-san) Matsuyama Onsen
Shikoku, the land of four provinces (shi+goku = 四国 = four provinces) is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is also, perhaps, its most spiritual and magical one. Its small size and isolation has allowed it to preserve many of its traditions and much of its scenery and it is now regarded both as somewhat backward, and as a great place to get away from the big cities.
One of Shikoku's spiritual treasures is the 88 Temples Pilgrimage, a route that connects the 88 temples that are believed to have been visited by Kūkai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. The full pilgrimage route spans over 1200km from temple #1 to temple #88 and today most pilgrims travel by car, bus, or even motorcycle (see below). However, every year a few thousand old-school die-hards complete the whole thing on foot, taking 30-60 days.
Our objective was more limited: we chose to walk temples 44-51 (plus a few assorted onsen along the route, since Hideyo-san turned out to be a real onsen aficionada).
The temples all have names (which you can look up here), but most people refer to them by sequential number. We were smart (or just lucky?) in choosing this particular subset of the pilgrimage route, as it took us through some beautiful mountain and farmland scenery, with only a mild dose of city walking towards the tail end of the journey. On Day 1 we were very privileged to be invited to walk part of our journey in the company of three bona-fide, temple 1-through-88 pilgrims. We had to bid them adieu at the end of the first day, for while we repaired to the comfort and grandmotherly care of a tiny family-run minshuku in late afternoon, they set off to push their hardened bodies for another five or six hours of walking. But Day two had its own delights, including a long drop from Misaka Pass to the plain of Matsuyama and a mid-day conversation with an old farmer: while we rested in the shade of a temple that he built as thanks for Buddha's gifts, he told us of the days when school was cancelled as American B-29s flew overhead. All this topped-off by a well-deserved onsen soak.
posted by Marcin at Thursday, August 17, 2006
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