I am so happy to be writing that we are preparing to return to Japan to continue our trek along the 88 Temples of Shikoku pilgrimage route.
This wonderful ancient pilgrimage route is well set up to accommodate those embarking on this ultra-long walk. People set out with a variety of different reasons ranging from religious to personal or simply to accomplish the challenge. This experience will definitely challenge us (as learned on the first half of it) and give us many hours and days to reflect upon our lives, precious time we would not otherwise enjoy due to the hustle and bustle of modern day life.
The physical difficulties one has to overcome pursuing such a walk, also add to the challenge and gives one a greater sense of satisfaction once you manage to complete it. Thereby, the experience becomes your own personal walkabout or vision-quest regardless of your initial intentions.We started this journey in 2020 and by the time we reached Temple 41 which is almost halfway, the world closed down due to Covid and we had to leave. Now we are finally returning to complete the quest and will start from the exact place we left off (Temple 41).
For new followers of our blog, the name Shikoku means four provinces. It is one of the smaller of five main islands of Japan, located south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu.
There are 88 temples situated around the perimeter of the island. This 1200km pilgrimage known as Ohenro, is associated with the Buddhist monk Kukai (born at temple 75 in 774), later known as Kobo Daishi, who is said to have brought Buddhism from China to Japan. Pilgrims are referred to as henro. We plan to walk with our backpacks and tent and will be referred to by the locals as o-henro-san. Traditionally the pilgrims can be identified by wearing white clothing, sedge hats and a walking stick. Josh and I both plan to wear the white tunic top which we purchased last time we were there and I plan to wear the sedge hat. We will use trekking poles instead of the walking stick.
The route takes you through the four provinces of Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime and Kagawa. Traditionally the journey is symbolically regarded as a path to enlightenment. Temples 1-23 are the "awakening", temples 24-39 is aligned with "austerity and discipline" (that means it's really difficult), temples 40-65 leads you to "enlightenment" and 66-88 will get you to "nirvana". With this in mind we have apparently already received the lessons of "awakening" and " austerity and discipline" and so we shall see whether we learn any "enlightenment" and will let you know if we think we've reached "nirvana"!
The pilgrim also carries a booklet similar to the pilgrims passbook on the Camino de Santiago which we can have stamped at every temple. Josh will also carry his beautiful scroll instead of the booklet which is also stamped. The stamp is called "nokyo" and is done in the form of calligraphy in the book called "nokyocho".
Accommodation along the route has a variety of options, ranging from family operated B&Bs (Minshuku & Ryokan) about $50 per night, temple lodging (Shukubo) about $50 per night, hotels range from $30-$60 per night, free lodging for pilgrims (Zenkonyado & Tsuyado) free or nominal fee, roadside huts (Michi No Eki) free and campsites.
Many of the locals give pilgrims gifts or alms known as o-settai. These range from cups of tea and a fruit to meals or offers of accommodation for a night. A similar idea to being a "trail angel" as I experienced along my Pacific Crest Trail hike.
We have to walk approximately 600km in 20 days. This breaks down to 18.6 miles/ 30km per day every day. The terrain varies from flat coastal asphalt roads through villages and farmlands to many climbs up steep mountains through forests along hiking trails. The journey will give us the opportunity to experience cultural immersion and enjoy the food, homes and cultural practices of the people of Shikoku.
A dream came to me
I saw how this could be done
Eighty eight temples
(Heather's haiku)
We are looking forward to returning to complete this journey and hope you'll join us on the adventure via this blog. It will be wonderful to read your comments as we proceed along the journey.
