What is it?
The pilgrimage (Hachijuhakkasho for short) is a 1400 km (900 mile) circular walk between 88 distinct temples on Shikoku island, the fourth largest in Japan. The 88 temples were founded by the ascetic wanderers En-no-ozunu (634-701 A.D.), Gyogi Bosatsu (668-749 A.D.), and Kobo-Daishi (774-835). (Miyata, p.14). As time progressed Kobo-Daishi, a great builder and the founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan, became synonymous with the ideal pilgrim walking between the temples. He has also been attributed with founding most of them, although this is more a product of the evolution of lore than fact. Regardless, in the 14th century A.D. the circuitous route became popular and Kobo Daishi became the patron saint or savior of those who walked it. Thus it has remained (more or less) up to modern times.
Besides the 88 there are also many unnumbered temples (bangai). Technically these are optional but many Henro include them for completeness.
What's on this site?
I finished up to temple 64 this year (2008) and will return next year to finish more. This is for the most part a travelogue of my experiences. My thoughts and my thoughts on my thoughts, after the fact. Therefore there's plenty of past, present and future tense all mixed together. My apologies to any English majors who may read this.
As far as locations go, I've added references to Miyazaki San's map book through out my travelogue. The map book is part of a two volume set you must have (see references). So when I say I walked from T23 (map 11) to the Yasaka Ryokan (map 12.3). It means that I walked from the 23rd Temple (Yakuoji) found on Map 11 to the Yasaka Ryokan identified as accomodation number 3 on map 12.
I've given a list of informative resources for those who want to know more about the pilgrimage in the references section. I won't spend a lot of time going over material that these sources have already provided. I've also added a page listing my gear and tips.
Photos, photos, photos... I didn't do that great of a job I think. I've always been a bit challenged in this area. In hindsight there were many photographs I should have taken as well as many that were a waste of effort. (I took 4 pictures of a baby shark next to a pier, yet almost no pictures of the temples I visited.) I don't know why that is, but I will attempt to be more photo aware in future travelogues.
I started the pilgrimage with the assumption that in order to be a pilgrim I was expected to follow a disciplined set of practices. That is, chanting the correct mantras at the correct temples, wearing the full set of garments, and carrying all the proper items (candles, incense, etc.). This is the ideal way, but I noticed early on that many of my fellow henros didn't adhere to all of these practices (although many did). I was relieved to find out that it was much more free style than I had originally thought. Therefore, I dropped many of the practices to a level that I was comfortable with. For example, I didn't chant mantras at the main temple, but instead said small prayers that meant something personal to me and I "always" thanked the Daishi at every temple for delivering me safely. Having said that, I do have a deep respect for those who chose to do them and I'm sure that their personal experiences were enhanced by doing so.
Why do we do it?
Everyone has a reason for going on the pilgrimage. Some are quite profound and some are less so. A Henro's reasons are his or her own and can't be judged based upon whether they crawled the pilgrimage on all fours or road in comfort in a tour bus. The laughing and smiling middle-aged woman who just stepped from the tour bus to the temple may be grieving the loss of a husband or child. The kind retired business man you've been walking with may have recently been diagnosed with cancer. The young surfer guy with the goatee who's always clowning around may have just failed his college entrance exams ending years of hard work and expectations from both him and his family. We may never know each other's reasons. However, we know or at least should suspect that at the core of each Henro is a deep emotion that has brought him/her to Shikoku. We should therefore show a little reverance and respect to all those we meet.