Gordon: Temple 27 is a henro-korogashi temple located near the top of a mountain and accessed by a spur road 3.2 kms in length. Ruth had been advised that the access road was too steep to cycle, so we both left our baggage at our accommodation at the foot...
Gordon: I recently realized that we have provided no background information regarding the Shikoku pilgrimage. It is a circuit of the island of Shikoku (the smallest of the four major Japanese islands) with visits to 88 Buddhist temples. These temples...
The black dots in the water are surfers. Gordon: This is our first trip in Japan and we didn’t do sufficient reading in advance, so we truly don’t know much about the country. To provide some background information we are taking a course in Japanese...
Ruth: I am determined to be as polite as I can be in Japan, but slipper etiquette continues to trip me up. At a minimum there are three different types of slippers at our lodging each night, and one place had five! Yes, that’s right, five. There were the hallway...
Ruth: I have it easier than all the other henros on the route. Well, perhaps not the ones in the tour buses. I am sitting in my camp chair at a high viewpoint overlooking the mountains and the sea, waiting for Gordon to catch up. Lots of time to finish up my...
Gordon: Yesterday I finished my walk at Temple 21. Located at the top of a mountain, it is known as the “Western Kōya-san” because of its similarity to the UNESCO designated monastic community near Ōsaka. It is possibly the most beautiful temple we...
Ruth: Each morning we put on our white jackets and become two of the many Henros (pilgrims) making their way to the temples. Most henros are Japanese, who primarily make the journey by car or by tour bus. We are part of the pulse of those walking the route. Like...
Ruth: It’s strange to be on day five and be exactly where we started: in downtown Tokushima. The first 17 temples are in and around Tokushima, so we have slowly been circling around the surrounding foothills. It seems important to write something about what not...
Ruth: Today might just be my favourite birthday and it isn’t even noon yet. Not the manic, hyper-happy of some birthdays when I was young, but a warm contentment and wonder as I slowly pedal through beautiful mountain scenery between temple 12 and 13. Word of my...
Gordon: An elevation profile of the Shikoku pilgrimage looks like the ECG of the last few moments of a person’s life: mostly flat, but with random spasmodic spikes. In pilgrim parlance these climbs are known as “henro korogashi”: “where a pilgrim falls...
Ruth: We diligently recite the Heart Sutra at every temple. Our guide book provides the Sutra in phonetic Japanese, but I think I stand a better chance of enlightenment if I at least know what I am saying. Knowing, does not, however, mean understanding. After 11 tries...
Gordon: We had beautiful weather for our first day on the Shikoku 88 Temple pilgrimage. We made our way to Temple 1 under our own power, adding about 14 kms to the distance of about 13 kms from Temple 1 to Temple 5. With 83 more temples to visit our...