Qualla: Shikoku Pilgrimage

Shikoku Pilgrimage: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit On-chan, CC BY-SA 3.0. You can recognize them by the white. Walking pilgrims on Shikoku -- henro, as the Japanese call them -- wear white shirts, carry wooden staffs called kongō-zue, and shade themselves under conical sedge hats. They walk a circuit of 88 Buddhist temples spread across the island, a route of roughly 1,200 kilometers that traces the footsteps of Kukai, the ninth-century monk who founded Shingon Buddhism. Some complete the journey in 30 to 60 days on foot. Others drive between temples or take tour buses. A few ride bicycles. But the white clothing is constant -- a visual thread connecting modern pilgrims to a tradition that has shaped this island for over a thousand years.

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Image: On-chan | CC BY-SA 3.0

Shikoku Pilgrimage: The Monk Who Made the Path

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0. Kukai was born at Zentsu-ji, now Temple 75 on the circuit, in the year 774. He studied esoteric Buddhism in China and returned to establish the Shingon school, founding its headquarters on Mount Koya in present-day Wakayama Prefecture. During visits to the island of his birth, he...

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Image: Reggaeman | CC BY-SA 3.0

Shikoku Pilgrimage: Four Provinces, Four Stages

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0. Shikoku means "four provinces" -- the old domains of Awa, Tosa, Iyo, and Sanuki, reorganized during the Meiji period into the modern prefectures of Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime, and Kagawa. The pilgrimage maps these geographic divisions onto a spiritual framework. Temples 1 through 23...

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Image: Reggaeman | CC BY-SA 3.0

Shikoku Pilgrimage: The Kindness of Strangers

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0. One of the pilgrimage's most distinctive features is osettai -- the practice of local residents offering alms to passing pilgrims. Food, drinks, shelter, sometimes money: the gifts vary, but the spirit is consistent. Osettai reflects a belief that supporting a pilgrim generates m...

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Image: Reggaeman | CC BY-SA 3.0

Shikoku Pilgrimage: Walking into the Modern World

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 7kasyo, CC BY-SA 3.0. The pilgrimage has adapted to every era. During the Edo period, when movement was restricted and regulated, pilgrims needed travel permits and had to follow designated paths within set time limits. The stamp book served double duty as proof of legitimate travel. In the eighteenth...

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Image: 7kasyo | CC BY-SA 3.0