Shikoku Pilgrimage

Shikoku is host to the famous 88 temple pilgrimage. It is said to take up to 3 months to complete the 1200km.

The pilgrimage dates way back to the time of famous Buddhist monk Kukai who lived from 774 to 835. There are several legends related to the beginnings of the pilgrimage. The most popular legend, of course, is that Kūkai walked to all of the sacred places on the island, founded many of the temples, and established the pilgrimage itself. While we don’t know everything about his early life, we know enough about what he did and where he lived to prove he did not establish or walk the complete route. He did however establish a number of temples that are still located in the same place today.

The first people to walk the complete route were monks from Mt Koya. But it is not the route as we…